2023 marks the 40th anniversary of beloved toy line My Little Pony. To celebrate this - and the many spinoffs that the toys have inspired - IDW is publishing a mammoth 100-page one-shot comic. The My Little Pony 40th Anniversary Special features three all-new tails - sorry, tales - full of the warmth and positivity that the franchise is famous for.
The first story, written by Sam Maggs and drawn by Keisha Okafor, is set in the decade that gave birth to the Pony phenomenon: the 1980s. In it, four young girls (plus their G1 Ponies) must bond together and use their imaginations if they're going to save their local stable from closing.
The second story is set in the MLP universe. Written by Jeremy Whitley and drawn by Amy Mebberson, Sunny Starscout and the rest of her G5 friends must learn about the history of Equestria and the first ponies.
The final story, by Tony Fleecs and Brianna Garcia, is set in the present day and sees an aunt and her niece having to rely on some old and dusty G1 My Little Pony toys for entertainment during a power outage.
Check out a gallery of covers for the anniversary special below.
My Little Pony was launched by Hasbro in the early 1980s and quickly became a popular multi-media franchise. While the toys have waxed and waned in popularity in the years since, they've developed a huge fandom, most notably in the wake of the TV series, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. That show was an enormous hit and spawned a comic which ran for 102 issues. It was relaunched last year.
The current generation of My Little Pony toys (G5) began in 2021 and introduced fans to Sunny Starscout, the protagonist of the My Little Pony: A New Generation film.
The My Little Pony 40th Anniversary Special is released on July 12 by IDW Publishing.
Remarkably, there's a My Little Pony adaptation of Little Women.
