Jem

I like that the same-sex romance gets at least equal attention to the straight romance. Jerrica and Sexy Mc Handsomeface should, logically, be the primary romance. But I feel like Kimber and Stormer actually take that position. They may not actually be dating right now, but their feelings towards each other are still a pretty big part of the book.

Also cool: The wide variety of body types. It's great when bigger girls are allowed to be as sexy (and sexual) as thin girls.

I'm a fan of diversity. So it's cool that Jem and the Holograms is really pushing the diversity angle, from every direction.

Oh my god. Pizzazz getting angry at 9-year-olds on Call of Duty is the greatest thing.

The Misfits finally got their own comic!

http://www.cbr.com/jem-the-misfits-1-exclusive-preview/

The bad news: the comic series is ending with issue 26, and the Misfits' series is ending at issue 5. http://www.cbr.com/idw-publishing-jem-and-the-holograms-ending-in-april-will-return/

The good news: Some sort of big summer encore event is planned.

I picked up the first trade a while back and finally got around to reading it. It's... really good.

Was it likely that the Jem comic book was cancelled due to the failure of the live-action movie?

No. No, it's not likely. The movie failed a while ago, and the book's kept going, and even had a spin-off mini, and will be doing another mini over the summer. We'll see if the book re-launches after that - I hope it does - but whatever happens will have absolutely nothing to do with the movie.

edited 26th May '17 8:13:21 PM by Tiamatty

Poor Raya. She was pretty much ignored in the cartoon after her debut and now the book's canceled before she can do much.

While the main series is canceled, there will be more Jem: a science fiction series called Jem Infinity will start up soon. (But most of you probably already knew that...)

Alright folks, Jem Vol. 1 is five bucks on comixology, and I'm kinda interested. Can you gush about all the things you love about this comic so I can see if I should give it a shot?

It takes a lot of inspiration from the cartoon while keeping it modern and fun, and some storylines are more serious than the show but there's still a lot of craziness involved. There's a lot of diversity, too, with some of it building off of what the cartoon implied (Stormer and Kimber are officially a couple in the comic) and other stuff being new (the different body and race types, the Misfits gaining a new member who's a transgender woman). There's also some stuff that's deliberately surprising for fans of the cartoon, like Raya starting out with the Stingers at first.

Also the art is really, really beautiful <3 Every band's songs shows up differently on the page, and the characterization is tight too. (The Misfits also got their own mini-series!)

edited 21st Jun '17 2:16:03 PM by lalalei2001

DO IT. DO IT.

It is, no joke, one of the best comics in recent years. It's really fun, and really sweet, and really dramatic, and it's totally sincere. Sophie Campbell's designs are brilliant perfection, with some wonderful body diversity. And her art is gorgeous. Kelly Thompson's writing is fantastic, and she gives the characters so much personality, so much depth, and such deep relationships. M. Victoria Robado's colours are gorgeous.

Kimber and Stormer are the adorablest.

Also, much as you'll start off loving to hate the Misfits (damn those Misfits!), you'll end up just plain loving them. The Misfits mini Thompson and St. Onge just finished is some of the finest work of Thompson's career.

Jem will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will change your freaking life.

It gets basically the highest recommendation I'm capable of giving.

edited 21st Jun '17 2:17:02 PM by Tiamatty

Alright, you've sold me on it. I'll give it a shot.

Well I've read the first volume.

It's certainly something. I'm definitely out of the target audience but I was pretty into it. Tiamatty is correct that Kimber and Stormer are the adorablest and I wish the comic was more about them than anyone, though Pizzazz was an absolute hoot to behold whenever she was on panel.

I liked it enough that I'll continue with it. Other than Transformers this is probably my favourite Hasbro book.

The attempted murder was a really dark turn though. Kinda killed the glitzy kitschy fun.

In the Jem cartoon Eric Raymond sent a hired thug to install a bomb at Starlight Mansion and the Misfits left Kimber in an active volcano once, and though Clash was more of a mischief maker she did frame Jem for theft once. (A one-shot bad guy tried to assassinate Kimber after mistaking her for a lookalike princess, too.)

I keep forgetting this is based on an eighties cartoon.

Here's a couple lists of how off-the-wall the cartoon could get XD

Read the second volume and it wasn't as good as the first. The art shifts were weird and distracting and the Misfits getting redemption by way of Pizzazz almost dying is weird. Why was there an attempted murder in the first place?

Thankfully there was more Kimber/Stormer goodness.

edited 22nd Jun '17 9:43:23 AM by Mr.Badguy

Dammit I bought more Jem.

I'm really letting having a job again go to my head.

On the plus side the third volume is way better than the second, even if Blaze's coming out was a bit awkward. I have an instinctive hate for coming out scenes where the cis/straight/more normative character goes "is that it?", even though for the books target audience it was probably a good idea. Coming out is a huge deal! It's scary!

I did like Clash immediately deciding to burn all of her Misfit stuff if they rejected Blaze, though.

edited 22nd Jun '17 12:37:35 PM by Mr.Badguy

Are volumes 4 and 5 out yet?

4 is but 5 and Misfits aren't. The series just finished and knowing IDW it'll be a few months.

I do want to note that Sophie Campbell, the artist on the first and third volumes, including Blaze's coming out, is a trans woman. And she was very much involved in the writing of that scene. So, at least for me, that informed how the scene read.

Also, if you think the artist shift in the second volume is jarring, wait until you reach Vol. 5 (I think 5? Or maybe it's 4?). Because Meredith Mc Claren's style is very distinctive. Gorgeous, though. I love Mc Claren's work. But yeah, wildly different from the other artists involved.

edited 22nd Jun '17 2:30:21 PM by Tiamatty

That is helpful and it does change the context significantly for me.

http://www.cbr.com/jem-and-the-holograms-infinite-new-artist-jen-hickman/

I am deeply disappointed at not getting more Stacey Lee, because her art is just so fantastic.