The Comics and the Pony Line

The My Little Pony Comic began in 1985, it ended in 1993. My Little Pony and Friends, which also featured stories for the Moondreamers, Glo Friends and Potato Head Kids, began in 1987 and ended in 1994. Unlike the animation, almost every single pony sold in the UK appeared in the comic in some form - along with a few extras in the early years where Hasbro were still considering who to release and who to hold back. These stories were interspersed with photo adverts, character profile pages, craft activities, nature information, games, calendar pages, posters and club related messages - most of which were overseen by one or other pony, depending on the theme, season or story that had inspired it.

Making tulips with Posey
My Little Pony Comic, 1986

Many also came with free gifts, which could be anything from actual pony accessories to booklets introducing a new set. Merry Treat's comb, a newborn white bottle, a Best Friends Baby Pet, a rattle and a Hairdo Pony comb were all freebies given away by the My Little Pony comic.

Best Friends Baby Pets advertised as comic free gift
 1993

These ponies were often drawn with features recogniseable from prototype ponies or promotional material, indicating that the comic artists were working from early Hasbro images for each set.

Comic representation (left) of Songster based on pegasus prototype (right)
1990

Pocket Friends Ponies drawn in the species/poses of the original set prototypes
My Little Pony Comic, 1992

New releases would be introduced into the comic at relevant intervals, but the bulk would usually appear around the new year point, when the majority of new characters were unveiled. Comic offers or competitions to win ponies from newly released sets were regular occurrences.

My Little Pony Comic competition to win a 2nd Edition Show Stable
1990

 The comic used UK pony names and set names, but drew their character information both from UK backcards, and, with some earlier ponies, US backcard stories. Some early UK release ponies had characters borrowed or amended from US release package stories, because they lacked characters of their own.

As with the animation, the comic was designed to sell ponies. It just did so more consistently.

Some observations about the UK pony comic "Canon".

In the animation, the ponies lived in "Dream Valley", which was a part of Ponyland. In the comics, there was never really a focus on "Dream Valley". The word "Ponyland" as a collective was more common. "Ponyland" was also not the sole country included in the comic stories. There were numerous other lands, islands, and countries with inhabitants of various species, animal, humanoid, insectoid or fantasy, with which the ponies interacted.

Other non-pony characters also lived within "Ponyland" - not just the attendants and friends who were on sale with ponies, such as Spike or Brandy, but also regular characters such as the Weather Witch, Junk-It, Wizard Wantall, The Flower Lady. The CopyCats, Greenie Grumbleweed, the Know-All Gnomes, String-Along, the Man in the Moon, The Sandman, Question-Mark, Magician Muddle, Miranda the Mermaid and so on. Certain ponies also had particular 'friends', although these did not become toys - such as Sally Starfish, who was a friend of Braided Beauty's, Untidy Ted who was a pal of Shaggy, Mr Caterpillar, who was friends with Wiggles, and Solomon the Snail, who was friends with Squirmy. Fairytale and nursery rhyme characters, such as Little Boy Blue, also made an appearance, and at least one comic story mimicked the tale of Rapunzel.

Princess Star Gleamer lets down her hair to let her mousy rescuer in
My Little Pony Comic #114

There were also characters who had particular magical significance, such as the Autumn Princess, who ended Summer, and the Stone Giant, whose song would foretell trouble approaching. Fairies, pixies, elves of all shapes and sizes populated the stories alongside all manner of birds and beasts, and even sunbeams or stars.

The ponies themselves also lived in diverse locations around Ponyland. Some lived in mountains - the Mountain Boys in Misty Mountain, and the Rainbow Curl and Rainbow Babies lived in Rainbow Mountain.

Misty Mountain
My Little Pony Comic, 1987

The Tropical Ponies lived in the Tropical Isle, while the Baby Sea Ponies lived in the sea under the guidance of King Neptune. The Cookery Ponies weirdly lived in a floating, scented pink cloud, from which they would occasionally descend. This was alongside more standard locations such as "Flutter Valley" and the playset-driven Dream Castle, Lullabye Nursery, Grooming Parlour(s), the Waterfall and Paradise Estate. Ponies also regularly visited places like the Silver Stream, Weird Wood, and even the moon.

With an essentially rolling door of characters coming in and out depending on what was in store, there were new locations, sets and adventures included along the way. The introduction of the Adventure Boys, for example, added rail, road and sea travel, and these were often used in broader stories. Some ponies would be in the comic only for the duration of a year or two, others would be regular returns. Some of the most common and persistent characters in the pony comic were Majesty, her dragon Spike, and her ward, Baby Lucky - but there was no real overall 'core cast'. Being withdrawn from stores did not automatically mean being eliminated from comic appearances, however. Some ponies reappeared in much later editions to participate in stories matching particular themes.

Snowflake, Powder and Ice Crystal brought back to feature in a winter story
My Little Pony UK comic #197, 1992

Others moved to a new location called "Memory Lane", giving advice to later pony visitors.

Tootsie, down Memory Lane
My Little Pony Comic, 1992

Although Megan had a role in the comic, she only really appeared occasionally, and mostly during 1986-7, when she was on sale. After this she had the occasional cameo, or was relegated to running the letters page.

Real world festivals were marked in the comic, albeit sometimes under other names. The ponies celebrated Christmas and New Year, and, until the introduction of a formal Christmas pony in Merry Treat, the ponies took it turns to play at being pony santa. Other celebrations included Valentines Day, Lucky Clover Day (St Patrick's Day), Pancake Day, Easter, May Day, Harvest Festival and Guy Fawkes Night (Fizziwhizz Night).

"Merry Mayday"
Comic cover #181
UK, 1992

The last year or so of the My Little Pony comic focused on the world of the Tales ponies, or Seven Characters. This meant that some characters - like the Rockin' Beats and Glowing Magic Ponies - were reintroduced in a new context, having already been introduced prior to the Tales switch. In the older comics, they appeared with magic abilities, but in the later comics, Tuneful lost her horn, and magic was no longer on the table. The Tales stories also brought more 'invented' ponies into the narrative, and not all ponies on sale in 1993-4 were depicted in these comics.

Tuneful, as depicted before My Little Pony Tales (1992) and during My Little Pony Tales (1993-4)
UK Pony Comic.

Although there are still some people who insist that My Little Pony Tales was actually G2, the reality is that it was a part of Generation 1. To any kid growing up in the 1990s, there was no difference between these new ponies and the ones that came before. The shift in the narrative style from magical to slice of life was a significant one, but, at the same time, UK kids had grown up seeing the cast of the comic change and stories altering to reflect the themes of those new characters.

An old pony story from the "Scrapbook"
My Little Pony Comic #208, 1993

Letters to and about older ponies appeared still on letter pages, and, most importantly, every My Little Pony Tales comic featured an older story, featuring older characters, in reprint, termed a story from the "My Little Pony Scrapbook." Which is where this site gets its name!

My Little Pony is for boys too.

My Little Pony is often discussed as a toy for girls - which is, of course, the core target audience. But the idea that Generation 1 was exclusively enjoyed by girls - and that Generation 4 was the first generation to appeal to boys - is unfounded. In fact, through the years the comic was active, the letters pages often included letters and pictures from boys as well as girls.

This remark, printed in My Little Pony & Friends #27, sums up Hasbro - and the comic's - perspective on this phenomenon during the eighties and nineties. My Little Pony was a girl-targeted toy, but enjoying My Little Pony was ok for boys too.

"My Little Pony is for boys, too."
Megan, My Little Pony & Friends #27, UK

Perhaps we can understand this most given that Hasbro were predominately a toy company making toys aimed at boys, and My Little Pony was a lot of an experiment. It explains why they might have wanted and encouraged a more diverse fanbase.