An UPDATED guide to everything you (probably) want to know about the official IDW comics!
Author's note: 3 months ago someone messaged me on reddit about making an updated guide to my previous guide to the official My Little Pony comics. I've been lazy about it, but I finally sat down and wrote out a new updated guide. Hope you enjoy!
Hi everyone. My name's Triox, and I wanted to make a post about the official IDW comics for My Little Pony. I've been collecting them since they started and I've accumulated a lot of comics. A LOT!. So let's get started with this semi-FAQ that I see from posts in this subreddit about the comics.
ABOUT THE COMICS
- Who puts out the comics?
The official comics are published by IDW Publishing, the fourth-largest comic book publisher in the US (as measured by Diamond Comic Distributors). My Little Pony has been their highest selling property although they put out other popular comic series such as Transformers, The Powerpuff Girls, and Samurai Jack.
- When did the My Little Pony Comics start?
The first issue of Friendship is Magic was published on November 28, 2012. As of the time of this post, they are on Issue #65 (which releases TOMORROW April 4th!) and is still ongoing.
A second series was started on February 20, 2013 titled My Little Pony Micro-Series. Each issue of the series was centered around one character from the show. It ran for 10 issues and ended on December 18, 2013.
After the Micro-series ended another separate series was started titled My Little Pony: Friends Forever. This series' issues puts 2 characters together from the show in an adventure. They even use some of the non-main characters such as Granny Smith and the Flim-Flam brothers in Issue 9, Rainbow Dash/Spitfire in Issue #11, and Pinkie Pie/Cheese Sandwhich in Issue #34. The series ended with Issue #38 (Princess Celestia/Princess Luna) on April 19, 2017.
A short series called My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic was released in April of 2015. This 5 issue mini-series focused on telling the backstories of the main villians at the time. The issues were: #1- Sombra, #2- Tirek, #3- The Sirens, #4- Nightmare Moon, and #5- Chrysalis.
After the Friends Forever series ended, IDW began a new series titled My Little Pony: Legends of Magic. This series focuses on the backstory of all the characters who showed up in Season 7 like Rockhoof and Somnambula. The series explains how all these heroes come together to fight against evil. The main part of the series ended last month (March 2018) with Issue #12, but they will be releasing 1 last issue for the Legends of Magic Annual this month.
My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel was a 4 issue mini-series released last year right before My Little Pony: The Movie was released.
And starting in May of this year, we get a new series titled My Little Pony: Ponyville Mysteries. It is a continuation/companion series of the chapter book series of the same name, and it centers on the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they solve mysteries around Ponyville.
- Are the comics canon?
Supposedly, yes. According to a twitter conversation with Andy Price (one of the regular artists) Hasbro said they are canon (WARNING: Spoiler in twitter conversation). But there has been some inconsistencies in the comics that have caused some fans of the show to not consider is true canon. I guess in the end it's up to the readers to decide, although the writers and artists do a very good job trying to keep things aligned with the show.
READING THE COMICS
- How can I read the comics?
Well, the first place to look would be your local comic shop. You can check here to see if you have one near you. If they don't regularly carry the comic you can talk to one of the workers about ordering the comic for you. They usually sell for around $4 (but that's up to the store). If this is not an option an option you can buy the digital copies of the comics. They are released on itunes (MSRP $3.99 for newer issues and usually discounted for later issues) and Comixology (MSRP $3.99 for newer issues and usually discounted for later issues) as well. Buy them from the store and download them to your computer, phone, or tablet.
IDW also has an official app that you can buy the comics, as well as comic volumes (which is usually about 5 or 6 comic). The prices vary from $3.99-$1.99 for the single issues, and $9.99-$5.99 for the volumes.
- Where should I jump in with the comics?
If you are wanting to read them all, then you can use what was mentioned in the above question. But if you are just wanting to check out the series without having to read everything, or are just wanting to check out the best ones here are some suggestions that most people recommend:
- Friendship is Magic #5-8: Nightmare Rarity
- Friendship is Magic #9-10: Zen and the Art of Gazebo Repair
- Friendship is Magic #17-20: Reflections (My personal recommendation)
- Micro-series #3: Rarity
- Micro-series #10: Luna
- Friends Forever #2: Cutie Mark Crusaders and Discord
-
All of FIENDship is Magic (another of my recommendations)
-
I want them! How do I start?
Good to hear! Let's discuss this in the next section...
COLLECTING THE COMICS
- How do I get them all?
Well, first off let's define "all". Do you mean one of every issue put out?
If you don't have a lot of money to spend on collecting all the comics, IDW has made it easy for you to get caught up quick with their volumes. These books put several of the issues in 1 book, making it easy to read. Again check your local comic shop, they might have them. If they don't, then the next place is probably online. Amazon is a good start.
Volume 13: Issues 54-58 - PRE-ORDER
Volume 14: Issues 59-63 - PRE-ORDER
Volume 16: Issues 64-68 - PRE-ORDER
Omnibus Volume 2: Issues 13-24
Omnibus Volume 3: Issues 25-37
Omnibus Volume 4: Issues 38-50
Pony Tales Volume 1: Micro-series 1-6
Pony Tales Volume 2: Micro-series 7-10
Friends Forever Volume 1: Issues 1-4
Friends Forever Volume 2: Issues 5-8
Friends Forever Volume 3: Issues 9-12
Friends Forever Volume 4: Issues 13-16
Friends Forever Volume 5: Issues 17-20
Friends Forever Volume 6: Issues 21-24
Friends Forever Volume 7: Issues 25-28
Friends Forever Volume 8: Issues 29-33
Friends Forever Volume 9: Issues 34-38
Friends Forever Omnibus Volume 1: Issues 1-12
Friends Forever Omnibus Volume 2: Issues 13-24
Friends Forever Omnibus Volume 3: Issues 25-38
FIENDship is Magic Volume: Issues 1-5
Legends of Magic Volume 1: Issues 1-6
Legends of Magic Volume 2: Issues 7-12 - PRE-ORDER
My Little Pony: The Movie Prequel: Issues 1-4
These volumes can also be bought on iTunes, Comixology, and the official IDW app as well.
If you are wanting to get all the individual issues, then you are going to have to slowly piece each issues through your local comic shop, or online. Amazon and eBay are other online options.
- No, I mean ALL the issues. All the covers. EVERYTHING!
GREAT! This is currently the step that I am on. All the covers! You have a long road ahead of you though. I haven't tallied them in a while, but my guess is there are over 700+ different covers including regular covers, retailer incentives, retailer exclusives, con exclusives, and other covers. But the hunt is most of the fun in collecting the comics. Here is a spreadshete that includes, as far as I can tell, all the variants for the series. It's a lot, especially if you are looking to grab all the covers from the first issues as they will cost more because of collectors value. The common retailer exclusive covers are Hot Topic, Larry's Comics, Jetpack comics, and Hastings, although there are a lot more. Then you have 2 very Ultra rare comics. First of the "Millionth Copies" cover. Only 12 were made total. Sadly, no more contests as we know are going to happen, so maybe one day it will show up on eBay. The last one sadly.....Well, I have some bad news. IDW made a special "1 copy made EVER" cover. It sold at an auction for $6526.50. Recently, this ultra rare cover appeared on eBay for sale for an unbelievable $10,000.
But don't let that discourage you. There are LOTS of really, really cool covers you can collect. Start hunting!
TALKING ABOUT THE COMICS
So, you have collected the comics and loved them. Now you want to talk to other people who loved the comics as well. That's awesome! Typically the best place to talk about them is here on reddit. In this subreddit, there is a post made for each comic release for people to discuss that comic. You can find the link at the very top of the subreddit (You may have to turn on custom CSS in your reddit settings if you don't see it).
So hopefully, I was able to answer any questions people might have about the IDW comics. I recommend them to any fan of the MLP TV series. If you have any additional questions I'll try and answer them in the comments, and add any important information to the main post.
Submitted April 03, 2018 at 08:55PM by Triox
via reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/mylittlepony/comments/89lo1y/an_updated_guide_to_everything_you_probably_want/?utm_source=ifttt
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