My Little Pony

The pop culture power-pop band The Shake Ups have made a name for themselves on the Midwestern convention circuit as The Shake Ups in Ponyville, a My Little Pony-inspired project featuring original songs based on the hit cartoon show. For 2017, the band has announced their new side project; The Shake Ups In Beach City. That’s right, Together Breakfast readers --- they’re going full-on Steven Universe.

I'm not going to lie to you, folks: Things are looking pretty grim for everyone's favorite ponies. I mean, sure, they're having a good time on the cover for their next issue, celebrating the milestone 50th issue with a big party, complete with cake, presents, candy apples, and even some festive hats. Inside, however, things aren't quite so festive.

All right, look: I will admit that I have spent a truly inadvisable amount of time trying to figure out how the world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is supposed to work. I know, I know, but just trust me on this one, there's a complex cosmology at work there involving the manual rotation of planets and cross-dimensional magic -- and that's just the start of things. But just when I was ready to throw in the towel and give up, there is new hope. In April, IDW is launching a new My Little Pony series, replacing Friends Forever with the all-new Legends of Magic, launching with a new story by Jeremy Whitley and Brenda Hickey. It's a series that promises to explore "the secret history of Equestria," and between that description and the fact that there's a variant cover depicting the modern-day ponies straight up unearthing cave paintings of their '80s cartoon counterparts, and I have never been more intrigued. Read on for the exclusive announcement and some thoughts from Whitley and Hickey!

In the latest of our galleries celebrating the best covers of the year, we're looking at the best covers from IDW. IDW maintained its impressive and diverse line of licensed properties in 2016, from Ninja Turtles to Little Ponies, as well as ambitiously expanding and collating its Hasbro properties under the "Revolution" banner, and reviving and reinventing the Micronauts, M.A.S.K., and Rom.

Everyone loves trivia about their favorite animated features and series, but with over 100 years of animation history behind us right now, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite names in cartoons in this continuing video series. You think you know cartoons? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! This week we are looking at the phenomenon that is Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise, digging deep into the history of these petite equines for whom amity is so miraculous.

For a while now, Humble Bundle has been one of the best ways to catch up on a series that you might have missed. It's one of the reasons we spotlight them so much --- no matter what's on offer, they're almost always worth checking out just for the sheer number of comics you can get for the money. The only problem is that they're always digital comics, meaning that if you're an old school reader who prefers paper to pixels, you're out of luck. Recently, though, there's been a change. Over the past few months, a few Humble Bundles have offered up physical rewards that go along with the digital ones, and now, IDW's My Little Pony comic bundle is taking things to the next level. Not only can you catch up on the comics that chronicle the adventures of everyone's favorite Equestrian friends, but IDW is offering a Humble-exclusive 48-page paperback collection at the $25 level, complete with a brand new wraparound cover.

I think the record will show that I'm a pretty big fan of Hasbro's cartoons from the '80s, and one of the things I love most about them is how great the soundtracks are. Not just the theme songs, but the incidental music that provides the background for Jem and the Holograms, or that smooth jazz version of the GI Joe theme that plays under the closing credits. Heck, even in the years before More Than Meets The Eye came along and made me stop hating the Transformers, I still had to admit that the music was pretty great. The only problem is that I can't listen to it whenever I want, but now, it looks like that problem might be coming to an end. Composer Robert J. Walsh has confirmed that he's remastering the soundtracks for the Hasbro shows, with plans for Sony to release high-end versions that will include new footage and artwork, too.

Remember Christmas Comes to Pac-Land, the 1982 special where Santa Claus crash-lands on Pac-Man's front yard? If you don't, that's okay, but its worth noting that the entire plot revolves around Santa Claus having to explain Christmas to the weird little dot-eating hockey puck, implying that Pac-Land, despite having firm evidence of an afterlife, exists outside the sight of God. Trust me, it's as weird as it sounds. I bring all this up because it was a bizarre problem that My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic sidestepped by introducing their own gift-giving winter holiday, Hearth's Warming Eve, so that they could have all the fun of a Christmas story without having to include, say, Pony Jesus. But as Katie Cook takes the stage for this year's My Little Pony Holiday Special, it ends up raising a whole lot of other questions, like why Rainbow Dash is suddenly a reindeer. Check out a preview below and see if you can figure it out for yourself!

With October just around the bend, that means it's time for cooler weather, cooler costumes and the biggest comic book convention on the east coast. Yes, New York Comic Con is bearing down on us faster than we're prepared to deal with it, but that's okay. We'll make do. In addition to incredible amount of stuff happening at the show, there will be a lot of great stuff up for grabs. As busy as Funko was at San Diego Comic-Con, its plate looks to be equally as filled at NYCC this coming year. This week, Funko is unveiling all of its planned exclusive items, with a new batch coming every single day. While the availability of each is likely to be a bit more open than it was at SDCC, these things will still be limited. If you're hoping to get any, definitely plan ahead and around any and all panels you hope to make it to this year.

Hire This Woman is a recurring feature on ComicsAlliance that shines a spotlight on female comics creators, whether they're relative newcomers or experienced pros who are ready to break out. In an overwhelmingly male business, we want to draw your attention to these creators --- and to raise their profile with editors and industry gatekeepers. Agnes Garbowska is an artist best known for her adorable work on the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comics, but she's also done a lot of covers for other series, like Powerpuff Girls and Red Sonja, some children's book illustration, and a little bit of everything else as well!