Written By: Sam Maggs
Illustrated By: Kate Sherron
Colorist: Heather Breckel
Lettering By: Neil Uyetake
Cover By: Kate Sherron
Published By: IDW Publishing
Pinkie Pie is now a Dungeon Master in a LARP game of her own creation. The rest of the Mane Six are each tasked with overcoming the dangerous challenges that lie inside the Dragon Tower. For whoever reaches the top first and rescues the captive Prince – wins a Giant cake!
Now this story I can get into. The loveable Pinkie Pie is filled with imagination, but I never thought of her as a Dungeon Master! Taking various aspects from classic Tabletop Role Playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, Pinkie has made her own LARP (Live Action Role Play) game for her friends to participate in. With the promise of a giant strawberry cake at the end, the competition begins as each member of the remaining Mane Six sets forth on their own to reach the top. Now of course this is more of a child friendly comic series and the creators love putting in valuable life lessons, so ultimately after each character fails to reach the top – they all decide to band together, once Pinkie sets a new time limit.
Now with Pinkie as the Dungeon Master or in this case – Game Maker, the rest of the ponies also got their own classes, one of which I was surprised at. Our Alicorn Princess of Magic Twilight Sparkle is of course – a Mage. Rainbow Dash is a Reckless Fighter, Rarity is a Cleric and AppleJack is a Ranger. Then we have Fluttershy – as a Rogue?! I honestly saw her more as a Druid! However for the purpose of an Adventuring Party such as this, a Rogue would be more beneficial even for this one shot mission. Now our Prince in question is Bulk Biceps, who doesn’t really get much panel-time in this issue. I thought they would have instead used Spike as the Prince-in-distress, but it still kinds of work either way.
Now this Issue can be found in three cover arts, with Kate Sheeron responsible for creating the one above. She was also the artist for this issue as well. This Cover A is a direct representative of this story, with a magical atmosphere and each pony dressed in Adventuring clothing. Where in this issue, both Rarity and Pinkie are playing the Cleric and Rogue class respectively. But in the cover art, Rarity is dressed more as a Bard and Fluttershy as a Tiefling. Pinkie is pictured with a flowing cloak and actually reminds me of several pictures I have seen of Matthew Mercer, probably dressed for promo shots of his Critical Role show. And to bring the characters all together is a D20 dice showing a Natural 20!
Cover B is by the wonderful Sara Richard, who is back once more with her fascinating artstyle. Still following the LARP idea, I see references to a Beholder and Cthulhu, monsters that I have come across in D&D. All done in a mystifying pastel coloring pencil technique, one that I find very difficult to describe each time. Lastly we have COVER RI by Trish Forstner, with the Mane Six and Spike at the beach! Just a carefree, fun cover that shows them in swimsuits and Pinkie in an interesting Ariel outfit.
Now this issue has been out for quite some time! Depending on how great your local comic book shops’ back issue section is, you may have to settle for either finding a copy of this issue online or just buying the digital issue straight from IDW Publishing.
This was a great issue for me, as I have really been getting into Critical Role during this lockdown. It is also great timing as only a couple of weeks back a crossover collection was announced between My Little Pony and Dungeons & Dragons. In which a figure set of five G1 ponies based on a Wizard, Druid, Barbarian, Rogue and Bard was unveiled. So keep an eye out for that online, as there is no release date announced as of writing this.
Overall: 9 /10
