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Magolor has been a fan favorite of the Kirby series ever since his first appearance in Kirby's Return to Dream Land. However, his popularity has grown even more over the last year and a half due to the game’s Nintendo Switch remaster, Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe. Between official merchandise, fanart and more, the love people have for Magolor has been shown in a variety of ways.
One great example of this though is the recent Magolor art collaboration known as “Magolor Collab.” Released back in March of this year, this collaboration spearheaded by Mac (Twitter/Tumblr) and TUUW (Twitter/Tumblr) featured 48 scenes, with one artist assigned to an individual piece. The scenes offer us an illustrated timeline of Magolor, his life and his many journeys.
The planning for this collaboration started all the way back in March 2023.
“I got the idea for the collab when I first finished Return to Dream Land Deluxe and saw Magolor's story finally piece together after 12 years,” Mac told Kirby Informer. “I realized he is a unique instance of character in the Kirby series because his story has a very clean beginning, middle and end.”
Players have been able to see Magolor’s actions, how they have developed, and how they have now lingered throughout the franchise. With all of these factors considered, Mac wanted to start this collaboration as a way to both represent and celebrate Magolor in an exciting and distinctive way.
“I wanted to start a project that represented this and celebrated it in a fun and unique way,” said Mac.
Mac had mentioned this collaboration idea to TUUW, and then the ball got rolling from there. From discussing the ideas just in passing, they discussed it more and more; this made them realize they could absolutely set out on starting this and that it was very much doable.
“The more and more we discussed it, the more it felt like something totally doable,” said TUUW. “I’ve always had a lot of fun moderating and organizing events in the past so I was super excited for this to be a reality.”
With TUUW’s previous experience in moderating and organizing similar events, the two made an amazing team. However, that’s not to say there weren’t any struggles. The first issue was figuring out how to exactly compile the scenes.
“Compiling a list of all the prompts in order, and even having a big enough amount to make the project feel "full" enough [was difficult]. While Magolor's story is given a clearer development of events compared to other characters, there are still a lot of loopholes or moments that emphasize personalized understanding that haven't been officially explained,” said Mac.
While Magolor’s story is definitely a bit more straightforward compared to other characters in the series, there were still loopholes to account for, as well as moments that may have been left up to personalized understanding. With that, the pair had to figure how to compile each scene while also avoiding what some may consider headcanon territory, as well as avoiding conflicting interpretations. Another struggle they came across was picking out the artists. So many talented fans applied to be part of the project. It was truly awe-inspiring for them to see so much interest.
“We had an overwhelming amount of support and interest right from the get go, but a very limited idea of what we wanted done,” TUUW said. “I can’t think of a single person who applied that didn’t totally wow us, everyone in the Kirby fandom is so talented!”
In the end, the collaboration was released, and it truly showcased everyone's love and passion for Magolor. Mac and TUUW’s love for Magolor and his design, personality, and story shined through; the attention to detail with how it is compiled and organized is proof of that. The whole team involved poured so much care and fervor into the project. Personally speaking, I absolutely love how the Magolor Collab turned out. Scrolling through it for the first time, I could not help but feel a wave of emotions well up—the year-long wait was absolutely worth it!
While there are currently no plans for a zine release, there are a multitude of ways that you can check out the Magolor Collab. For starters, you can view it directly in Google Docs. You can also access the link within the original posts on Twitter and Tumblr. Make sure to check out the individual artists’ posts as well! You can do so by checking out the quote retweets of the linked Twitter post, for example.
“Thank you so much to everyone for your kindness, dedication, and generosity throughout this collab,” Mac said. “This project would not have been possible without the 48 extremely hardworking and talented artists and the incredibly meaningful support we've received.”
“I really want to thank everyone who participated and enjoyed the Magolor collab,” TUUW said. “We couldn’t have done it without the insurmountable support we got from both our team and the fandom. You guys continue to make this one of the most creative and passionate communities out there!”