I grew up in the 90’s. That means I grew up in a childhood surrounded by the Spice Girls, The Magic School Bus and reading Goosebumps. I was exposed to anime through the power of Sailor Moon and was a kid when the best movies Disney ever made all came out. It also meant that I was exposed to the power of Blockbuster and renting retro movies and shows. I got to see some pretty great movies that way … and some crappy ones. One in particular really caught my eye as having potential for a great reboot and thank god it received it!
Jem and the Holograms was officially released in March of 2015 by IDW Publishing with writer Kelly Thompson (Storykiller, The Girl Who Would Be King) and artist Sophie Campbell (Glory, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) on the helm of this remake of the classic 80’s television series that combined camp and kitsch into
In the original Jem and the Holograms, Jerrica Benton was the daughter of a wealthy deceased music producer who used the power of the holographic computer Synergy to create the alter-ego ‘Jem’ to hide who she was from the public and create some bubblegum coated pop with her ‘sisters’. In this 21st Century re-write, Jerrica Benton creates her alter-ego Jem for an entirely different reason: the girl has some series stage fright.
This wouldn’t be such a big deal if it wasn’t for the fact that she and her band mates Aja, Shana and Kimber wanted to compete in an online competition to face off against punk-rockers The Misfits in a battle of the bands style competition. The simple battle of the band premise is amped up (pun not intended) when a romance blossoms between Kimber and Misfits member Stormer, leading for questions of loyalty to be thrown about as fast as the insults are between the two very different, yet very similar bands.
The series has already received rave reviews on most sites (Tumblr in particular) for it’s amazing art, great outfits, good storytelling and nods to other forms of popular culture. But what is really turning heads is the diversity that has been included in the cast. Both the Holograms and Misfits are made of a real mixture of personalities and body types, giving every reader an opportunity to see their body type portrayed in a comic book, something seriously lacking in both Western and Japanese comics. Another great new upgrade was the inclusion of a truly adorable lesbian relationship and
If you are looking for a brightly coloured comic romp would definitely recommend picking up and falling head over awesome heels for IDW’s 21st century remake of an 80’s classic.
Shana, Aja, Kimber, Jerrica, Pizzaz, Stormer, Jetta, Roxy and the ultimate obsessed fan Clash after a stick first meeting.
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