"We choose what holds us back, and what moves us forward."—Splinter

The landmark 50th issue of My Little Pony!

Part of IDW’s Artist’s Edition Cover Month!

Fifty issues of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. That is absolutely incredible to think about. Four years ago I made a vow to collect every single comic cover in what I had initially assumed was going to be a very short lived series.Fifty-one months later and boy was I proven wrong!To celebrate, IDW My Little Pony Comic Editor Bobby Curnow was kind enough to sit down and discuss what it means to have hit such an incredible milestone. We also take a moment to reflect on some of what's happened to bring the series to this point, and then look towards the future with hints of what's to come later this year!Be sure to check it out after the break!It feels good! Monthly comics are such a constant whirlwind of activity, one rarely gets the chance to take stock of how far we've come. #50 is a good opportunity to sit back and say, "Huh! We've been doing this for a little while now!" But that lasts about five seconds, then it's on to thinking about reaching #100. Which is both a little daunting and very exciting.There's various boring organizational and planning tricks that one picks up along the way, but the most helpful things have been finessing the collaboration of a book—between the creators, licensor (Hasbro, in this case) and fan input. We've been blessed with fantastic creators and a great partner in Hasbro. I never have to chase anyone down because they've blown a deadline and gone silent. Hasbro is always eager to help us out in whatever way possible, and makes sure to give us everything we need to succeed. So I guess the biggest advice I could give is: surround yourself with good, reliable people! I'll take this opportunity to thank the fans as well. Obviously we wouldn't be here talking to each other without the fan support.Long story short, the biggest lesson I’ve learned is try to get lucky with a great property, creators, and fans! Those are the major factors that contribute to a long-running licensed comic series.We did have an extra 3-page back-up story by Sara Richard (in addition to Katie Cook's regular back-up story) in #25 as a little shout out to that milestone. For #50, nothing special prompted the 10-page back up story. Just seemed like a good time to add a little extra.I wish I had more interesting anecdotes. Most of the actual work on the comics, on my end, blends into a blur after a couple years. Then there's the various stories that work better in print than you imagine and those that maybe don't work as well. Pride and frustration with both of those.Meeting fans at a convention is a high point and my favorite memories over the past four years. It's great to joke around with both fans and creators at the shows. We've had a couple letters from parents of children who are going through tough times, for a variety of reasons, who have said that the comics have been an important coping tool, and in some instances, reading comprehension aide. That's always extremely satisfying to hear.The very first story arc still stands out in my mind, because we really didn't know how much the comic was going to take off and be a big thing. Being able to enjoy that story as a reader, and feel like it was working, was a nice feeling of accomplishment. Pulling off the weekly "FIENDship is Magic" event on top of the normal monthly books was a tricky thing that I was proud to accomplish.Nothing specifically comes to mind. "FIENDship is Magic" is the only thing that came from me, in terms of overall concept. But as with everything else, the individual stories came from the creators, and I try and keep as light a touch as possible when it comes to editorial input.I think we'll get some nice insight into Discord/Accord. And Andy did a fantastic final page that is very much a "thank you" to everyone who has read the book. MLP #50 also has a 10 page back-up story by Jeremy Whitley and Jay Fosgitt, featuring Celestia and Discord. Just a fun slice-of-life adventure to help balance the 'big events' of the storyline that culminates in #50.It was just an idea Ted Anderson had. We never had an ongoing story arc heavily featuring Discord, so the storyline leading up to #50 seemed like a good place to do it.It worked out schedule-wise, and I know Andy loves drawing Discord (well, everyone does!) but also there was a nice bit of symmetry to him starting and finishing this run of fifty issues.I'm very excited about the future of the comics. Last fall I went to the Hasbro studio offices in Los Angeles (A brief humorous aside: this was actually the very last meeting in that office, they were moving to a new location immediately after—boxes everywhere! They were very gracious to make time for me, it was obviously a hectic day). We discussed the upcoming season of the show and ways that the comics could be more closely involved. For this first story arc starting in #51, we'll basically just be touching on some themes that will be present in the season. But as we go on, we'll directly tie into some of the episodes of the season—providing backstory, or expanding on characters or events. At the same time, the stories will work on their own. Our aim is to have something that works as comics without knowledge of the episodes, but if you're watching season 7, you'll maybe get more enjoyment out of getting “the whole picture”.I don't know that there will be any reference to the comics in season 7. We'll be playing off of them more than they are to us. I'm always hesitant to use the term “canon” as there are inevitably going to be minor contradictions between the two mediums. But we have much more knowledge of what's going on in the show, ahead of time, than we have in the past, so it's our aim to make the divisions between the comic world and the show world as seamless as possible, while still preserving the unique style and storytelling possibilities in the two mediums.We often don't have titles for the stories in the comics, but James Asmus' unofficial title is “From the Shadows”. I'm really excited for people to read this story. There's going to be some hidden levels at work in regards to the antagonist that will reveal themselves in the future.Well, something that's a bit of announcement is that Friends Forever will be ending with issue #38. We'll have a new sister series* debuting immediately after that issue, which will also tie into the show to some degree. Perhaps we can talk more about this new series in a month or two![*Editors Note: The recently announcedcomic book series.]I'd say it's just more in depth pre-planning between us in the comics and the central show runners. As mentioned we had a good couple-hour brainstorming session in the fall, and I imagine we'll follow up on that once or twice more this year. We're also talking to a couple show writers about being more involved with the comics, but we'll see how that shakes out. They obviously have a very time-consuming first priority to producing the show.It's always a real pleasant surprise to see. We're all huge fans of the show, obviously, so when we see them winking back at us, it’s a big smile. It's not something they are obliged to do, so it's always appreciated.I really couldn't say, it's totally up to the show folk!We've always aimed to be as “canon” as possible, and fit into what is established in the show as much as possible. But of course there have been things that don’t line up, be it because of different production schedules or just different creators involved or other factors. Ultimately it's up to the show, which is the primary engine moving MLP forward, to decide how much the comics were, or are going to be, canon.I think we've covered a lot of it—a new direction for the ongoing that is more tied into the events of season 7, a new sister-series following Friends Forever, and I think it’s likely we’ll be doing something pretty interesting involving the movie at some point as well! I’m really excited to see this stuff get off the ground and in people’s hands. It definitely feels like a new chapter for IDW MLP.2017 is going to be an interesting transition year as we experiment with new stories and new creators, pushing out of our comfort zone a bit. It’s going to be a challenge, but I'm excited to see what kind of creative synergy we can get out of our increased coordination with the show. The scope of Equestria is really opening this year across all media, and that provides a lot of interesting story potential. But MLP always has a bedrock of engaging, layered, and changing characters at its core. Those characters will continue to be the beating heart of both the show and the comics and I hope we can dive ever deeper into them.My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #50 will be available at comic book shops everywhere on February 1st, 2017 .Ted Anderson (w) • Andy Price (a, mc, sc) • Sara Richard (ric) • Heather Breckel (c) • Jeremy Whitley (w) • Jay Fosgitt (a)"Chaos Theory" Part 3 (of 3). Discord's new form threatens to take over all of Equestria! When the Elements of Harmony prove ineffective, the final gambit rests in Starlight Glimmer's hoofs!FC • 40 pages • $5.99