G1 MLP Comic Questions

[Arcane Flame]

Heya All,

I just have a few questions about the G1 British MLP comic(s) to help prepare for a panel I'm running at Trotcon in a couple of weeks. First I'd really like to thank LadyMoondancer for her tumbr and web site which has been an amazing resource - but anyways the questions:

Does anyone know if there was any continuation/expansion of the Twinkle Eyed pony storyline besides "Applejack's Amazing Adventure" and "Fizzy and the Flying Fish" (MLP #42)?

Are there comic storylines or stories that do a lot of important/interesting world building?

Any notable unusual plants or artifacts such as the Doom Daisies, The Book of Horrors, magic Speedwell and North Star's compass that pop-up in stories?

Where/how did Megan get her bracelet in "Return of the Smooze"?

What stories are have the most amount of fridge horror/disturbing applications to them?

Also any comics with villains from the TV serials or Movie (I saw one with Hydia and the Smooze)?

Any good comics about Fizziwizz Night?

Anyone know any interesting trivia about the comics?

Also any other good sites with scans beside the amazing LadyMoondancer's sites?

[hathorcat]

Do you own any of the comics yourself? I can probably point to a few which it may help you to own as examples.

[Deep Purple Crystal]

I have some of these. I can assume...
1. No, there was not. There were no more sets of Twinkle Eyed ponies beyond 1987, so since those stories functioned as introductions for them, there was no need to continue them.
2. There are several adventure-type stories in the earlier comics especially. A good one to remember is the four-parter 'Firefly's Special Quest' which spans from issues 39-42. The plot is basically where Firefly and North Star set out on a quest to recover Majesty's four horseshoes, which were blown away by a Wind Wizard.
3. I'm not sure. I don't own all of the comics, in fact I own less than half of them. However, ponies did tend to have magical artifacts in the comics, such as the Magic Message Ponies' pockets being enchanted later on.
4. Probably at some point before the Smooze's return. It seemed as if she'd used it before in the story.
5. The comics are famous amongst the MLP community for having some of the weirdest (and most subtlety horrifying and disturbing) stories ever. You've got 'Applejack's Amazing Adventure' which... You probably know, the later issue where Quarterback is poisoned by Love Letter and Love Token, which causes him to desire to make out with an athletic sprite (The story kinda implies that Love Letter and Love Token have done it to other ponies with the 'love lozenges'), the story with Buttons, North Star and the doom daisies, the story about the slitherwigs, the one with the huge, ever-expanding caterpillar, and the story where the first set of newborn twins is brought to life from a picture that Baby Lucky drew. And then there's the magic wishing bananas, the witch who ensalves the ponies to make ice cream, the time that Wizard Wantall tried to steal Baby Count-a-Lot's abacus and a washing line, and... Never mind.
6. The comics were high fantasy like the cartoon, but were often not as adventure orientated, because the show's format allowed it to make use of grand adventure stories. The comics usually saved the adventure stories for multi-parters, and even then, they usually thought up original villains, such as Wizard Wantall or the Know-It-All Gnomes. I currently own the Smooze comic, but I don't think that Grogar or Erebus have shown up in any issues found to date.
7. The issues involving Fizziwhizz (or Fizzwhizz) Night usually are the ones published around November. if you are looking for stories where it is the focus, issues 57, 83, 168, and 194 all have stories either involving Fizzwhizz Night or mentioning it.
8. Hmmm, besides the comic about the comic (the ad for MLP and Friends no.1 of issue 41 of the 'My Little Pony' comic, the comic tended to feature ponies that were not sold in the UK, despite the comics being published there. In addition to ponies such as Surprise, Heart Throb, etc. that were actually never in the UK, Sea Mist of all ponies showed up in one early issue ('Where is the Waterfall', issue 3, also the first appearance of Wizard Wantall). The comics' art was also sent via fax from a Spanish company, Selecciones Illustradas. In addition to the above facts, Martin Grey, one of the editors of 'My Little Pony and Friends' (as well as the writer of the Smooze story) has a blog called 'Too Dangerous for a Girl' (Some of the comics tend to fall into said category). The G1 comics originally ran fantasy stories until 1993 (towards the end of both the comics' runs) where they shifted to the Tales characters, from issue 204 to the last issue (223) for the MLP comic, and issue 38 to the last issue (51) for MLP and Friends.
9. Not really. At least not to the extent that Heck Yeah Pony Scans had them. However, the blog is not as active as it was in previous years (follower since 2012).
I'm sure another comic expert could could clear up the rest of the answers for you, I don't have all the comics, unfortunately, I'm less than a quarter of the way there. Hope this helps!

[LadyGuinevere]

Are there comic storylines or stories that do a lot of important/interesting world building?

The twinkle eye origin is kind of iconic, but also there's the one about where baby ponies come from (the mirror) and I've always found the one where they find baby half note fairly notable. Unfortunately I don't have the numbers off hand.

Any notable unusual plants or artifacts such as the Doom Daisies, The Book of Horrors, magic Speedwell and North Star's compass that pop-up in stories?
Frequently there is some kind of unusual plant or artefact, but these are often one-offs.

When Tootsie mixes up her words, a lollipop patch appears.

What stories are have the most amount of fridge horror/disturbing applications to them?
Could you rephrase that? I'm not familiar with the term fridge horror.

Also any comics with villains from the TV serials or Movie (I saw one with Hydia and the Smooze)?
I don't recall there being any others, but then I can't remember many of the villains from the TV show.

Anyone know any interesting trivia about the comics?
There is a comic about the comic! The newsagent order form features a comic about getting the MLP comic (they forget to order and go to see Majesty as she is sure to have a copy).

Somewhere along the way, they started repeating the artwork for the stories, but with different text. (This was when I stopped getting it as a child as I was annoyed that they were reusing them).

I wouldn't consider the different names for the big brothers to be trivia, as these were the official UK names. In general, they went with the UK names when they were different.

Many of the ponies featured, particularly in the early days, were never actually sold here. (*shakes fist at Hasbro*)

[Deep Purple Crystal]

Yeah, I know that wasn't very good trivia, but I wrote those very early in the morning and needed to get all the information out.

[Taffeta]

I'm actively offended at something iconic and important from my childhood such as uk names being trivia. They were not 'renamed', they were included according to Hasbro 's official names for them in this country. If any renaming happened it was on the part of UK collectors who use US names to conform with the wider web, not the other way around.

The enchanted mirror is issue 1, and the story is scanned on my website, link in sig.

The Baby Half Note one, with Locket, is also in the favourite stories book. I have literally just photographed it, so will be putting it up soon.

Another key theme is Gypsy and the number 13. I remember a lot of odd and magical things going on around Friday 13th. One was Spike abd Baby Lucky bringing the newborn twins to life from a picture. There is also Shady and her hallucinogenic glasses, and Baby Shady and her boat. I remember Firefly under a contrary spell and Tootsie growing lollipops when she muddled her words, and older ponies moving to memory lane from which they made occasional fresh outings at a later date.

I have comic info about individual ponies scanned and listed across several pony pages on my site but I am about to go out. I will come back with more comprehensive stuff later, since to me the comic is pony canon more than the tv show - it covers more ponies.

The smooze was a one off story. I don't really know why they did it; it always seemed weird to me.

[LadyMoondancer]

The Smooze story was hastily written by Martin Grey (or Gray?), the editor, after Hasbro shot down a different story.

[Taffeta]

Ok, coming back to this now.
Are there comic storylines or stories that do a lot of important/interesting world building?
I think the answer to this is generally yes, because if you have the full continuity, you see things from earlier stories popping up again. It's my general opinion that some of the best and most fleshed out personalities happened around 1986-8. The Princess Ponies and the Adventure Boy Ponies/Big Brother Ponies had a lot of focus, so did the Mountain Boy Ponies. One interesting continuity that happens is that existing ponies discover or welcome new ponies to ponyland in a variety of odd ways.

Examples:
The aforementioned Baby Half Note (Locket on the Island with the keys, there's pretty much a whole comic about Baby Half Note - before, during and after her discovery. It's Baby Lucky's Birthday, and Spike's, and SUnbeam is organising a party, and Baby Half Note ends up dancing at it and adopting the same birthday).

The Mountain Boys are also discovered by Baby Lucky, in the story Magic in Misty Mountain (also scanned up on my site, link in sig)

The Adventure Boy Ponies (Big Brothers set 1) are discovered by  - I think, Sparks and Princess "Restless" Ruby.

Thundercloud and Twirler finding the MerrygoRound ponies trapped inside a "whispering whirligig"...which I think had something to do with the kidnap of Thundercloud's wizard friend from Misty Mountain

Dangles and YoYo stumbling (almost literally) on the Petite Ponies

Strawberry Surprise and Raspberry Jam encountering the Cookery Ponies' floating cloud:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login
 

Mainsail and Tug in their boats encountered Sail Away and her boat (and there's a poem about the discovery of Sail Away in the same comic, she's the first Tropical Pony to emerge)
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Milky Way and Gypsy discovered the Sparkle Ponies- namely Star Hopper, while following a trail of stars.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


There are tons more, I just can't remember all of them. Someone discovered the SHS ponies (Flowerburst and Dainty I think first of all) but I'm not sure off hand who. It was a general continuation like this, of older ponies discovering new ponies, handing the comic essentially over to these new ponies and retiring to Memory Lane, from which they would make occasional appearances.

Fizzy always reappeared in November because she was in charge of Fizziwhizz night, the Ponyland equivalent of November 5th, Guy Fawkes Night in the UK. Fizzy's ability related to this. My sister always loved that because Fizzy was her first pony and her birthday is also in November.

There were also frequently reappearing locations. Rainbow Mountain - where the Rainbow Babies lived, looked after by the Rainbow Curl Ponies. There were the two forests - the one where bad things happened and the one where weird things happened. There were quite a few other lands and locations that appeared from time to time and a number of recurring characters. Miranda the mermaid was quite a popular early one, and so was Kelpie. Can't remember what Kelpie was meant to be, though - some kind of sea sprite? There was also Question Mark who appeared quite often.

Many of the ponies had unique gifts which may or may not be mentioned on their backcard stories. Gypsy could see the future:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Rainbow Magic could grant wishes:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

Curly Locks could turn flower petals to ribbons. Magic Star had a magic wand and was considered the 'most magical' pony in Ponyland. Medley drummed her hooves on the clouds and waved her tail to make harp music. Good Weather always took good weather with her when she travelled. Baby Flicker could make odd things happen if she clicked her hooves and said flicker flicker flicker (!?!). Baby Lucky was also quite mysteriously magical, he did a lot of weird stuff, mostly without realising he was able to. The Sparkle Pony Sky Rocket had some kind of magic involving glitter and fireworks. I remember a comic where she was kidnapped by Wizard Wantall because of this.

Masquerade didn't have any magic, but she DID frequently dress up in disguises or to perform. Some examples:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Any notable unusual plants or artifacts such as the Doom Daisies, The Book of Horrors, magic Speedwell and North Star's compass that pop-up in stories?
I would say lots. Most are one-offs, not all. Majesty's magic shoes, cloak and mirror appear quite often. So does Magic Star's magic wand.

What stories are have the most amount of fridge horror/disturbing applications to them?
I find the Twinkle Eye cave slavery story the most disturbing of the ones I've read, but there are some others. I remember Applejack being turned into a tree or something like this, and to rescue her they ended up turing the witch into an old wizened tree instead.

Also any comics with villains from the TV serials or Movie (I saw one with Hydia and the Smooze)?
I agree with LadyG. I'm actually glad of this. The comic characterisations of ponies were closer to backcard stories and had their own canon. That meant that there wasn't an easy transition.

Anyone know any interesting trivia about the comics?
A lot of the ponies were drawn in it in their prototype or US release colour scheme/form, even if the released pony was different. Baby Mischief was always purple, Singing Pocket always had a horn, etc.

Twinkle Eye Ponies lost their Twinkle eyes when drawn in later editions of the Pony Comic.

A lot of the accessories that came with later ponies were also given away as free gifts with the comic, including the Best Friends from the Best Friends Babies, the combs that came with Merry Treat, the Hairdo Ponies and, I think, some others. Hasbro used the comic as a dumping ground for accessories they had left over, I think!

Most every pony in the UK release and some not in the UK release appeared in the comic at some point. Those that did not appear in stories in the comic, ever, include Rosette, Sweet Clover, Cascade.

[Deep Purple Crystal]

Sorry if I offended you, Taffeta. I understand that they were the official names for them there. I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that...
Those comic pictures are awesome! I didn't realize that the Cookery Ponies were found in a cloud...

[Taffeta]

There are a ton more but I can't remember them without going through my comics again. Vanilla Treat was quite a proactive character I seem to remember. The comic also has beautiful adverts. I think I have more scans on other site pages but I couldn't recall which off hand.

As for the UK names, it breaks my heart a little sometimes that so many UK collectors have abandoned the names they grew up with to match up with the US. I am also annoyed when ponies get called US ponies and European ones are called international. Not all the ponies sold innthe US were just US ponies and I thinknthe term international applies to ponies sold worldwide, whereas the term US should apply to ponies exclusive to that market. The UK names actually show fewer repetitions, asvwell, giving almost all the ponies a unique identity rather than a recycled trademark from an earlier pony. I think it would be lovely if those names got used more; eg Moonshimmer and Surfing Days rather than 'shs twinkler' and 'tropical Sea Breeze'. This probably won't ever happen, but a global emphasis on the US story doesn't make UK pony history 'trivia'.

That is why my site exists in the first place:)

As a kid I always thought the people making the cartoon got the names wrong .

[Lucky_Ladybug]

... I totally love the idea of Mainsail and Tug/Salty hanging out together, since I was planning to have them know each other if I ever get Mainsail.

The Twinkle-Eyes origin story definitely is disturbing. That one with the trees sounds unsettling, too. **shudders.** And the one mentioned earlier with Quarterback.... Never been a fan of "love potion" type stories, which basically remove someone's free will to fall in love where and when they choose.

[Wildshadow]

Yep, I need to read all my comics! Since I haven't really read them yet ^^"" and I have 1-203 and one missing from the Tales after 203. So many things I need to learn and relearn!

I do love the "Memmory Lane" they stared using to bring back some older ponies. I just remember that from one of the covers, think it was 202?

[Lucky_Ladybug]

That seems kind of sad for the older Ponies to go live on Memory Lane in order to fade out of the series, but it's nice that they occasionally came back.