My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (comics)

The Friendship is Magic franchise extends to several comic books. Outside of the short strips published in My Little Pony magazines, there is a series of ongoing comics published by IDW Publishing.

My Little Pony Friendship is Magic comic book series by IDW
IDW Publishing are set to publish a Hasbro-licensed full-color comic book series entitled My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, written by Katie Cook, drawn by Andy Price, and colored by Heather Breckel, with guest cover artists including Jill Thompson, Stephanie Buscema, Amy Mebberson, and Rob Reger. In September 2012, Amy Mebberson stated that she was working on getting Sabrina Alberghetti on some covers. Andy Price has used the collection Creepy Presents Bernie Wrightson for reference. Four pages, including the first issue's third page, were displayed at the New York My Little Pony Project 2012.

Each issue is 32 pages long, having 24 pages of content: 22 story pages and a 2 page back-up story. The series consists of original stories set after the second season of the show, with the first eight issues divided into two four-issue story arcs. For the first arc, Queen Chrysalis is the main antagonist, the Cutie Mark Crusaders play an important role, and Princess Luna appears on one of the covers but does not appear in the story itself; for the second arc, there is an original villain. Two characters appearing in the series are Octavia and Jim, "a very specific character" named by Katie Cook, implicitly after Jim Miller. Katie Cook and Andy Price hinted in September 2012 that Wild Fire may appear in the series.

Issue #1
Issue #1 is to be released on November 28, 2012; Dynamic Forces offers a limited edition signed by Katie Cook. The issue was initially to be released on November 14, 2012, but IDW changed the release date to better accommodate solicitators. This issue's back-up story is written and drawn by Katie Cook. By October 11, 2012, this issue had sold 90,100 copies in North America, a higher figure than the contemporary Uncanny X-Men sales.

Covers
The issue is to have a total of 19 different covers: The six covers by Andy Price are parts of a larger picture, and are to also be released together in a slipcase box set. An early cover by Andy Price, featuring Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Spike, Opalescence, Gummy, Angel, and two birds, was displayed at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International.
 * Cover A by Andy Price, featuring Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, Spike, and Owlowiscious
 * Cover B by Andy Price, featuring Applejack, DJ Pon-3, and Winona, and showing an album cover depicting four stallions with the text "The Hoof Beats"
 * Cover C by Andy Price, featuring Pinkie Pie, Zecora, and Gummy
 * A cover by Andy Price featuring Rainbow Dash
 * A cover by Andy Price featuring Rarity
 * A cover by Andy Price featuring Fluttershy
 * One in ten variant Cover RI by Stephanie Buscema, featuring Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Angel
 * A subscription exclusive variant cover by Jill Thompson
 * A Double Midnight exclusive variant cover by Amy Mebberson, featuring Derpy and Rainbow Dash
 * A Dynamic Forces exclusive variant cover
 * A "mystery" retail exclusive variant cover
 * A Larry's Comics exclusive variant cover
 * A Jetpack exclusive variant cover
 * A joint Larry's & Jetpack exclusive variant cover, showing the Larry's Comics and Jetpack variant covers connected
 * Lone Star Comics exclusive variant Cover RE by Amy Mebberson, featuring Pinkie Pie, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom, and showing a magazine titled Hoof Beat depicting Time Turner, DJ Pon-3, Hoity Toity, and Spitfire
 * A Midtown Comics exclusive variant cover by Amy Mebberson, featuring Derpy and showing Covers A and B by Andy Price
 * Hastings exclusive variant Cover RE by Amy Mebberson, featuring Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy
 * A Third Eye Comics exclusive variant cover by Amy Mebberson, featuring Spitfire, Soarin', and three Pegasus ponies
 * A Wonderworld Comics exclusive variant cover

Summary
"Welcome to Ponyville, home of Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and all your other favorite Ponies! Something's not right in the town though, as some of the inhabitants are acting very, very strange! It's up to the Mane Six to find the source of the weirdness before it's too late!"

In the issue, Queen Chrysalis returns, and her name is established to be Queen Chrysalis. A host of characters appear on page 3: a parasprite; "Snowflake"; Owlowiscious; a changeling; Cranky Doodle Donkey; a Pegasus mare based on the G1 pony Firefly; a pair of stallions based on the Blues Brothers; a mouse; Angel; Philomena; Golden Harvest; Silver Spoon; Rainbow Dash; an Earth pony stallion based on Thomas Magnum from Magnum, P.I.; Time Turner; an Earth pony stallion based on Earl Hickey from My Name Is Earl; "Ace"; Tank; Derpy; "Screwball"; an Earth pony stallion based on Andy Price; a unicorn mare based on Andy's wife Alice Price; a unicorn mare based on Katie Cook; the Prices' cats Sam, Spooky, Tabitha, Boris, Bela, and Mina; several other ponies, including one whose cutie mark is a peace sign; and several silhouettes; also visible are a banner depicting Mayor Mare with the text "Re-Elect" and a flyer depicting Iron Will.

Issue #2
Issue #2 is to be released on December 19, 2012.

Covers
The issue is to have at least 5 different covers:
 * Cover A by Katie Cook, featuring Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, and three spiders
 * Cover B by Katie Cook
 * Cover C by Katie Cook
 * Variant Cover RI-A by Stephanie Buscema, featuring Rarity, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike
 * Unique hand-drawn sketch Cover RI-B by Katie Cook

Summary
"Queen Chrysalis has returned! Our ponies have no time to horse around, as they set off to rescue their friends from Chrysalis kingdom. What magical adventures await them, and where the heck is Princess Celestia?"