Friday, March 10, 2017

Covers of Artists You Should Get Signed (Part 1)

With the start of Season 7 a little over a month away the fandom is already stirring with excitement.  Message boards, Facebook groups, and Reddit posts are popping up daily with speculations, leaks, and discussions about anything and everything for the new season. And with the arrival of the new season comes new merchandise. As we know, Hasbro is in the market to sell us merchandise and we've accepted it. We not only look forward to these new toys or DVDs, we even take it a step further and as fans of the show, make our own collectibles as well. This is why the My Little Pony convention scene are popular events for fans of the show.

With the success of the My Little Pony comics, it was only a natural match that we would see artists and writers of the comic and these conventions come together. These people are fans of the show just like us, they just have a unique job where they get to use their talent to produce official My Little Pony material. Every artist I've ever talked to has been ecstatic to talk to me and the fans of their work and are happy to autograph covers. One time I told Tony Fleecs he didn't need to sign the cover I bought since he had signed 10 other covers earlier that day. He almost snatched the comic out of my hand so he could sign one more.

So here is a list of some covers of artist I think everyone should try to get signed if you plan on attend any cons.

Andy Price

1.) Friendship is Magic #9 SDCC 2013 Variant


This is just a beautiful cover. One of the first "limited" covers to be popular, this cover was one of the two for sale at San Diego ComicCon in 2013.  This was the first SDCC after IDW started putting out comic, and they began with a good start. Featuring DJ P0N-3 on the cover, she takes up the majority of the cover's space, giving the impression that this exclusive cover was really special and should be picked up. Sadly, I have to start this list with a little bad news. Rumored to have been limited to only 1000 covers printed it is becoming a lot harder to pick up this comic. Recent searches online shows only one comic for sale and it's a graded comic, driving the price way up and making it difficult to get autographed.  But, if you are lucky enough to own this cover or can pick it up for a reasonable price, it should be on the top of your list for covers to get Andy to sign.

2.) Friendship is Magic #43 Indy PopCon


A more recent issue of the comic series, this cover is a really neat issue for collectors. Breaking the 4th wall a little, this cover features Twilight in a sound booth with the pony version of Tara Strong doing voice lines for Twilight Sparkle. Yeah, it's a little confusing, but ultimately a fun cover. Since its a more recent cover, it's not too hard to track down issues to pick up online. I purchased a few covers from eBay for a very good price. As a bonus, if you are attending a Con with both Any and Tara, consider getting both to sign the cover to make it extra special.


3.) Friendship is Magic #20 Cover A


While not particularly a newer cover, this one wasn't a special variant or a limited run. It was just a regular cover sold at comic shops, so the price of this cover should be affordable. The cover features a nice action shot of Princess Celestia fighting against alternate reality Princess Celestia.  This comic was apart of the Reflections story arc (which was one of the better arcs released so far in my opinion) so this makes it an issue worth making special.


Tony Fleecs

1.) Friendship is Magic #7 Retailer Incentive



I will never pass up an opportunity to talk up this cover.  When I saw this cover sitting in a case at my local comic shop, I knew I was going to be buying more than just the regular cover each month. This issue was the third part of the Nightmare Rarity series, and the action had just gotten serious. Tony was able to convey the seriousness of this issue with this cover before even opening it up. I'm a sucker for anything that isn't the cheerful and happy theme that generally a plenty in the My Little Pony universe and this cover shows the not so cheery side of a usually bright world. It just screams "This is why My Little Pony needed a comic book, so we had the chance to have this image for you to collect." I absolutely recommend getting a copy of this cover to get Tony to sign for you.

2.) Friendship is Magic #4 Jetpack Comics and Larry's Comic Variant


OK, I'm going to cheat a little on this one. I'm going to suggest a pair of covers instead of just one because this pair of connecting covers is too good to separate. As you can see from the picture I don't have these signed yet myself, but it is on the top of my list for the next time I can attend a con that Tony is going to be at. They are early issue, limited run covers by Jetpack Comics and Larry's Comics, so it might be difficult acquiring them, sadly. The battle between Princess Celestia and Nightmare Moon/Luna has been used multiple times through out the comic series, but I feel these 2 covers are just a step above the rest.

3.) Friendship is Magic #24 Jetpack Comics Cover


Tony Fleecs has done a lot of variant covers for My Little Pony, so it's not a surprise that his list concludes with another one.  Jetpack Comics was a regular for limited run from issue #1 up to Issue 19, when they stopped doing the connecting covers with Larry's Comics. I thought this might have been he end of their exclusive variants outside of convention covers, but on Issue #24 we see the return of Jetpack Comics. This cover is an homage to Buffy the Vampire Slayer with appearance of Spike and Flutterbat rounding out the Vampire theme. Just an overall cool cover to own, and a great choice for one to get signed. 


Amy Mebberson

1.) Friendship is Magic #1 Midtown Comics Variant


When it comes to Issue #1 covers Amy Mebberson was the queen.  For the launch issue of the comic series we saw Amy have 8 different variant covers. While all the covers were great, one cover seemed to be the fan favorite and that was the Midtown Comics cover. With Derpy taking up a huge majority of the cover space, this is an excellent choice for getting a cover to get signed when attending a con.

2.) Friendship is Magic #16 Hot Topic Variant


Out of all the Cutie Mark Crusaders characters Scootaloo doesn't seem to be featured a lot on the MLP covers. So when a cover came out that had Scootaloo as not only the main focus of the cover, but also a nice action shot, I was really delighted to see it. It doesn't hurt that fan favorite Rainbow Dash is on the cover as well.

3.) Friendship is Magic #19 Hot Topic Variant


Another cover from the Reflections story arc, the Hot Topic #19 cover is a good choice when searching for covers to get signed. The design and outfit of alternate reality Luna was one of my favorite characters drawn in the comic series. Not only can you see the devious look that alt Luna has, but the concerned look of regular Luna just really makes the pairing of these two characters on the cover as a great choice.


Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article where we go over covers by other artists like Sara Richards, Agnes Garbowska, and other artists.

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