You've come across a someone who is looking to get into the MLP Comics and are asked the most logical of questions: where do I start? I'm sure the question has come up more than once—I know this for a fact since I've been asked this more than once—and IDW has recently come up with an easy way to answer that question!
No, it is not Friendship is Magic issue #1. Instead, IDW Publishing has released a reader's guide to the series! And the best part: it's FREE.
Free PDF/epub Download here! It's also available for free on the IDW My Little Pony Comics App!
Marvel and DC comics have released similar guides in the past, and after nearly four years of published comic material it is a good idea to keep track of what happens when and make that accessible to new readers. You know, so that they can go track down back issues and potentially buy digital comics from all the usual places.
The guide has been designed to resemble a classic Hasbro board game. Parents and friends could potentially make it a game to see who can read through the MLP Comics as fast as possible. Which is a rather neat idea that I wish other comic companies would try out with their continuities.
Unfortunately… the reader's guide is incorrect. While the guide is organized according to series—so it's easy to follow for younger readers—there is enough crossover interplay between the Micro Series, Friendship is Magic, Friends Forever, and FIENDship is Magic that just reading the comic line by series will leave some readers confused.
It's also designed around the trade paperback releases as opposed to the individual comic book issues. On the one hand, the trades are constantly being reprinted so there's little chance of the books being out of print (for the time being). On the other hand, the individual issues are available digitally wherever digital comics are sold so it's not hard to track those down.
Don't fret though. Equestria Daily has created our own version of the reader's guide—in the form of a sequential list of the trade paperback releases—to keep everyone on track. You'll be able to find that below the break!
Equestria Daily's MLP 2016 Comic Reader's Guide:
- Pony Tales Volume 1
- Pony Tales Volume 2
- Friendship is Magic Volume 1
- Friendship is Magic Volume 2
- Friendship is Magic Volume 3
- Friendship is Magic Volume 4
- Friendship is Magic Volume 5
- Friends Forever Volume 1
- Friends Forever Volume 2
- Friendship is Magic Volume 6
- Friendship is Magic Volume 7
- Friendship is Magic Volume 8
- FIENDship is Magic
- Friendship is Magic Volume 9
- Friends Forever Volume 3
- Friends Forever Volume 4
- Friends Forever Volume 5
- Friends Forever Volume 6
- Friendship is Magic Volume 10
- Friends Forever Volume 7
Twitter: The Illustrious Q