Look familiar?

[Dragonflitter]

Yeah IDW does that a lot, actually. They have their Transformers comics. They also have a TMNT series that is a different continuity than the movies or the cartoon on Nick right now. And they have a Ghostbusters comic series that isn't part of the continuity of the reboot movie that came out last year at all.

It's standard that different official productions will have different timelines. Heck, in a lot of franchises, movies aren't even in the same continuity as the show they are based on! MLP is just one that is a bit unusual because the G4 franchise doesn't have a lot of 'alternate continuities' so far. The movies have been careful to match up with the timeline of the show. The video games aren't really separate storylines. We only have the comics differing at this time. (Actually the Enter-Play card games, if you count those as official products, have a lot of alternate names for background ponies as well.)

[Carrehz]

Licensed comics in *general* tend to deviate from the source material's canon, it's not just FiM. (For example, an early arc of the Adventure Time comics apparently had them throw the Lich - the series' main villain - into the sun; nothing like that ever happened in the show.) I do understand not liking them for that reason (I tend to be the same way), it's a bit silly to call them "fanfiction" though, imo :p

I am surprised that the various G4 continuities seem to have matched up fairly well so far, though (barring some obvious differences here and there). If that makes sense..

[Dragonflitter]

Except for background characters names, lol. Between the show, the comics, the Enter-Play card games, and the Hasbro toys, sometimes the same character ends up with a bunch of different names. And that isn't even counting fan names! lol

[Dulset Tarn]

Hey, I'd be more than happy if the people in charge of the comic actually said that it's a completely separate sub-canon from the main show canon (you know, exactly like fanfiction writers say). But the writers and Hasbro insist that it's really truly canon even though it makes no sense at all.

[Dragonflitter]

Actually what they have said is that the comics are canon unless something in the show contradicts them, which is not the same thing at all.

They're not saying "This thing that contradicts the show actually happened in the show's timeline!" If they were saying that, then yes, that would make no sense. What they are saying is "If you see something in the comic, you can assume it is true to the show universe unless the show does something different, then consider the comic to be a different continuity." Which is a bit 'have your cake and eat it too', yes, but that doesn't mean it doesn't make sense.

[Dulset Tarn]

Actually what they have said is that the comics are canon unless something in the show contradicts them, which is not the same thing at all.

Ok, now try to imagine if someone who wrote fanfiction tried to tell you that about their stories. And now imagine that their fanfictions are constantly asserting things about the characters' hidden desires, secret fears, deep histories, and love interests. And now imagine that it's all stupid and terrible. And they try to tell you that "Well as long as it doesn't contradict the show..."

[LadyMoondancer]

Stories aren't fanfiction based on whether they contradict the canon.  They're fanfiction because they're unlicensed, unasked for stories.  Just like the difference between fan art and official art . . . If you don't like the MLP comics then that's fine;  I don't like Pinkie's Pinkie Sense, I think it's a dumb idea.  Nevertheless, Pinkie Sense is canon and so are the comics.

[Al-1701]

"Non-Canon" comics and novels are nothing new.  Star Trek has literally hundreds of novels by dozens of authors.  And, while not cannon with the television series, they are all endorsed by Paramount.  So, they're official material even if not part of the series.

The IDW comic is the same for My Little Pony.  It's endorsed by Hasbro, so it's official material.  However, it is not necessarily canon with the show.

As a fan writer, I also don't like the insinuation that fan fiction writing is synonymous with bad writing.

[Carrehz]

As a fan writer, I also don't like the insinuation that fan fiction writing is synonymous with bad writing.

Yes, this bothered me, too! (I 100% agree w/ the rest of your post too, but this bit stood out to me the most, if that makes sense)

Except for background characters names, lol. Between the show, the comics, the Enter-Play card games, and the Hasbro toys, sometimes the same character ends up with a bunch of different names. And that isn't even counting fan names! lol

haha, true Soooo many names for some ponies.

[MJNSEIFER]

Hey, I'd be more than happy if the people in charge of the comic actually said that it's a completely separate sub-canon from the main show canon (you know, exactly like fanfiction writers say). But the writers and Hasbro insist that it's really truly canon even though it makes no sense at all.

The comics are canon and the show is canon, but they are two separate canons.  My Little Pony has always done this as far as I can see - the comic books/story books for G1 and G3 are separate canons to the cartoon series from the look of things - ponies act differently and characters exist only in the comic books/story books or only in the cartoons - hell, even the toylines have their own canon to them in places, what with the backcard stories having their own "episodes" on them, especially in G1 as well as a different idea as to how Ponyland works (the backcard stories are actually close, but not completely to how Equestria works in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic at times).

As a fan writer, I also don't like the insinuation that fan fiction writing is synonymous with bad writing.

Thank you, Al.  I've never liked this either.

[Dragonflitter]

Stories aren't fanfiction based on whether they contradict the canon.  They're fanfiction because they're unlicensed, unasked for stories.

I'm going to bold part of LadyMoondancer's response because I think this is the big thing. You can't compare comics to fanfiction because fanfics are UNASKED for. I'm not saying they are all written poorly or they all play loose with the show canon or that they are a bad idea. Not at all, I LOVE fanfiction. But it is unasked for. It is not endorsed or requested from the official source. This is entirely different from the comics. The comics aren't some entity out there publishing and hoping Hasbro doesn't notice or objects to their existence. They WERE asked for. These artists and writers were specifically sought out and hired to produce this series of stories to be a new canon for MLP. And the show creators still have the reins.

Case in point, when the first illustrations for Issue 13 were submitted, they showed merponies looking very much like the G1 merponies. But Hasbro stepped in and made the artist change them to look like something else entirely. (They now look like the betta ponies from the MLP children's book "Under the Sparkling Sea.") That was not a fan or comic-creator decision, that was the source stepping in and saying "Nope, this isn't going to work, so fix it to be more like what we want."

(I'll be completely honest, though, I don't like half the comics either! That storyline with the pirates was so stupid I actually sold my trade after I bought it. Ugh. But that doesn't mean I consider the comics equal to fanfiction.)

The comics are canon and the show is canon, but they are two separate canons. 

Ah yes! This, exactly! I can't sum it up better than this.

Despite the fact that Hasbro still holds the reins in telling the comic what it can and can't do, they also recognize that the comic is going to go it's own way from the show and be a legitimate parallel MLP universe.

[Dulset Tarn]

I would never say that "fanfiction" automatically means bad, but the comics really do seem to pull a lot of infamous fanfic maneuvers.

And you guys can have your own definitions of fanfiction that exclude official works, but please don't try to impose them on others.

And wait, isn't that contradictory to say that they're separate canons (like fanfiction), AND that they're "canon unless contradicted by the show"? Which one is it?

[Al-1701]

"Fan Fiction" is defined as literature written within a preexisting intellectual property without the consent or license of the holder of that property.  Hasbro has licensed IDW to write and produce the comic series and each story requires their consent.

And the "infamous fanfic maneuvers" you're talking about are bad writing period.  It might be more common among fan fiction, but that's because anyone with a word processor and access to the internet can post whatever they write without the gatekeepers official scripts and prose have to go through.  However, official material can make the exact same mistakes.  Even writing legends have put out some absolutely terrible material.

I won't argue the comic's quality is spotty at best.  However, that's because the writers and editors got a bad idea in their head and decided to run with it.  It's not because they're writing "fan fiction".  The show itself has the same issue.

And it's been stated the IDW comic is a second-tier canon for the current My Little Pony universe.  Unless the show has said otherwise, we can assume what we see in the comic are events that have taken place.  That has been said by the staff of the show and comic.

Also, why do you have to make everything a confrontation?

[Bekuno]

And you guys can have your own definitions of fanfiction that exclude official works, but please don't try to impose them on others.

The same can be said for you too Dulset.

Please, guys. Every single thread in this forum gets turned into an argument and it is completely unnecessary. Everyone cool your jets, it's just a comic book.

I'm officially putting down a warning.

[Dragonflitter]

True. If we keep this up we'll be arguing about what the definition of 'is' is, next. Arguments about the legitimacy of comic books isn't on-topic with this thread, which is about the new series coming out.

The unicorn with the elf like ears on that cover looks interesting!!!

Hey I didn't notice that until you pointed it out, Mermaid! You're talking about the purple unicorn with the green mane, right? Her horn is also noticeably more pointed and curved than the standard MLP as well! I wonder if she will be a kirin? Or maybe just from a place in Equestria that is Japanese-influenced? I dunno why but I'm getting a Japanese vibe from her.

I see the comics still can't decide if Star Swirl the Bearded was white or blue lol. The show seems to have this issue as well. He's white in the episodes that show him as a picture on a poster, but blue-ish in the EqG movie... although that was done in story illustration style. Perhaps his blue coat faded with age.