FY!Rainbow Brite

Hey there, colorless don'ts. Can you believe it's February already? Let's hope there's some good comics to come in this, the shortest of months! In fact, here comes one now~

Here's the cover:

HORSE.

…Actually considering leaving the cover review at just that. Like, this is a fun one. It's certainly better than last issue's cover! Like, don't get me wrong. All of these covers have been well drawn and gorgeously coloured. Which, for a series that's literally about the power of colour, that's super important! But other than issue 2's magical girl stylings, I don't know if any of them have wowed me, y'know? They don't quite feel unique. You could put any horsegirl on this cover, and slap it on a tween YA novel. Maybe I shoulda been reviewing the alt covers after all~

In recap! Little miss Wisp has come to the Rainbow Lands, and Twinkle figures she might be the latest incarnation of legendary hero Rainbow Brite. And, in fact, she recovers a magical scepter that gives her such powers, at least for a little while. With the scepter on recharge, Twinkle opts to go looking for help in one of the confirmed still-free lands, the Red Mesas. Wisp takes a literal leap of faith and jumps through space to get there, and very nearly falls off the planet entirely. Thankfully she's saved by Red Flare, a handsome youth and last free member of the Color Guard. No word on whether the rest of the marching band is also free.

Red Flare starts with "So you're supposed to be some kind of hero?", which isn't very endearing. Wisp indeed retorts that she's supposed to be a kid who goes to school and doesn't walk around barefoot in a forest then a desert, but here she is anyway. This does little to bolster Red Flare's confidence, and he pulls Twinkle aside to have him explain the deal all over again. Twinkle is absolutely exasperated that no one listens, but dude, your whole job is exposition. That's why we have you in the story to begin with. Might as well play your role~

So here's another infodump for you. The Rainbow Lands consist of eight disk-shaped lands, seven orbiting the main land. The prism atop Rainbow Castle in the main land absorbs light and distributes it to each of the seven lands' own prisms, which then spread to other worlds to give them colour. But each prism also powers their own lands and gives them their unique powers. Red Flare, for example, can use the energy from red power prisms. But green ones will actually weaken him. By dividing up the lands, this is how the King of Shadows exploited the Color Guards' weaknesses.

Now, the legendary hero, Rainbow Brite, is someone who can use the colours of all the lands, as well as focus them together into white light. Strength through unity, you see? Half the problem, though, is that they only have half her accoutrements. There's a belt that goes alongside the scepter, and they need to find that fast. The other half, though, is: does this girl seem like a hero. Twinkle vouches for her, but Red Flare has a different tactic. He wants to hear from Wisp herself why he should follow her. Convince him!

Wisp sighs and brushes herself off. She tells Red Flare that maybe he shouldn't follow her. She doesn't think she's some superhero. She's just a regular kid. And who knows if Twinkle has ever been right about anything~? But… She is here now. Bad things are happening to this land and its people. She doesn't know whether she can actually do anything to help them. But she does know she has to try. And that's a great answer. Both in my opinion, and to Red Flare, who gives Wisp a fist bump and signs himself up. Red Flare joined the party!

So, what's first? Well, they should try and free the other members of the Color Guard. And here's a revelation: if each colour is weakened by its opposite, the Green Color Guardian is probably being held right here on Red Mesas. That seems like a good place to start. Another good place to start is the colour mines, which is being used as a makeshift dungeon. Staking out the joint, our heroes begin planning a way to bust in. However, before they can even get to discussing step one, they're interrupted by a noisy commotion nearby.

A group of lizard-like minions are dragging away a prisoner. This prisoner is a talking horse, a magnificent-looking white horse with a rainbow mane and an incredibly high opinion of himself. His name, as he grandly declares, is Starlite, and he is very much objecting to being dragged away as a prisoner. Actually, I'm not sure that requires much of an ego to object to, fair enough on him! Wisp, being a typical young girl, is immediately enchanted by him. Red Flare, on the other hand, shows familiarity with the horse, and would prefer they use his capture as a distraction.

Twinkle, chosen to be the tie-breaker, opts to go with Wisp. If she can free Starlite, that would be just as good (if not better) a distraction. Then he and Red Flare can slip into the mine under the confusion. One problem remains, though: the lizardfolk are still stronger than humans, and the scepter's out of juice. Red Flare, however, points out that it was said Rainbow Brite can use the powers of any of the prisms, and so he offers one up. Wisp absorbs the red light with the scepter and transforms!

This form's a little simpler than the full Rainbow Brite mode. The uniform's all red with some golden trim. It's got sneakers, fingerless gloves, and a solid-looking helmet. Think an all-red version of Korrina with no bare legs or skates. Even her blonde ponytail has red streaks in it! And "streak" is just the word, because she quickly discovers that this form also gives her the power of super speed, thus making her another in the legacy of scarlet speedsters. Red ones go faster! And so Wisp races off to handle Starlite's rescue.

And it's a pretty simple rescue, once she gets the hang of slowing down when and where she wants to. The lizardfolk are no match for her speed, and Starlite is soon free. She uses their own rope to tie up the lizardfolk, then flags down the other guards so they'll chase her. She's got super speed and Starlite is literally a horse, so they outpace their targets soon, letting Red Flare and Twinkle sneak closer. But as they run together, Starlite's haughty personality comes out. He's a little bit of a jerk, and doesn't want to be roped into a rebellion any more than literally roped as a prisoner.

Starlite abandons Wisp the first chance he gets, having never once called her by the right name. Dejected, she returns to her actual friends. Red Flare gets his "told you so" moment, but he's not smug about it, at least. Just the statement, then he moves on. Because Red Flare is actually a decent fellow, unlike Starlite. Anyway, the situation now is that there are more guards inside the mine. And one of them is a robot named Herky, personally built by Murky. Oh, I do hope he has a sibling named Jerky we meet later, that would be perfect~

Herky attacks, and Red Flare and Wisp decide to split their forces and get inside the mine, free the Green Color Guardian, and meet up later. It's a good thing Wisp is here, because Red Flare doesn't see his power as good for much besides running. You know, super speed, one of the most easily story-breaking powers there is. It's not very useful! And he proves this because, despite his speed, Herky is able to calculate where Red Flare will move next, and entangles him in his extendable arms. He's caught! Whatever will Wisp do now?? Probably save him and not abandon her friend, like that jerk horse, that's my guess~

Rainbow Brite