The chapters of the manga series Fairy Tail are written and illustrated by Hiro Mashima. The first chapter premiered in Weekly Shōnen Magazine on August 16, 2006, which is where the series has continued its serialization since then. Individual chapters have been collected and republished in tankōbon volumes by Kodansha, which released the first volume in December 15, 2006.
As of April 2013, 37 volumes have been released in Japan.[1] Of all volumes, 4 of them, namely volume 24, 26, 27 and 35 have an alternative special edition. Not only do they have a different cover, all of them are bundled in a boxset with a DVD and/or other special features. Volume 24 includes a DVD that contains a collection summary about the characters and the current anime; Volume 26 has the 1st OVA DVD (anime adaption of "Welcome to Fairy Hills"),[2] the special OVA manga, plus a Happy collectable strap accessory; Volume 27 has the 2nd OVA DVD (anime adaption of "Fairy Academy: Yankee-kun and Yankee-chan"),[3] and the special OVA manga. The 3rd OVA DVD is bundled with the special edition of Volume 31 manga that released in February 2012, and the 4th OVA DVD is bundled with the special edition of Volume 35.
The series was licensed for an English language release in North America by Del Rey Manga, which published the first volume of the series in March 25 of 2008, and ended its licensing at the 12th volume. Kodansha USA took over and released the manga commencing from the 13th volume starting from May 10 of 2011. It has been published in France by Pika Édition who have released 5 volumes as of April 3, 2009. In Spain it is published by Norma Editorial from March 15, 2008 - now there are 25 volumes released in Spain and it's one of the top-selling manga series.[4] It has also been published in Taiwan by Tong Li, which has released 34 volumes as of October 2012. It has also been published in China Mainland by Hubei Children's Press, which has released 16 volumes as of February 2010. It has also been published in German by Carlsen Verlag Gmbh, which has released 19 volumes as of January 2012.
In addition it has been published in Brazilian Portuguese by JBC, which has released 26 volumes as of October 2010.