This character page is for the Jem and the Holograms (IDW) comic book series. For examples pertaining to the Jem cartoon go here.
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Jem and the Holograms
In General
- Color-Coded Characters: Pink (Jerrica/Jem), red (Kimber), blue (Aja), purple (Shana), gold (Raya).
- Dead Alternate Counterpart: In the Infinite miniseries, it is revealed in the alternate reality Techrat has enlisted Jem and the Holograms to save that Jem and the Holograms' counterparts have all been killed by Jemcorp, except for Kimber.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: Kimber ("childish"), Aja ("mannish"), Jem ("sexy"), and Shana ("admirable").
- Four-Philosophy Ensemble: Cynic (Aja), Optimist (Kimber), Realist (Jerrica), Conflicted/Apathetic (Shana)
- Good Is Not Nice: Not nearly the flat good girls they were in the cartoon; they're shown getting angry and even arguing with each other a lot more often.
- Happily Adopted: Aja and Shana are Kimber's and Jerrica's foster sisters, apparently part of their family from when they were at least a bit younger than their cartoon counterparts. It's unknown if they were formally adopted, however, since they still use their birth surnames. More is made of it here than in the cartoon, where Aja and Shana were not referred to as Jerrica and Kimber's sisters.
- Parental Abandonment: Emmett Benton is dead (he died when they were all adults except Kimber, though). We have no idea what happened to Jacqui.
- Related in the Adaptation: Shana and Aja were treated more as "family by choice" than sisters in the cartoon. In this continuity, they were the only foster children seen in the Benton family, unlike the show, where they were the forerunners of Starlight House.
- Sibling Team: They're four siblings in a band together. No one realizes that Jem is their sister though.
Jerrica Benton/Jem
- '80s Hair: Almost entirely subverted, deliberately, with the rest of the fashion updates. She has more hair now as Jem than she ever did in the Eighties, but it's all in styles that are modern and sleek, or things like sidecuts.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Her Shrinking Violet tendencies are new to the comic continuity.
- Becoming the Mask: She's spending more and more time as Jem, and as pointed out by Aja and Kimber in issue #21 she's even starting to think of Jem and Jerrica as two different people and it's scaring them. She didn't think of going out with Riot as cheating on Jerrica's boyfriend, because she did it as Jem.
- Bespectacled Cutie: She wore glasses when she was younger and still does, with increasing frequency. Might be a sly reference to the original Hasbro Jerrica doll outfits always coming with sunglasses.
- Clark Kenting: Subverted. Jerrica looks completely different than Jem and is several inches shorter than her.
- Happily Married: Is shown to have settled down with Rio in the 20/20 oneshot.
- The Hero: Still wielding nearly-magical powers. Her father left her Synergy and control of the earrings hoping that she would find herself.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: She has soft blue eyes that accentuate her Nice Girl personality.
- Love at First Sight: In an inverse of the cartoon, Jem appears totally dazzled by Riot when they first meet, even seeing stars. Everyone Can See It, comment unimpressed Aja and Kimber.
- Official Couple: With Rio.
- Only Sane Man: A big part of her story in the comics is her frustration over being the only member of her family really dedicated to the whole 'Jem' thing, with the others (especially Kimber) all distracted by their personal lives.
- Pink Heroine: The comic exaggerates this from the cartoon by having Jerrica wear much more pink than before.
- Sexier Alter Ego: Exaggerated compared to the cartoon— Jem's now half a foot taller and looks like a model, complete with revealing outfits. It's impossible not to notice due to the differences between original-Jerrica and short, shy, awkward, IDW-Jerrica.
- Stage Fright: Jerrica has performance anxiety around anyone who isn't family. This spurred her to create Jem.
- Statuesque Stunner: Jem is literally the only one who can go toe-to-toe with Pizzazz.
- The Workaholic: Jerrica does her tasks through and through.
Kimber Benton
- Adaptational Sexuality: Kimber had some Ambiguously Bi subtext with Stormer in the cartoon, but here she is gay and dating Stormer. There are some minor elements in early issues suggesting she's actually bi, but her interest in Stormer is given a lot more attention. In the first Valentine's issue she's grossed-out to discover she kissed a guy.
- Annoying Younger Sibling: She's extremely workshy, is glued to her phone, and has almost no concentration span, often arriving late to important meetings or events. Jerrica finds this all absolutely infuriating at times.
- Big Little Sister: Is the tallest Hologram despite being the youngest.
- Fiery Redhead: Discovering Clash was part of the Misfits' entourage ripped this out of her. Kimber definitely has a raging, screaming temper.
- Innocent Blue Eyes: She's the youngest and most excitable Hologram member.
- Genki Girl: She has been toned down a little compared to her cartoon counterpart, but is still unfailingly the bubbliest, most outgoing and most energetic of the Holograms.
- Official Couple: With Stormer. Probably the central Official Couple of the title.
- Smitten Teenage Girl: She's committed to Stormer though it was noted that, when single, she was easily smitten by girls. Her bio even lists "Girls" as one of her likes.
- Womanchild: She's the youngest, but manages to act even younger than she actually is. She's impulsive, unrealistic, extremely self centered and relentlessly enthusiastic, and her dream sequence in the annual is based on the Muppet Babies (1984) cartoon.
Aja Leith
- Adaptational Curves: She's gained a few pounds compared to her cartoon version.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Here she's said to be bisexual.
- Big Beautiful Woman: She's a little overweight, but she had no shortage of admirers.
- Deadpan Snarker: The most sarcastic of the Holograms. Even Lampshaded in the 2017 annual, where Aja (in a fan comic made by the Starlight girls) refers to herself as "the sassiest and sarcastic-y-est," and had even been exaggerated into a Token Evil Teammate.
- Dude Magnet: Gets hit on the most. Even female characters have flirted with her, which could possibly put her as a Chick Magnet as well.
- Official Couple: With Craig.
- Only Sane Woman: Often finds herself pushed into this role, and does not enjoy it.
- Tomboy: Aja is the most tomboyish of the Holograms.
- Wrench Wench: She is into mechanics.
Shana Elmsford
- Adaptational Curves: She's more curvy than before.
- Babies Ever After: In the 20/20 oneshot, it is mentioned that she has two children.
- Black and Nerdy: Loves Star Wars. Her 'prized possession' is a rare variant Revenge of the Jedi poster.
- The Fashionista: It comes with being a fashion designer.
- Hartman Hips: Another example of moving away from the Barbie-doll physique all the characters had originally.
- The Heart: The peacemaker and nurturer of the group.
- Official Couple: With Tony.
- Shy Blue-Haired Girl: It's purple but has the same effect. She's the most soft spoken band member.
The Misfits
In General
- Adaptational Jerkass: The Misfits are still the antagonists and still very much not nice girls (except Stormer), but it's slyly demonstrated that each of the band stands solely on their own. Pizzazz's temper is even worse, and feels she literally cannot trust anyone in her life. Roxy and Jetta aren't down each other's throats anymore, but they'd just as easily laugh if one was the butt of a joke. Pizzazz, Roxy, and Jetta still gang up on Stormer, but Stormer is actually more likely to snark back at them, insult them and even scream at them, unafraid to stand up to even Pizzazz.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Amazingly, the writers have managed to invoke this alongside Adaptational Jerkass. The Misfits as a whole are a legitimately talented band deserving of the praise they get, and unlike the Misfits of the cartoon they aren't willing to submit to extreme and convoluted sabotage plans to get the Holograms out of the way. The antagonism between the Misfits and the Holograms started out of a misunderstanding due to Clash's (non-ordered) trashing of the benefit concert. While looking for a new singer after Pizzazz is injured in the car crash, the other three make it clear this is only a temporary situation to their manager. When they hear Clash's horrific singing voice, the girls are not eager to tell Clash how bad she is, and when they do, they tell her not to feel bad since none of them can sing lead either. This is a step up from the Misfits who would've insulted Clash to her face and left her in the dust. After Pizzazz recovers and comes back to reclaim her spot in the band, the old one would've mocked Blaze and kicked her out, but here she actually praises Blaze's musical talents and opens up a new regular spot for her her. She even understands when Blaze later admits her dream of being a lead singer is more important to her than being a Misfit, and will eventually leave the band over it.
- Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: The tone between the band members is different than in the cartoon. They argue a lot, they can be cownright petty and catty towards each other, and sometimes they seem to forget just why they're friends to begin with... but they are actually very close. Most notable is the relationship between Pizzazz and Stormer, and between Roxy and Jetta.
- Pizzazz and Stormer, here revealed to have been the two founding members of the Misfits, seem to view each other more like sisters than anything else. When not arguing or screaming at each other, they repeatedly show how much love and respect each other. Pizzazz is super-protective of Stormer, and is more than ready to beat up anyone who hurts her. Stormer on her side is closer to Pizzazz than anyone else, and is generally the one who reaches out when Pizzazz is hurting — though she's not afraid to stand up for herself if Pizzazz's attitude is too much. It's quite a change from the cartoon, where Alpha Bitch Pizzazz was always pushing around and taking for granted Extreme Doormat Stormer.
- Roxy and Jetta in the cartoon couldn't stand each other, and were always at each other's throats. Here, thanks to Jetta's much less snobbish attitude, they generally get along great. They still bicker, but it's mostly good-natured and they have more of a Those Two Guys vibes.
- Adaptational Villainy: Clash in the cartoons wouldn't have tried to seriously injure, or outright murder, Jem like that.
- Dead Alternate Counterpart: The Misfits' counterparts in the alternate universe visited in the Infinites miniseries were all killed by Jemcorp blowing up Pizzazz's Malibu house, though it's later revealed that Stormer and Pizzazz survived.
- Even Evil Has Standards: They're jerks, but attempted murder is definitely not something they're okay with.
- Evil Virtues: Determination, Honor and Loyalty.
- Four-Girl Ensemble: Roxy ("childish"), Jetta ("mannish"), Pizzazz ("sexy"), and Stormer ("admirable").
- Freudian Excuse: Their attitudes all stem from having been hurt or mistreated in their earlier years.
- Pizzazz was a Lonely Rich Kid whose parents didn't even care enough about her to show up for the custody battle when they got divorced. Her father doesn't even visit when she's in the hospital after a car crash.
- Roxy was mocked and dismissed as stupid all her life, and frequently got into trouble for fighting when she tried to defend herself. Her father was a kind man who assured her that she wasn't stupid just because she had a learning disability, but he died when she was thirteen. Shortly after that, after a short time of living with an emotionally distant aunt who clearly didn't care about her, she ran away and struck out on her own.
- Jetta's mother died when she was seven, and her grieving father lapsed into apathy and couldn't take care of her. The task of raising Jetta fell on her paternal aunt, whom Jetta describes as a "miserable and soulless," and who is strongly hinted to have been at least verbally abusive. This was what made Jetta, then named Prudence, leave home at sixteen, re-name herself and re-invent herself completely, to the point where she after having lived in England for a while simply passed herself off as British rather than the Southern American girl she was born as.
- Stormer, though she has less of an attitude than Pizzazz, Jetta and Roxy, has gone through a lifetime of being bullied and body-shamed, and can definitely unleash her inner edge when triggered.
- Blaze, who doesn't have an attitude at all, is the only Misfit who pretty much averts this; from what we see of her backstory she's had a fairly good life, and apart from an understandable worry that she won't be accepted as a trans woman, she doesn't really seem to have all that many inner demons.
- Hidden Depths: All of them have these in spades. It's most obvious with Stormer, but it doesn't take long before it becomes clear that all the Misfits have more going on with them than is apparent at first glance. Which is how they manage to be both Adaptational Jerkasses and Adaptational Nice Guys.
- Honor Before Reason: In the Christmas Special issue, the Misfits (except Stormer) weren't willing to go along with the Secret Santa exchange with the Holograms. That changed when Stormer said the Holograms were definitely buying stuff for them. Jetta reasoned if they didn't buy anything for the Holograms, it'd make them look like complete assholes. Well, bigger assholes than they usually are.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: With the exception of Nice Girl Blaze, all the Misfits fit this trope some extent. They bicker and argue and insult one another, they aren't afraid of going morally questionable routes to get ahead, and they can be downright mean at times... but they also care about and support one another, and when it comes down to it they'll usually do the right thing in the end.
- Nonconformist Dyed Hair: Their Delinquent Hair is also dyed to complete the look.
- Pizzazz has a green mohawk that has some blonde and red highlights, with her natural black hair sometimes showing underneath.
- Jetta has black hair with white highlights.
- Stormer dyes her hair blue but has some of her naturally black hair uncolored.
- Blaze has red hair with blonde highlights.
- Clash has red hair with blue and green highlights.
- Rio has his hair in two different shades of purple.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: They exclusively go by their Stage Names. Even Kimber calls Stormer by hers. Clash technically doesn't need one but she is a Misfits wannabe.
- The Rival: To Jem and the Holograms.
- Secret-Keeper: As of Infinite, they know about Synergy, and that Jem and Jerrica are the same person. Pizzazz isn't happy about keeping the secret, but nonetheless agrees to.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: They fear the Holograms becoming threats to their careers and thus do their best to derail the Holograms' popularity... which often fails and leads the Holograms to becoming threats to their careers.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: While the Holograms are the titular characters and main stars of the comic, the Misfits get just as much attention, and arguably more Character Development. They tend to be heavily involved in all the plots, and in addition they get their own miniseries. Stormer and Pizzazz get the most attention, but the others aren't far behind.
- True Companions: The Misfits may not officially be family the way the Holograms are, but as the comic goes on it becomes increasingly obvious that they are family in everything but name. Pizzazz even directly admits it in the Misfits miniseries, when assuring Blaze that she's not about to get kicked out of the band:"I told Eric that we couldn't go backward musically. You bring something exciting to the band, And that was true. What I didn't tell him, because he won't understand, is that this band is a family. And you're part of that family now."
Pizzazz (Phyllis Gabor)
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Her natural hair seems to be black instead of green.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: There's a lot more open warmth towards her teammates here than there was in the cartoon. She could still be compassionate in the original when the mood strikes, but here her Hidden Heart of Gold is less hidden. In The Misfits spinoff she's even shown assaulting a fat shamer and getting arrested for it to make him shut up about Stormer's weight.
- Adaptation Personality Change: She's shown to be more serious about music and the music business than before.
- Berserk Button: Too many to count; it doesn't take a lot to set her off... but if you want a truly violent reaction, then you hurt any of the other Misfits, especially Stormer.Stormer: You can't just attack everyone who's cruel to me.Pizzazz: Yes, I can.
- Career-Ending Injury: Subverted. Her car accident left her low, depressed, and unable to speak at normal volume for quite some time. As of issue #16, she's back to work.
- Color-Coded Eyes: Has green eyes with yellow centers. They fit the 'green with envy' cliche.
- Deadpan Snarker: When in a good mood. When not in a good mood is more like "Loud, Angry Snarker."
- Delinquent Hair: A mohawk is her default style but whatever hairstyle she wears it counts as this, besides when she lets her hair down around the house.
- The Determinator: One of her most consistent admirable traits. Whenever she has set a goal for herself, she does not give up on it, even if it seems completely hopeless.
- Gamer Chick: She plays first-person shooters.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: She screams bloody murder and throws huge tantrums for even the smallest things. She's quite scary when angered, to the point that her bandmates usually take a couple steps back from her.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Leather is one of Pizzazz's four (and only) "loves". The others being Music and Curly Fries, and most of all, her cat.
- Hidden Depths: Pizzazz is showing plenty of these as the comic moves along. It's shown that she's aware she has a problem in regards to her temper and feels frustrated about it. She absolutely adores her cat, to the point that when Jem gives her a collar for her cat as a Christmas present in the music company's secret Santa, Pizzazz in return gives her a bag full of essentials every front girl of a band should have, including 500 dollars. On another occasion, she refuses to allow Stormer to add a soft ballad song that she wrote into their new album, and when Stormer complains, Pizzazz calmly admits to Stormer that she genuinely likes the song, but can't add it because it doesn't complement the more hardcore vibe of their new album, and promises Stormer that she will try to fit it into their next album. And then there's the fact that after Pizzazz has a car accident and is taken to a hospital, Stormer finds out that Pizzazz listed her as her emergency contact. And if that wasn't enough, in issue 16 upon her return, she gives Blaze great praise in her performance and officially welcomes her into the band as a full-time Misfit.
- Hidden Heart of Gold: She can be quite soft-hearted, but she will deny that for as long as she possibly can."And don't tell anyone we hugged! I'll deny it!"
- Informed Judaism: She mentions being Jewish in the Christmas issue. The audience wouldn't have known otherwise.
- Lonely Rich Kid: A flashback in The Misfits #1 reveals that neither of her parents showed up for her custody hearing.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: She can be just as shrill, dramatic and mean-spirited as her cartoon counterpart; her temper tantrums are legendary, and she's not above some manipulation or sabotage if in that mood — but where cartoon Pizzazz is a straight-up Alpha Bitch who doesn't care about anyone but herself (or at least has to be dragged along kicking and screaming for some time before admitting to caring about anyone else), comics Pizzazz genuinely loves and respects her band mates. She sometimes has problems showing it, but she does have a sweet side that the other Misfits come to know quite well.
- Morality Pet: Her cat Madmartigan. Also, Stormer occasionally fills the role.
- Never My Fault:
- Downplayed. Pizzazz cops to her own flaws a few times noting her temper and unprofessionalism is hurting the band. At times this can lapse into blaming the Holograms, but more often than not that's just a knee-jerk reaction from her temper.
- She pretty much sums up her flirtation with this trope in the first issue of The Misfit special, where she claims their problems are all her own fault... before her rant eventually goes off topic to why it's all Jem's fault. Eric points this out, and Pizzazz settles on it being both.
- Proud to Be a Geek: Pizzazz isn't ashamed of her more stereotypical 'nerdy' hobbies.
- Rich Bitch: Her father is rich at least.
- Spoiled Brat: Is prone to tantrums. Though it's mostly averted compared to the cartoon. In the cartoon, Pizzazz would instantly run to her dad to get him to get her what she wanted or solve a problem with his money, but in this version, Pizzazz would much rather do things herself.
- Statuesque Stunner: She stands at 5'11, half-a-foot taller than Roxy, Jetta, and Stormer.
- Technicolor Eyes: Her green eyes have a yellow center.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: She comes across as this in regards to the Holograms. When Kimber starts a food fight with the Misfits after recognizing Clash and figuring it's Clash who got Aja injured, the executives in charge of the band contest expel the Holograms because Kimber started the fight. Surprising everyone, Pizzazz tries (unsuccessfully) to convince the executives to not kick the Holograms out and allow them to compete, because she wants the Misfits to beat the Holograms fair and square.
- Trademark Favorite Food: One of the few things she likes is curly fries.
- When She Smiles: Pizzazz is near constantly sneering or pouting however when she give a genuine smile she can be rather cute.
Roxy (Roxanne Pelligrini)
- Big Eater: It's a Running Gag to show her eating or mentioning food.Jetta: Roxy already ate all the chips!
Roxy: Liar! I only ate two bags. There are three! - Deceased Parents Are the Best: Misfits #4 showed Roxy had a really kind and understanding father. When Roxy confessed to him she couldn't read he wasn't angry or disappointed he just reassured her she wasn't dumb, they find a tutor and things would be okay. Then he died.
- The Ditz: Really comes across as this often, though she has the occasional moment where she says something insightful, in her own way.
- Dumb Muscle: She's quite muscular, but also a ditz.
- Genius Ditz: Revealed to be this in the Misfits miniseries. She's not only an amazing drummer, she has a great memory (which she uses to cover up her illiteracy) and she also has a really good understanding of mechanics.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Jetta, which is a definite change from the original cartoon. In the comic, Roxy and Jetta are best friends and are usually seen together. As the Misfits mini-series reveals, it was Roxy who suggested Jetta join the band, heavily fangirling over her angry, in-your-face style.
- Never Learned to Read: Her bio states it but it has yet to come up in the main comics, other than a passing mention of her hating Twitter (a social site that, obviously, requires that people know how to read). This is addressed at last in Misfits #4, where where Roxy reveals in a flashback that she's always had hard time but things just went so fast she couldn't keep up and just started pretending she could. She's tried many times to learn but just can't.
- The Runaway: Ran away from home when she was around 13 shortly after her father died.
- Secret-Keeper: Just like Jetta was the only one who knew that Roxy was illiterate, Roxy was the only one who knew that Jetta wasn't actually "Sheila Burns".
- Trademark Favorite Food: Nobody knows why, but Roxy really loves bagels. (Possibly having something to do with the fact that she's from Philadelphia. Where they make cream cheese.)
Stormer (Mary Phillips)
- Adaptational Curves: Stormer's bigger than in the cartoon but is just as cute.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Her hair is dyed instead of natural.
- Adaptational Sexuality: Here is a lesbian.
- Adaptational Jerkass: While it's still rather incorrect to go as far as label Stormer a villain or jerk, she has a more prominent edge to her in the comic. She jokes about not knowing as to whether or not the rest of the band is able to actually read (which may imply Roxy's illiteracy is something she's not aware of yet in this continuity), and to get Jetta and Roxy off her back she insults Roxy for the sake of getting Jetta on her side, and is unafraid of screaming at both of them to shut up if they start arguing too much. Later on, during the band contest, when the Holograms put on a show across the street while the Misfits play and steal the crowd, Stormer is just as angry as the other Misfits.
- Ambiguously Jewish: According to Campbell, Stormer and her brother Craig are half-Israeli. This means that they could be Jewish, though it's never mentioned in-series (unlike with Pizzazz).
- Does Not Like Spam: She dislikes red meat.
- Big Beautiful Woman: Is shorter and heavier than in the cartoon but definitely played as attractive.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Though she has gained a few edges, she's still by far the sweetest-natured Misfit (apart from Blaze, who's an out and out Nice Girl).
- Number Two: To Stormer's surprise, Pizzazz has her as her emergency contact and designates her the leader of the band in her absence. This does not stop the pair from fighting almost as much as Jetta and Roxy, to the point that it's believable that Stormer would find this shocking.
- Promoted to Love Interest: Stormer is Kimber's girlfriend instead of a rival whom she became friends with.
- Technicolor Eyes: Purple
Jetta (Sheila Burns)
- Adaptational Early Appearance: In the original cartoon, she did not join the Misfits until the second season. In this comic, she's introduced as a member of the Misfits from the start.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Jetta went from being the most mean Misfit who barely seemed to like her friends to being on good terms with Roxy and decent terms with the others.
- Adaptation Personality Change: She's still very much a mean girl but it has been toned down and she's friendly in a way the cartoon version never was. She's no longer presented as the worst Misfit, and nowhere is this presented better than in issue 10, when after learning of Pizzazz's car accident, she's as worried as the other Misfits, instantly rushes to the hospital and even sneaks Pizzazz's beloved cat, Madmartigan, into the room to cheer Pizzazz up.
- Fake Brit: In universe, she is really an American named Prudence from the South, as revealed in The Misfits issue 5.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Roxy. Whereas in the cartoon the two couldn't stand each other, here they're close friends and Jetta even joined the Misfits on Roxy's insistence.
- The Lad-ette: She might look the least outrageous and intimidating of the IDW Misfits, but she's the one who loves brawls, booze, and sports.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: While all the Misfits go almost exclusively by their stage names, Jetta is a bit of a special case in that Her "real" name, Sheila, isn't her birth name.
- Race Lift: She's black (but still British or is she?) in the comic reboot. This is actually a case of reinserting the creator's original vision. According to Campbell, Jetta is specifically half-Japanese and half-black.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: She has called Rio and Eric the homophobic slur "ponce".
- Secret-Keeper: Until the rest of the band found out at the end of the miniseries, she was the only one who knew that Roxy was couldn't read.
- Token Minority: Before the Stingers hit town, she's the only non-American in the cast. Later retconned.
Blaze (Leah Dwyer)
- Ascended Fangirl: Pizzazz makes her an official Misfit in issue 16 and she's now a part of the band for good.
- Canon Foreigner: Is a comic original character.
- Cuddle Bug: She's very affectionate and likes hugging. Pizzazz isn't too enthusiastic about this trait of hers.Pizzazz: (totally deadpan) Ugh. Hugs. You simply have to stop hugging me all the time.
Blaze: (keeps hugging her) No way! - Morality Pet: Just like Stormer is this to Pizzazz, Blaze is this to Clash. Clash's Pet the Dog moments tend to involve Blaze in some form, and Blaze has been known to be able to talk Clash out of some of her worst ideas.
- Nice Girl: She's infallibly kind, pleasant, eager to please and good hearted, which makes her friendship with Clash all the more odd.
- Odd Friendship: With Clash. Clash is a scheming Smug Snake while Blaze is a sweet-natured and earnest Nice Girl. They're still the best of friends... or, as it's revealed in the Dimensions series, a little more than friends.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: "Blaze" was a stage name she invented for herself when she was little. She seems to prefer her nickname to her real one because nobody ever calls her "Leah."
- The Sixth Ranger: Sort of. She stood in for Pizzazz as the lead singer in the Misfits while Pizzazz was still healing from the car crash. She feared this would be the end of the arrangement, but Pizzazz told her she really brought something to the band and made her a full time member soon after.
- Stealth Pun: Her name, Blaze, is this when you consider she's Clash's friend. Clash and Blaze = crash and burn. Luckily, she's a lot more sweet-natured than Clash is.
- Token Good Teammate: Not that the Misfits are evil, but she's so pleasant and passive that she makes Stormer look edgy.
- Trans Tribulations: Subverted. She feels the need to come out as trans to her new all-girls band. No one has any issue with her being transgender.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: She is conspicuously absent in the 20/20 oneshot. It's possible she went off to focus on being the lead singer of the Lunas, like she and Pizzazz discussed in the Misfits miniseries, but nothing is ever confirmed.
Clash (Constance Montgomery)
- Adaptational Sexuality: We never really got any exploration of Clash's sexuality in the original cartoon, but here she seems to have a thing going on with Blaze. They're very close and share at least one on-panel kiss... though it's not completely clear if Clash is lesbian, or bisexual, or if it's a case of If It's You, It's Okay, or what.
- Adaptational Villainy: Clash seen here is willing to actually kill, or at least seriously injure, the Holograms when they start to threaten the popularity of the Misfits.
- Ascended Extra: Clash has a much bigger presence with the group than she did in the cartoon. By the Misfits' own solo series she's the Sixth Ranger.
- Ascended Fangirl: Hyper-fan of the Misfits, eventually accepted into their nominal family — though she doesn't get to be part of the actual band due to being a Dreadful Musician, she is still very much part of the gang.
- Dreadful Musician: She tries out for replacing Pizzazz. The other Misfits agree that the previous Terrible Interviewees Montage were nothing compared to the hell that is her singing voice.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Clash makes it clear if the Misfits ever gave the idea of being transphobic she would immediately denounce them and destroy everything she owns with their name on it.
- Groupie: She is a Misfits groupie who wishes to become one.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Her sabotage at the Starlight Foundation benefit actually gave the Holograms a popularity boost.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Blaze confides in Clash her fears that the Misfits will reject her for being transgender, Clash, the most ardent Misfits fan alive, tells Blaze if that's true they need to know now. And then go home and burn all of their Misfits gear.
- Pet the Dog: Despite her callous Jerkass nature, she does genuinely care for Pizzazz, and she can be surprisingly sweet to Blaze.
- Smug Snake: Nominally, though as the series goes on she gets more Pet the Dog moments, particularly when Blaze is involved.
- Toxic Friend Influence: Zigzagged. She recruits her good hearted friend Blaze into the plot to kill the Holograms, but does the dirty work herself at least. Her later scenes with Blaze on the other hand are Pet the Dog incarnate, and stand out given her normal demeanor.
The Stingers
In General
- Early-Bird Cameo: The Stingers showed up as a poster in Aja's bedroom in an early issue. (Irony considering Aja was the one who disliked them most in the show.)
- Out of Focus: Partly thanks to the comic's premature cancellation and partly thanks to both Holograms and Misfits having so much going on with them, the Stingers never got much attention, much less a chance to develop as characters. Their introduction storyline, Enter the Stingers already had several other things going on with both Holograms and Misfits, and never even saw the band having a conversation with all four members involved — and that ended up being the penultimate storyline. Raya probably gets the most focus, but she leaves the Stingers for the Holograms at the end of the story arc. Riot gets a bit of attention as he's heavily involved in the "Jerrica's identity crisis" subplot, but Rapture and Minx don't really get anything. Despite a cover tease, Rapture is just as Flat a character as in the cartoon, and lacking her show development, Minx is possibly flatter.
- Excluding Raya, none of them appear in the Infinite or Dimensions miniseries, and in the January 2019 Jem 20/20 reunion one-shot, Riot, Minx, and Rapture get one single panel cameo. (The Misfits are inducted into the Hall of Fame; the Stingers are touring casinos.) It's pretty safe to say the Stingers remain the non-priority Demoted to Extra they always have been for IDW.
Riot (Rory Llewelyn)
- Demoted to Extra: From a superbly-Manipulative Bastard and Jem's other love interest with serious screen time and backstory in nine episodes... to a somewhat manipulative guy smitten with Jem who gets the Misfits fired, does nothing but sigh over Jem, and we never see any of his relationship with Jem, who dumps him, repeatedly. He doesn't even appear in the final issue of the title. It's lampshaded, perhaps, in issue 25, when he talks about mourning all of the adventures he and Jem will never get to have.
Arrrrrgh. - It's All About Me: Is described in issue 22 as being obsessed with "himself, himself, himself, and Jem". He's a well-mannered and even apologetic variant of this, but he lets his band disintegrate while he pursues her. Minx and Rapture angrily call him out on this.
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Just like in the cartoons, he is an attractive man with flowing long hair. Unlike in the cartoons, his face isn't weathered and his look is much more androgynous, making this trope apply even more.
- Love at First Sight: The first words out of his mouth when he appears in the comics are "She is magnificent." [Rapture: "Ugh. Which one?"] "Jem, of course." The first time he sees Jem close enough to be able to interact with her it's pretty clear he's supposed to be feeling the attraction to her he did in the cartoon. Amusingly this is when she and Pizzazz are having a screaming match.
- Manipulative Bastard: A given, but without Jem in his sights it's doubtful he'd tell the record label to drop the Misfits in exchange for signing the Stingers.
- Race Lift: In the cartoon both of his parents are white but, according to Campbell, Riot in the comics is half-Asian.
Rapture (Phoebe Ashe)
- Statuesque Stunner: Like Jem and Pizzazz, Rapture is 5'11", and is the tallest of her band in this universe.
Minx (Ingrid Kruger)
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Minx is just as loudly anti-American as she was in the show. American Rapture does now get annoyed about it.
- Race Lift: According to Campbell, Minx is of South Asian descent.
Raya (Carmen Alonso)
- Adaptational Curves: In keeping with the title's aim of diversity and body positivity.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: She has dark pink hair in the cartoons but is a blonde here.
- Adaptational Villainy: Entirely subverted; she's originally part of a rival band, sure, but does nothing that could be considered remotely villainous or even mean, and is the same kindhearted, helpful Nice Girl as in the show.
- Heel–Face Turn: Leaves the Stingers to join Jem and the Holograms in issue 23.
- Token Good Teammate: The Stingers remain as morally ambiguous as ever but Raya's behavior is unimpeachable.
Others
Emmett Benton
Jerrica and her sisters' deceased father, who created and left them with Synergy.
- Dead Alternate Counterpart: Inverted in the Infinite miniseries, where his counterpart in the alternate reality is still alive.
- Open-Minded Parent: In the Infinite miniseries, his alternate universe counterpart refers to Kimber and Stormer's counterparts as his "daughters", clearly showing that he's accepting of his surviving daughter being a lesbian and willing to accept Kimber's girlfriend as part of the family.
- Posthumous Character: As in the original cartoon, the story begins well after he has passed away.
Eric Raymond
- Adaptational Attractiveness: The comic version ramped it up. Emma Vieceli's art introduced him as seemingly Beauty Is Bad. Outside of those few issues, however, he hasn't been drawn nearly as attractively, since.
- Adaptational Late Appearance: He is an established character at the start of the original cartoon and clearly had some personal history with Jerrica. In this comic, he doesn't appear until the 7th issue and he and Jerrica don't meet each other until the 15th issue.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: In the Infinite miniseries, his alternate universe counterpart runs a company called Jemcorp, which has used the hologram technology to isolate the elite from the rest of the world and gouged prices to the point that less and less people are able to afford it. He has even arranged for Jem and the Holograms as well as the Misfits to get killed to prevent them from doing anything about him.
- Demoted to Extra: From the Big Bad of the animated series and Jerrica's Arch-Enemy to pretty much the manager of the Misfits and effectively nothing more.B
- Not So Above It All: At times his mannerisms can be played with the same comedy as Pizzazz and Techrat.
- Scary Shiny Glasses: Has had these a few times.
Rio Pacheco
- Adaptational Nice Guy: His clingier and more easily agitated aspects have been toned down heavily. When he does act out it's for much more understandable and valid reasons, and when he's crossed a line he's much more willing to apologize and set things right. This is especially noticable when the comic references the infamous "Rio kicks a potted plant" scene:
- In the cartoon, he's angry that Jerrica changed her mind about "telling him something important" — she was going to confess that she was Jem, but then she saw him chewing out Kimber for thoughtlessly having made plans with two different guys on the same day, snapping that "I hate deception, and I despise liars." When Jerrica then balks at telling him, he immediately starts yelling at her that she's just as bad as Kimber, that she can keep her secrets and he's had enough! Then he kicks over a potted plant and stomps off in anger.
- In the comic, Pizzazz gets in a car accident. Rio finds her, calls an ambulance, comforts Stormer who's Pizzazz's emergency contact, and agrees to tell Roxy and Jetta what happened because they're currently not taking calls from Stormer. Afterwards his boss calls and tells him that he needs to use his connection to the Misfits to get "an exclusive" on this. Rio doesn't want to take advantage of their vulnerable state, but his boss doesn't care what he wants and basically tells him to get that story or he's fired. In frustration, Rio kicks over a potted plant... and then when he notices people staring, he apologizes, puts the plant back up and then quietly leaves.
- Adaptation Personality Change: Rio cranked down on his snappishness and is no longer a jealous sort of guy. He also dislikes Jem now because at this point he's socialized with the other Holograms and Jem's a fake person who only shows up for performances, so it looks to him like Jem's a primadonna who fobs off her share of the work on the rest of the band and thinks she's too good to spend time with people like them. His opinion of her gets slightly better (thanks to Jerrica taking the time and care to make Jem look more social, kind and professional) but it's still just cordial and nothing else.
- Berserk Button: As a reporter, Rio loathes the thought of taking advantage of people's pain to write news stories. When his boss tells him to interview the Misfits and write a story about Pizzazz's accident, Rio doesn't want to do so, knowing the Misfits are in a painful situation right now. When his boss tells him to do so or be fired, Rio is beyond furious.
- Happily Married: In the 20/20 oneshot, he is shown to have finally settled down with Jerrica.
- Official Couple: With Jerrica.
- Sympathy for the Devil : Rio initially hated the Misfits, yet as the comic has gone on he's become increasingly willing to defend them to others. He was genuinely upset when Pizzazz was hurt, and reacts very negatively to the idea of writing a story taking advantage of it.
Synergy
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Not all is well with Synergy. Though it turns out to be a bit more complicated then just that.
- Ascended Extra: In the cartoon she is usually treated as little more than a gadget however here she is presented as more as a character.
- Kaleidoscope Hair: Justified in that she's a hologram so her hair can change whenever.
- Magical Computer
- Parental Substitute: To The Holograms.
- Team Mom: As in the original cartoon, she serves as a maternal figure to Jem and the Holograms.
Techrat
- '80s Hair: He keeps the sidecut he had in the original cartoon. It doesn't stand out much because sidecuts have gained popularity again in the 2010s.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: The comics make him younger and prettier
◊ while keeping his core design. - Adaptational Heroism: Techrat was a straight villain in the cartoon while in the comic he's more of an eccentric neutral.
- Evil Genius
- Gadgeteer Genius
- Insufferable Genius: "Everyone but me is so dumb. God, it's tedious."
- Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He's slender, androgynous, and wears a sidecut hairstyle.
- No Name Given: His bio lists his real name as "He'll never tell!"
Craig Philips
Stormer's older brother, Aja's love interest.
- Adaptational Attractiveness: While in no way unattractive before he's made more fashionable instead of permanently wearing a polo.
- Ambiguously Jewish: According to Campbell, Craig and Stormer are of Middle Eastern and Israeli descendance. This means they could be Jewish.
- Ascended Extra: Only appears in a few episodes however in the comics he appears far earlier and has more of a presence. Also in the comic he's much more "Aja's boyfriend" than "Stormer's brother"; it actually goes six issues between introducing him and identifying him as Stormer's brother.
- Official Couple: With Aja.
Elise Harcourt
Owner of Five by Five Records.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- When introduced it looked like the comics had made Eric into a woman and Race Lifted him until it was revealed otherwise.
- Skin color notwithstanding, she looks (and acts) so much like animated-Eric in issue #19 that you understand the reason for giving Eric glasses in this continuity is to differentiate them.
- Canon Foreigner: A comic original character.
- Honest Corporate Executive: Shown to be one so far.
- Power Hair
- Reasonable Authority Figure: She gave The Holograms a chance despite the whole "food fight incident" and sign them to contract for Five by Five Records and allowed the Misfits a short tour so long as they keep the drama to a minimal.
SILICA
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot
- Big Bad: Of the Dark Jem arc.
- Brainwashed: She invokes this on others.
- Canon Foreigner: Is a comics-exclusive character.
- Creepy Long Fingers
- Evil Counterpart: To Synergy and also Jem.
- Expy: A canceled Jem animated film involved an Evil Counterpart to Synergy named "Entropy".
- Femme Fatalons
- Mind-Control Music: Her music brainwashes people.
- Rose-Haired Sweetie: Averted.
- Walking Spoiler: Given the big part she plays in the "Dark Jem" arc, it's difficult to discuss her without giving away spoilers.
- Yellow Eyes of Sneakiness: She has glowing yellow eyes and is very, very bad.
Fox
A replacement drummer for the Holograms who's a plant for the Misfits.
- Canon Foreigner: She is a new character to the comics.
- The Mole: Hired by Pizzazz to sabotage the band and dig up dirt for blackmail.
Video (Vivien Montgomery)
Clash's cousin, who just happens to be an obsessed fan of the Holograms and thus enjoys looking for ways to screw with Clash, and thereby, the Misfits thinking it'll help Jem.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the original cartoon she was an award winning filmmaker and a Sixth Ranger for the Holograms, often lending a hand whenever her cousin was helping the Misfits try to sabotage Jem. Here, she's a Loony Fan with a tendency to spy on people and willing to mess up whatever Clash is doing if she thinks it'll screw with the Misfits. She's essentially been given Clash's worst tendencies.
- Berserk Button: Don't ever imply the Misfits are better than the Holograms in her presence.
- Demoted to Extra: Was a reoccurring character in the cartoon since season one. Here, she didn't debut until Jem: Dimensions #1, two years after the first comic was released, while her cousin has been a supporting character from the beginning.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Her deepest secret is that she actually does care about her cousin a lot, and after stealing Madmartigan with Graphix and Shade, she doesn't seem too proud of herself.
- Loony Fan: She stalks the Holograms alongside Graphix and Shade, and even has a full body pillow with Kimber's image printed on it.
Graphix (Gwendolyn Snider)
A graffiti artist and unabashed internet troll who stalks the Holograms.
- Adaptational Curves: Has got a much more curvy, chubby body than the original planned character. Her profile art puts emphasis on her hips.
- Adaptation Personality Change: She's been completely reinvented in the personality department. The original character was planned as a member of the Misfits and Stingers' entourage hired by Eric Raymond to promote the bands and inflict sabotage on the Holograms. Here, Graphix is a Loony Fan of the Holograms, stalking them alongside Video and Shade, trolling internet pages, and screwing with Clash for the sake of messing with the Misfits.
- Card-Carrying Villain: After stealing Madmartigan, she openly gushes how much she loves being evil.
- Toxic Friend Influence: It's implied she's the one who comes up with most of the schemes to screw with Clash and the Misfits.
- Troll: Narration even describes her as an online troll.
