Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life and back to the Rarity Retrospective. We are closing in on the end of this event. Today, we go over our last comic. And well, I think this clip can sum up my feelings.
Is this comic bad? No but it was rather hard to sit through as Rarity was just so annoying and that really brought this comic down for me. Out of all the comics that I've looked at for this event, this is perhaps my least favorite. It's by no means the worst MLP comic that I've read from IDW but compared to the other three, it just doesn't stack up.
Cover
Notice the pressure that Rarity is putting on the Cakes. Yeah, I felt a bit of that pressure as while love Rarity and this event is all about celebrating her, the way she acted in this issue made this read a bit stressful. And the only other time that ever happened when reading an MLP comic from IDW was when I read the Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon issue of Friends Forever (I have no idea, why I thought it was a good idea to read that one as I hate both of those characters).
As for this cover, well it perfectly captures what takes place within the story.
Staff
Writer - Christina Rice
I decided to check out some of the staff's other works on the IDW website and looking at Christina Rice's Archives page, the only other two comics of hers that I have read are the Friends Forever Issue focusing on Fluttershy and Iron Will and the Fiendship Is Magic issue about Tierk.
And out of the three comics of hers that I've read, this one is probably middle of the road with the Fluttershy and Iron Will comic being the best and Tierk comic being good but feeling incomplete.
Artist - Brenda Hickey
As for Brenda Hickey, it appears that I'm more familiar with her work as she did the art for the Pirates arc of the Main series, the one shot, Fluttershy, Discord and CMC comic from the main series, the art for the Twilight and Pinkie Friends Forever issue and for the King Sombra Fiendship Is Magic issue. And all of those have had great art. And the art here doesn't disappoint.
Colorist - Heather Breckel
Breckel, as usual did a good job with the colors.
Editor - Bobby Cunrow
The pacing of this story was fine, albeit it did drag a bit in the middle but it picked up again towards the end.
The Plot
The comic opens at a wedding of an unnamed couple that we have never seen on the show and will see again. The couple thanks Rarity for the great dress and The Cakes for making the wonderful wedding cake. Twilight Sparkle compliments Rarity on the dress that she made and how well it matches the cake that The Cakes made and says it almost looked as though, they were in business together. Which goes to Rarity's head and gives her an idea. Which is where the problems with this comic come in, it seems less that Rarity is actually interested in a business venture with The Cakes that could supply something new to Ponyville and more interested in how this new venture could make her famous.
And look, I get that one of Rarity's goals is to become famous but they turned it up to 11 in this issue and made it a bit unbearable. The next morning after wedding, we see Rarity take this proposal to take The Cakes as starting up a new wedding business. And The Cakes are understandably apprehensive as they have the twins to take care of, and the bakery to run but they agree to it on the condition that they be equal partners because as Mrs. Cake puts it, Rarity and the world no don't always get along.
And sorry Rares, I love ya but KP does the pouty face better.
Nothing can top the Puppy Dog Eyes. Sometime later in Canterlot, we see Rarity shopping for supplies for her new venture and we meet a new fashion pony, Touring Wind. (Weird name!)
And honestly, I have to agree with what Sketchy (the) Changeling said in his review of this comic.
A character that just felt like the mix of some of the fashion ponies you've already seen before
This is pretty much right on with Touring Wind. In the grand scheme of things, it's incredibly minor but still a little bothersome. Getting back to the story, Touring Wind overhears about Rarity's new business venture and being that she's an editor for an elite fashion magazine, Modern Mare Magazine. And well, Touring Wind seeing this as something new and something that she thinks her readers would love wants to check it out. Miss Wind has her assistant pencil in a visit to Ponyville and lets Rarity know that she'll be there on Friday. Rarity gets a bit nervous as that is only 4 days away and Miss Wind lets Rarity know that she doesn't have to come but Rarity promises that they can have things ready and this little conservation ends with Rarity once more exclaiming that she's going to be famous.
Uh, they do know that there is more to Rarity than caring about being famous, right? Look, I get what this comic is trying to say but in order for this story to work, they flattened Rarity's character into becoming someone that the only thing on her mind is being famous. And while yes, that is one of Rarity's biggest goals, going through and watching all of her episodes from season 1 - 4 and reading the other 3 comics, that isn't all there is to her. She is a very bright business savvy pony and while yes, she can be a bit melodramatic (That's one the reasons I love Rarity), that isn't the only thing there is to her. This comic seems to treat her a squealing ditzy glammer girl that only wants fame and fortune. You recall how I mentioned in the Rarity and Babs Seed comic that the story felt unequal as it focused more on Rarity than Babs, this issue seems to have a similar problem. It seems as though that this comic felt the need to make Rarity a bit immature, so that The Cakes could teach her the lesson of this comic at the end. And quite honestly, I've seen the CMC act a bit more mature than how Rarity acts in this comic. Rarity gets back to Carousel Boutique after her trip to Canterlot to find Applejack and The Cakes there as apparently, they have their first clients from the Apples, Apple Crisp and Ginger Gold. Mrs. Cake informs Rarity since they had so little time, they went ahead and got started without Rarity.
And well from here, things kinda go from bad to worse as the wedding is on Saturday. Okay, that's a bit short notice. And from here, we get the exact opposite lesson of Suited For Success as Rarity isn't listening to anything clients tell her. Look, I get what that episode was saying but with a couple's wedding, they should have some input. Rarity basically changes everything from the type of wedding dress to the flavor of wedding cake, which they wanted to be apple (Surprise, not!) to strawberry. And that's not a good idea. And as we over the course of the next three days, Rarity treats The Cakes less like partners and more as though, they work for her. Demanding that make the cake bigger and bigger. Oh, and Touring Wind just happens to show up as everything goes wrong. Yeah, it turns out that Ginger Gold was allergic to strawberries and according to AJ, everyone knew that. Uh no, this is the first time that was ever brought up!
The cake that The Cakes were making starts falling apart in front of Touring Wind and she decides that she has seen enough and leaves. Can't really blame her! Though, after the crisis, The Cakes know that they can handle things as they have twins and have faced worse and send Rarity on her way to finish the wedding gown.
The Cakes along with the help of Spike convince Touring Wind to stay and watch the wedding unfold. And man, Spike puts his life on the line for Miss Rarity.
And the comic ends with the wedding being a success. Oh, and Touring Wind loved the fixed up wedding dress. Yeah, that is a bit too close to Suited For Success. Rarity tries to impress an important fashion pony and something goes wrong but by the climax, they fixed it and the important pony loves what they see.
This comic is by no means bad but it seems to be cribbing from the show, i.e., Suited For Success but instead of it being Rarity's friends, who give her all the trouble, it's Rarity's ego. And well, that's not a bad thing mind you but it just doesn't work as well as it could have. Now, this isn't the first time that one of the comics has borrowed a lesson from the show as the Eqeustira Girls Holiday Special took the Ponyville Confidential lesson and applied it to cyber bullying.
Or at least it attempted to as that awful comic so missed the point with cyber bullying and is to date, and it is the worst story ever to come from the MLP franchise. (I may be revisiting it, this December) This comic doesn't fail as bad as the EQG Holiday special in that regard but I feel like it flattened Rarity's character a bit too much. And once again, this was more a Rarity story, than a Rarity and The Cakes story. I love Rarity but if this comic is supposed to be about Rarity and The Cakes, The Cakes should also have equal amount of time in the comic. There were a few pages, where they weren't featured. Which I'm not saying they need to be on every page but it should be equal and it really didn't feel like it was.
Characters
Main Characters
Rarity
I hate saying this being the huge Rarity fan that I am, she was the biggest problem I had with this comic. It seemed like Rarity had a one track mind and all she cared about was becoming famous off of this new business venture with The Cakes. Which again, is a part of Rarity's character but I feel as though, it was a mistake to emphasize that part of her character so much.
The Cakes
For a comic that was supposed to be about The Cakes and Rarity, Rarity overshadowed The Cakes. Honestly, half the time, I forgot they were even in the comic and thought I was just reading another Rarity mirco. They were less main characters and more supporting characters to Rarity. Which works for the story but it doesn't seem to these two as this was supposed to focus on them as well as Rarity.
Supporting Character
Touring Wind
There's not much more that can be said about this character that I haven't already said. She's just another fashion pony and that's it.
My Final Thoughts
This comic is just okay. It's not one that I particularly cared for and I don't find myself going back to read it again. I feel as though, it just missed the mark on too many things. It's not the worst comic I've ever read from the IDW MLP line but that's the best I can say about it. There's really not much more to say. Join me next time for the final review of the Rarity Retrospective as we leave the world of comics behind and look at the Rarity chapter book...
Rarity and The Curious Case of Charity
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