Interview with Britta Phillips on Being the Singing Voice of Jem

It's time for jam jamming to lie here inside

the pullback If you want to be truly outrageous,

listen in as Mike, Amy, and Nicole give you their

thoughts on IDW's Gem comics. Showtime synergy!

Hello and welcome to The Pull Bag! This is episode

145 and this kicks off Gem Gem in July! That's

right, we're gonna go back to Gem and the Holograms.

I'm of course TF2 and Mike. Joining me is Lady

Rek. Hello. Hello. And of course we have Beatles

Diva. Hello. We are back to Jim because Jim is

ending I think At least the ongoing is I don't

know what's going on. Maybe the rebranding is

a different ongoing Who knows James Barber and

John Roberts Holy crap we are we are so in the

shattered glass universe at this point He's the

one that brought this together. John Barber brought

this. Keep it there. He knows how to work things.

Come on, John, work it. Make sure this doesn't

get canceled. And sadly, all I can think of is

that Missy Elliott song now. Oh my god. Let me

work it. Oh god, no, don't even start. Please,

no. It's torture. Yeah, no. What are they gonna

do? Rebrand gem in the holograms to gem in the

lost light? Hey, we're at the Transformers gem

crossover now. I would just love to see Pizzazz

and Megatron together. Roxy and Starscream. That

would be awesome. This shit just writes itself,

folks. Stormer and thundercracker? I can see

that. He's gonna read to her his script. Oh no,

please god no! All right, so we are here to talk

about the Stinger's arc of Jamming the Holograms.

The main ongoing, this was through issues 19

to 23. Kelly Thompson, as always on the writing,

we have a new artist, a new series artist, and

Sophie left the series. We have Meredith McLaren,

who apparently worked with Kelly before. She

was the ongoing artist on one of Kelly's other...

series. I don't remember what it was off the

top of my head because I'm not looking at the

information. Victoria Roboto is on the Colors

and Sean Leeds on Letters, obviously. Edits by

Sarah Gaydos and John Barber. And Sarah will

actually take over for John on editing after

this issue. After Stinger, Enter the Stinger

is part one. Not so sure I like the art chain.

right away I'm yeah we'll talk about that yeah

yeah I'm not so sure about the art change it's

it's very stylistic and it took me by surprise

especially since I have to trade I'm looking

at the trade then the first the first issue is

by yeah So when you when you skip to this whole

different style it for the rest of the trade

it looks off because it's not conformed together

and I don't know the new art. It looks like everyone

needs a cup of coffee When I first saw Kimber,

I'm like she's supposed to look tired because

it's like I said, it's very stylistic very Sharp

lines, and I didn't know exactly how I was supposed

to be feeling about these characters at first,

but then after a couple issues, I did get used

to it. I kind of had a love -hate relationship

with it. Sometimes I liked it and then sometimes

I like, oh, that's really odd angle or that's

kind of odd. That reads weird. You know, so I

was kind of on the same page as that. It's a

little I mean, you can definitely tell right

off from the get -go. But by the end, I was like,

OK, I think this works for me. Sometimes it doesn't,

but most of the time it does. I was like, OK,

I'm all right with this. It's very... But it

took me the five issues or however many issues

to get to that point. It's four issues with it.

Once I got into the mode that I'm like, oh, this

is kind of be very anime or manga -ish, you know,

with the very... expressive lines and expressive

facial features. Once I put myself into that

mode, I was able to handle it. It emotes completely

different than before. And I think that was the

biggest change is that the emoting of the characters

changed. There was a shift because the faces

look different. In fact, if anything. They kind

of reminded me, since we just got the news about

the Dark Crystal, they all look like Gelflings

to me. Ah, there you go. But it got better. I

mean, I came around to... They had its charm,

so... It was very odd at first. I was like, oh,

this is different. Yeah, you're right. It is

very anime -ish, and it actually gets more anime

-ish as it goes along. I got used to it, but

I still prefer Sophie's style or Jen Bartel's

style or Any of the other artists that have done

stuff for Jim at this point Like this is not

my favorite Jim art. It's it's okay But it's

not It's a little strange for me So we open up

this first issue with with Kimber and Aja, I

almost said Storm or Aja, you know, they're arguing

back and forth because they're getting ready

for going somewhere and Jem comes in and it's

like, are you guys ready? Hurry up. And they're

like, well, not all of us use advanced holographic

technology. We see who the favorite is. Yeah.

And they even ask, wait, why are you Jim still?

Because she still has not changed out of being

Jim into Jerika. And this is a whole thing that's

going to play throughout the storyline, them

continuously asking, why are you still Jim? Why

are you not Jerika? And honestly, by the very

last time, I think it's an issue, either 22 or

23. And we'll get to it. By that time, I was

so sick of them asking her about the change or

not changing. Didn't mind it because because

they mentioned it like once in every issue and

that's a good thing for Someone that may have

just picked up a random issue Yeah So I didn't

mind it So they're running late to their their

meeting at five -by -five records and Kimber

wants a coffee and gems like yeah, we're gonna

be late already. No, I was like not with the

way I drive I love Asha. Yeah, Asha's awesome.

So what I didn't mention earlier is that if anyone

remembers at the end of Dark Gem, the last arc,

uh... was going off of the things that's the

end of the annual or that that the first thing

or whatever it is but she's gone off to milan

to actually this was in seventeen eighteen changes

the the two -part story arc we did this is after

dark gem actually uh... she's got off to milan

to do her fashion design sit thing and they're

going to be looking for a new drummer and in

this scene now uh... i just says what about craig

they're both like no way why not he's awesome

yeah and then we're without a drummer again when

you dump him oh shana hasn't left yet she's she's

made she made the decision that she was going

to go but she has not left yet We then go to

pizzazz and the misfits rehearsing Who the heck

is the key tarist with them Roxy Jeddah blaze.

Oh, oh is that Stormer? I was gonna say that

doesn't look like Stormer. She's got black hair

in this panel It's heavily inked in a few places.

Yeah, that did not look like stormer at all in

that first panel So in this section of the story

pizzazz is not exactly Happy with the new sound

because it's kind of hard to get used to having

two singers in the same band Apparently, yeah

It's just a slight shift. Yeah, you know, there's

you know So what were you guys thinking about

this what were you thinking? So far in this issue,

Amy. Oh, I was good. I was like, hey, you know,

we're, you know, we're, we're still, we've got

blaze still kind of keeping them a little off

kilter, which, you know, I'm kind of glad that

they kept her on because it's kind of good to

see them. Oh, we're struggling a little bit because

we've just got a slightly different sound and,

you know, pizzazz like, no, no, no, no, no, we

gotta, we gotta, we gotta get, we, this is, this

isn't working. So trying to figure out how that

balances is going to take a little bit of work.

And I like the fact that it kind of keeps them

a little off because of that. So yeah, the Misfits

have nothing but a hard time throughout this

whole arc. It was a good conflict to keep it.

Yeah, it was. What about you, Nicole? What did

you think to this point? Well, first of all,

I like that they kept the same storyline from

the 80s cartoon with Shayna. Going on having

having a conflict because that felt like something

that Was it's comfortable for the old the old

generation like me and It's nice to meet you.

Yeah, and it's it's kind of nice to see a change

up in the Misfits as well Adding in another member.

I I kind of enjoyed it and it's it's weird to

see pizzazz in this way because uh she's a whole

different entity from the the tv show because

she would have never let anyone else in the band

that might have outdone her in the tv show destroyed

yeah and so i i i really like pizzazz's character

um in in in the storyline i really do i'm really

liking it i like how she's grown so absolutely

So Elise, their manager at 5x5 Records, says,

you know, you ladies, why don't you take a lunch,

come back in a couple hours, and Pizzazz is like,

I'd rather... I need the room, Pizzazz. Yeah,

Elise pretty much tells her, you need to go,

I don't want you here. And she tells Eric, I

want this fixed within 48 hours. That's a really...

Law that's a very short time time frame to fix

things Really really short, but you know what?

You said she's the manager actually she's the

one that runs five by five. Yeah, she's there

Eric's the manager, but she's the boss. She's

the manager of the company whatever And she's

got, Jim and the Holograms are in there because

they're going to be auditioning new drummers

and they ask her, you know, shouldn't we be playing

with them? Oh, we'll whittle, you know, we've

got so much. Yeah, we'll whittle it down afterwards.

And then eventually we'll get to a point where

you guys are actually playing with them and we'll

see how it works. Yeah. And we get a nice little

scene between Eric and and pizazz about the fact

that um at least doesn't care about process pizazz

she cares about results um you know and pizazz

actually fights for her and she fights for you

know the the new dynamic in the band which is

actually really really good and a couple of people

come up for pizazz's autograph and she Almost

goes off on them according to the giant green

blood -looking tongue kiss looking No, she does

go off on them. Well, yeah That's enough of that

Just what they need is another media circus over

her reaction to something. Mm -hmm. Yeah, so

they're like So I actually skipped ahead because

now we're at the point where they're talking

about agreeing to cutting down the drummers for

Jim and the Holograms as they go through and

then they can pick one. And this is kind of the

reason I don't like the art style. It's more

so on some of the close -ups and some of the

faraway shots like the panel where Elise says

So what did you ladies think we need Nikki? We

think Nikki and Michael and Watts before are

the best options We should bring them back for

a second audition agreed The panel where all

three of them are saying nothing There they have

no facial features. They their faces are so undefined

You can't even see if Kimber has eyes nose or

a mouth that's what i don't like about the art

style okay see yes and no i mean yeah because

it's kind of like they their facial features

are really really simplified you know who each

one of them are yeah you don't see kipper's face

at all it's like she's kind of hiding a little

bit but that in itself kind of emotes in its

own way it's just they're all looking down And

Jem has got this little frown on her face. So

you're like, OK, the fact that they're not saying

anything kind of does say a lot. But you're right.

I mean, the art style, especially since like

the faces have kind of been a really big deal

deal in the past and how they've emoted here.

It's like it's all about body language instead

of having any facial features whatsoever, because

the one the panel directly below it blow it or

at least says great, then pick a drummer. and

you just see, you know, Kimber falling over in

a dramatic way and the other two have absolutely

no blank that they that that one absolutely does

not emote anything. Even their body language

is kind of like, oh, OK, we have to pick a drummer.

Well, to me, that panel is like very anime ish.

Yeah, it is. I didn't have a problem with it.

I kind of do. Because I would rather see them

with frowns on their faces or something, or some

sort of puzzled look, or some sort of questioning

look. It doesn't always lend well to everybody.

I mean, some people are going to like it, some

people aren't, and you just happen to be one

of those people that doesn't like it. And there's

nothing wrong with that. Yeah. And we even get

that again on Jim when she goes in to talk to

Elise on the very next top part of the next page

when she's looking down all as I can see is the

pink thing under her eye like she has no nose

no mouth no nothing until we get a close -up

of her because she hears riots and the stingers

and we have the introduction of the stingers

here We need someone wonderful Lady, can't you

see we're a perfect match? the Misfits coming

back from lunch. I do too. I do too. I'm not

saying I don't. Riot's a dick. I mean, that's

all there is to it. I mean, you know, whether

it's a comic or whether it's the cartoon, Riot's

always been a dick. I mean, there's nothing There's

no getting by that He's got money he's got the

looks he knows what he's doing And of course

we have you know him fawning over Jim and I am

obsessed with you and yada yada yada That's after

pizzazz and Jim go at it. Yeah, they go at it

We get we get our traditional pizzazz back mm

-hmm And you know basically Elise just says you

know Call Greta, and she'll try to find something

she'll try to find time for you guys to come

in again tomorrow like try to find time and they're

basically shoving the misfits out of the way

to get the stingers and That's actually what

happens later Well, and it's not just that it

was the fact that they bumped they bumped the

Misfits for them to Audition ban and you know,

it just three is a crowd It really just comes

down to it three is a crowd and one of them had

to get bumped and it was the Misfits And Elise

is you know, which makes that sense because they're

the ones that are kind of wavering a little bit

right now So hey, you know, so we can do with

the other two So I was just tells her you know

tells Gemma we got to go and then she makes fun

of Jim And They have an argument about Riot and

and all of that and she actually changes angrily

While they're driving because she says you know

again. They bring up. Why are you still Jim and

so she changes while they're driving and some

guys next to her and oh I'm sure if Springer

came flying by your house you'd be alright I

was going with the wreckers world's not a part

of the wreckers Yeah, cuz he doesn't believe

it He doesn't believe a lot of stuff still a

part of it just you know on sabbatical So we

get them driving off back home and They want

Kimber to tell Shayna And they want her to lie

to her to spare her feelings and Kimber's like

but I'm the worst at lying She'll see right through

me Kimber's best quality no doubt I think they're

overthinking it a little bit too much at this

point because like The logic that goes into this

is like guys just just be real about it. Yeah

She'll go, she'll have fun, you know? Mm -hmm.

Yeah. They overthink it. Yeah, they do. We get

back to 5x5s with 5x5 records with Elise and

the Stingers, and Rhea is a part of the Stingers,

which... At first I was like, wait, what? How

did that happen? She just is. They don't really

explain it, they just say she's a part of it.

I kind of like it. I kind of like it. I thought

it was weird that, you know, they had a guitarist

but not a drummer back in the day. So Elise basically

wants the Stingers no matter what and Riot basically

tells her the first condition is you drop the

misfits. And we end the issue with Pizzaz spying

on them. Alright then war it is That last panel

is awesome I mean it was the colors and the shading

is kind of cool. You're just like totally on

totally on wasn't the whole reason why is because

Why riot saw the two girls fighting and they're

Finley it's it's it's like He's dropping the

missets specifically because of the fight that

they oversaw while they were in the studio. That

and it's because he wants more time with Jem.

Yeah. One thing about this issue I forgot to

mention. Jem and Aja and Kimber have a little

tete -a -tete and they jokingly go back and forth

about Aja for president. That would technically

be a demotion. Craig, let me be a god. Okay,

then. I love that. That was hilarious. That was

awesome. That was very, very cool. Overall, what

do we think of this first part of the arc? Amy?

Great start. Great start. Nicole? I think I gotta

agree. I mean, you've got so much going on in

just a few pages. But it's not like overwhelming.

I think it's great. Yeah. It went by really fast.

Like I got to the end. Oh, is it over already?

Whoa. Wow. OK. Well, because the rhythm was really

great. I was like, I didn't expect the end. And

then suddenly it was the end. And I was like,

oh, OK, there's that. I was like, that went by

fast. Yeah. And you got the involvement with

all three bands. You know, you got to see each

one of them has. Storyline coming up and you

you were interested you're into it. You're like,

okay, what's gonna happen with this character?

What's gonna happen with this band, you know,

and yeah, I like I thought it was very well done

Getting into issue 20 which is enter the stingers

part two We start off with we start off at pizzazz's

house with a super secret band meeting Everybody's

there except for a stormer because she's a traitor

she's sleeping with she's sleeping with the enemy

it's so pizzazz and holy crap jada pulls out

brass knuckles she means business man yeah i

like it and they're arguing over being dropped

by five by five Yeah, cuz that's what happened

between the the issues is yep Elise went okay

fine. They're gone. Mm -hmm Yep, and we have

clash and blaze and clashes is consoling blaze

because blaze thinks it's her fault and and Because

as even steps up and says don't be ridiculous.

This is nothing to do with you See, I really

do like this pizzazz. Yeah, I do You feel like

she's not just in it for herself. She's in it

for the team, which benefits herself, but she's

still in it for the team. So. Which is a slight

variation from like the last like from the original,

she was like, no, no, I'll do this all by myself

if I have to, which, you know, at times she did

that. She'd walk away from the group and they'd

be like, ah. Lailing to get back on our good

side again, but no no this one I like the fact

that she does that I like the fact that they're

very Good together like that there. She's like

you be you guys my peeps And she basically tells

them it's all jamming the holograms fault and

she's like we just teamed up with them I love

the panel where they're all Clash and Blaze,

Roxy and Jetta are all kind of spitting fire.

It's kind of like hot -headed goats or something.

It's goat skulls. It's hilarious. I think that's

great. It's awesome, awesome art. And then that's

when she says, this is why Stormer isn't here.

And she's going to go out and take care of a

few things. I like this. I think this is a good

opening, starting with the misfits, seeing how...

because we ended with Pizzazz in the last issue,

you know, okay, then this is war. And starting

with them, seeing what they're going to do next,

first, is a very good start. I still don't like

the very minimalistic expressions, especially

on the faraway shots. It just... it irks the

hell out of me. That was a good setup. I think

it was really great in the fact that, you know,

in the matter of five pages, we know exactly

where they're going. We know what they're doing.

And I think it was good. That was a very easy

conflict to start out with because the one that

everybody wants to see, OK, what are the what

are the myths it's going to do? And we, you know,

we are not disappointed. And that was really

good. apparently brass knuckles and a peacock

coat is involved. So I love the coat. I'm like,

I think I'm like, I don't know if she's trying

to be discreet, but that's not the way to do

it. She looks fabulous anyways. But it's so pizzazz

though. Oh, it is. She is absolutely the peacock.

She has to have attention. And so that Subliminal

message even in that was just fantastic. I thought

it was brilliant how they use that Especially

the minimalistic, you know vibe that we're going

on that Just screamed at me as I go. That's so

pizzazz. It is I love it Somebody call NBC Why

peacock Hey, they're bringing back the must TV

slogan, or must see TV slogan here soon. Or they've

already done it. You better put something good

on there that actually is must see. We go to

a restaurant where Shana and Tony are having

dinner and a conversation about whether she should

go or not go to Milan. I love this scene with

the two of them. I think this is really well

done. I think it's very endearing. I like it.

Yeah. It's one of the things that this this comic

gets right is when the characters pair up into

their couples modes like Jem or Jerrica and Rio,

Kimber and Stormer, Craig and Asha and... Shaman

Riot. What? No. No, no, no, no, no. What no?

No, no, no, no, no. What no? I don't know. No

Shana and Tony I really did enjoy this this part

and She's about to say we'll make room for dessert

when she sees something and she's like Tony We

got to get out of here and pizzazz shows up Definitely

the wrong time to show up, but if she had been

a little more nosy which she is definitely not

yeah She'd find out that the game is afoot. She

just doesn't want to be seen. Yeah, Shayna does

not want to be seen by Pazazz. Pazazz might cause

a scene too, so... Shayna would never do that.

Right. What comic have you been reading? Exactly.

So, Pazazz is meeting with someone by the name

of Fox, and... Foxy lady And she's wants to talk

to her about You know taking down Jim and the

holograms and she's she's got her attention We

then go to riots penthouse apartment in Malibu

and Reyes all by herself She assumes that they're

having practice, but Rapture and Minx come in

with all kinds of shopping bags, and apparently

every... They forgot to text message her. Yeah,

yeah. I thought you were going to text her. Yeah,

they both just kind of, oh, you know, yeah. One

of the other girls is gonna do it, and then neither

one of us did, so there you go. Very, very much

Minx and Rapture, I think. very much them yeah

let's go shopping instead yeah and it's uh i'm

trying to see what it's oh it's minx here that

um apparently hates us americans i could absolutely

every single word all of the words that they

said i could totally hear minx oh yeah sure I

hear the voice actors that played them in the

show just like in my ears. I was like, oh wow,

it's just so spot on. And we go back to the Benton

house and we see that Jerrica is coming over

to Kimber and Stormer with Aja and Craig and

Kimbers like white Jericho It's gonna be really

weird I've never been might this situation but

cuddling up on the couch and having a couple's

time in front of your sibling exactly And they're

both siblings there's two sets of siblings there

so yeah, yeah okay the only thing I can think

of is specifically to the couples not Jerica's

honor I mean yes Jerica is Kimber's blood sister

and all that but just take Jerica out of the

out of the picture here and just go with this

Kimber and Aja are Frank and Joe Hardy they're

the Hardy boys cute uh so we get a knock at the

door and it's riot looking for gem catching jerrica

way off guard yeah what are you doing here because

she's forgot she has not met him as jerrica yeah

didn't expect that She invites him in and He

has a conversation while she go gets Jim And

he basically spills the beans of the misfits

being dropped Guess who was in the room? And

he comes off as being the jerk even though he

wasn't intending to be Uh -huh. Yep. Well, I

think he was intending to be. I really do think.

I don't think this was him. I think this was...

Oh look, there's Stormer from the Misfits. Yeah.

Yeah. You know, I think they want us... Either

she does know or she doesn't know, and I think...

Depending on how happy she is right now. I don't

think she knows so I'm gonna like well No, she

she didn't know because they specifically left

her out of the Well, yeah, yeah, but he's basing

the fact that she's there happy and with yeah

Kimber probably doesn't know and so I'm just

gonna be the jerk and act like I wasn't being

the jerk and drop it That way I can get rid of

all these people and have Jim to myself Well,

that was his whole plan regardless. I don't think

it was specifically intentionally meant to get

rid of Stormer right away, but maybe he didn't

see her when all the bands were together. She

wasn't there, I don't think. No, she was, wasn't

she? Yeah, so this had to be intentional on his

part. because he saw cuz yeah they they were

all there cuz i i'd made a comment about stormers

hair color in the last one so yeah no they were

all there at the recording studio the misfits

were all there so he saw her in the band so he

knew and whether or not he knew that she knew

or that she was told is up for debate i guess

but uh... I love, we need a one shot with Aja

and Craig. I love the two of them. They're so

fun. So fun. And Riot and Jammer left outside

to talk and he basically convinces her to say

yes to a date. We go to... Ajah and Craig get

a concert and Ajah sees this really awesome drummer

and she believes she has solved all their problems

and the drummer she introduces is the Fox. That's

not good. I've solved all of our problems by

adding another one. I love what Kimber's wearing.

Kimber is awesome. I like this the second part

to this. I think it's interesting. I think it's

fun. I think it's drama -filled like Jim. Can

only be because like I said riot comes in and

riot always always created drama You know you

you go back to us talking about the cartoon series

The man does nothing but cause chaos anywhere

he goes He's a riot Overall Amy, what did you

think of it the second part of this? Oh, it's

just heating up that things are getting real

great Especially when they you know Fox walks

in says hey my adorable little gems like oh man.

This is gonna go for it man I love how he's playing

the stage. I just love it Yeah, it was very good.

It was a good second part to the story. Starts

off with Shayna being in Italy so apparently

she is ordered all this food for her internship

and look it's rain nice that's awesome that they

brought her in and I like how they did this I

think this is really cool that they basically

at the by the end of this they mean regime regime

whatever It's not raining in here. Do I not have

the same issue you have? Yeah, whatever. I love

that too. I was like, ah, that's so cool. I really

liked it. Two interns. They're both designers

and I like this. It's a nice little go between

those two. What happens in this issue is a nice

thing that it'll be nice to see them go come

back to this thread. and work it because it's

a situation where Regine and Shayna have history

together. Yeah, and the thing is, if I remember

correctly in the cartoon series, Regine was the

hit designer and Shayna wasn't yet. She was the

up -and -comer, she was the new starlet, and

Shayna wasn't... Fully into the design stuff

yet. What I like about this is that they're basically

starting at the same level Yeah, and I liked

that because it puts them on equal footing and

it's somebody that she can you know talk to about

her craft So it's really good, you know They

both have a problem and they have to solve it

by the end and I thought it was brilliant how

they did that Yeah, cuz you can't have Ashley

sitting on your lap every single time don't remember

that animation error oh boy we go back to so

shana tries calling home and there's no answer

because they're practicing with the new drummer

fox the fox whatever the fox miss foxy lady yes

who is into their stuff and deleting their messages

yes she is yeah There to make problems and yeah,

she is constantly getting paid to make problems.

Yeah She's pressing the wrong buttons on the

jukebox. She's looking at the guitars and and

they're all like, um Yeah, no don't do that Play

with that, you know beat up jukebox. Is it plugged

in does it work? We like to think of it as broken

Yeah We go back to Italy and back to raise regime

and and Shayna And their dilemma They're in turns

that are basically not getting a chance to do

anything except, you know, be secretaries. So

they put their heads together to figure out what

they're going to do. I liked their idea. I love

their idea. That was great. Yeah, their idea

rocks. It was very gem, very gem, like very much

the show. They put their heads together and they

figured out what they're going to do. Boom. we

go back to the misfits and they want to crash

the masquerade ball as waitresses Nicole loves

this idea I agree with blaze on this one blaze

is the voice of reason on this one Yeah, because

pizzazz doesn't even really have a plan No, she's

just possessed by a demon The black eyes Yeah,

the full of black eyes the full black eyes and

the and the hot green skull Yeah, she just needs

little horns. There you go breathing fire And

by the end of this she asks, you know Well, we

do have part of Roxy's thing here about complaining

about it and you know and Jetta says don't worry.

I'll you know, I'll help you with it and all

of that So we have the start of that part of

Roxy's storyline Yeah, cuz if she's gonna have

to take orders down. Yeah We then go to Raya

and her dad which i was wondering if that was

going to come up with i love that they put this

in here yeah this is great and she she's basically

telling her dad her she loves what she's doing

but she doesn't love the people she's with she's

not sure if it's the right place and she's doubting

things and trying to figure out hey am i really

doing the right thing and dad is her center he

gives her some good advice and she needed to

hear that so yep absolutely and we go then go

to two people that um are having some conflicts

not with each other but with the whole situation

stormer and kimber are kimber's trying to consider

what we'll get to that oh my god stem bar click

hey can you not we're having a private conversation

here oh damn paparazzi yeah yep or better yet

when they say stormer now that the misfits are

dead yeah yeah you're a jerk go away yeah go

away that was that was a little too bad that

was that was horrible Was really harsh mm -hmm

we go back to riots penthouse and They basically

have a back -and -forth about You know him obsessing

over Jim and the two of them. I love that panel

the two of them Jim black I Love that that's

awesome And he's like, well, where's Rhea? And

she left. And well, do we need to practice more

for the concert? No, we're ready. Well, should

we practice for the album? OK. Yeah, we probably

should. So they have the younger one of them

sitting around waiting for them to show up. When

Riot finally gets there, she's left. And he's

like, OK, maybe we need to practice. You have

to bring her back in. Can see why ray is a little

frustrated Yeah, yeah, I mean right it's a bigger

diva than most women Yeah, that's very true That

is very very true we get to go back to Kimber

Aja and Jim and apparently she's been out with

riot more than the one time Do you blame her?

Good looking guy. Yeah, what about Rio? Hello?

Come on. He doesn't know her. Hey, you shut your

mouth. This isn't Cartoon Rio. This is Comic

Rio. Comic Rio is better than Cartoon Rio. You

already agreed to this. I agree to that. I'd

still take Riot. But it's hard because, you know,

she likes being Jem and Jem's so much fun and

she gets attention, likes attention. you know

he's getting her attention so yeah and he's here

actively you know yes for a girl like Jim that

must feel really great you know oh I've never

been the center of attention for a girl like

Jerrica well yeah yeah because it's Jericho has

never gotten the attention and apparently the

Fox's phone goes off and they're like oh She's

still here? How long has she been here? What

has she heard? Oh no, we are so screwed. You

know, the fox goes on to talk to the person she's

on the phone with, which I assume is Pazazz.

I'm pretty sure. Uh huh. Her timing is really

bad. Yeah. Um... Aja has a conversation with...

with Jerrica about being Jem and I really like

this this because it's just a one -on -one with

with two sisters you know I mean Kimbers there

but yeah well it's mostly Aja talking to to right

well Jem at this point Jerrica and it's kind

of nice to see Aja in Loving mode, you know cuz

we see her she's very protective, but it's usually

You know, she has that emotion that am I gonna

punch? Yeah punch I'm gonna catch it right now,

you know, I'm gonna kick punch hit break over

their head To see her like getting down on her

knees and saying hey, there's a problem here

You know the nurturing you're right. Yeah, that

was really good to see that that she's like genuinely

concerned Yeah, cuz normally it's Shayna is the

one that does that in the group, at least in

this comic it has been. I really think Aja's

line, whenever she's mad, should always be, okay,

who do I have to go all Fury Road on to? That's

what made this even stand out more, is the fact

that this is not usually what she does, but because

she does it, it gives it more weight, which is

really great because up until this point, I wasn't

quite sure if I believed the fact that That something's

going on with her after this point when she's

how she reacts I I I see it more I I get what

her I I I'm understanding it through ajah's eyes

because she's doing something that she usually

doesn't do and so it called more attention to

me Yeah, absolutely And you know they're you

know Get some sleep, don't worry, it'll be fine.

And Aja says, my god, I would kill for Shana

to be here right now. She wouldn't know what

to do. You don't know, you always know. I love

Cameron. You don't know, you always know. Usually

it's something I can punch. I can't punch this.

And Synergy comes up behind them and scares the

bejabbers out of them. She's warning them that

the fox is in their father's study because she's

going to figure out the secret and that's how

this one ends. absolutely what did we think of

this one Nicole oh this one oh I really like

this because there's several emotions in this

I mean you get the loving sister you get the

the scheming a guy you get you gets the the these

the poor emotions of two people famous people

trying to have a relationship and people always

get in the way and that ending is really good

like okay so how deep is the fox gonna go what

is she gonna find out and so it's just like you

were kind of waiting what's gonna happen where's

the next issue yeah this was the issue that i

said okay i can't stop right there i gotta go

i can't stop it's like if i stop i'm gonna be

like I can't sleep tonight because I need to

know. Does she mind it or what? Yeah. So I was

like, yeah, that was a perfect, perfect cliffhanger

right there. Tell me about your little lovely

secrets. Especially since we don't know anything

about the Fox because she is a new character.

It's like all bets are off. Everything's up in

the air. Anything could happen. And that's the

reason why it's like I had nothing to base it

off of. I had to read the next issue after this.

Yeah, absolutely. I thought 21 was really good.

I thought the story arc was finding its way.

I thought that it was progressing nicely. This

is the issue where the arc just suddenly kind

of blended to the background and it didn't bother

me as much. It didn't bother me as much except

on some of the facial expressions. It didn't

bother me as much as issues 19 and 20, but...

It's still, it's nagging in the back of my mind.

Nicole, anything else on 21? No, I thought this

was probably the best issue of the series right

now. 22 where we get you know the previously

page as always this one we start off with Jim

and the holograms in their masks preparing for

the five -by -five masquerade ball that's one

thing I've always loved about this comic when

they do certain special things like this they

have Little bio thing like this could easily

be a jumping -on issue for somebody that had

never read this comic before Which I think is

great And I just love that And I like the the

art here in this first panel of all four of them

because they're all so distinctive Oh, yeah,

I really like I love I loved how distinctive

they were like and they do it in such a way that

you know the colors are the same for each of

the characters it just it just it worked i really

like this absolutely so everybody's getting ready

for this masquerade ball and we go to the stingers

who are all pretty much wearing yellow and black

well that's their signature i know and then we

go to the And then we go to the misfits who all

look like token black guys. No, they're dressed

as waitresses. I know. They look like reservoir

dogs to me. Okay, there you go. I love the cat.

I know. Oh yeah, Miss Graham. Yeah. The reason

why I said they all look like token black guys

is because I remember that scene from... Ice

Cube's triple x movie the triple x to the union.

He's like I'm gonna need a tux And he gets one

of the waitstaff tuxes and blends in So we see

each of the individual kind of costume for each

one of these characters from all three bands

and Lo and behold Nicole's boyfriend shows up

Perfect timing, too. I got me. He kinda looks

good. Aw, man, he looks good. Okay. That's right.

Oh, yeah. And, uh... Thanks, Rio. What are you

doing here? Aren't I taking Jerika to the ball?

Or am I not? It's kinda like, oh, I've been down

this road before. Uh -huh. And it's probably

Jem's fault. And this is where she and and and

Aja have the conversation about being gem versus

being Jerika being gem all the time etc etc Which

is not exactly good and she basically tells Rio

that Jerika is sick Instead of using a hologram,

she tells Jerrica is sick and she's sleeping

it off and they go to the ball. Poor Rio. That

guy. Rio can never get a break. Well, that's

another issue. We won't go into that, bro. At

this point, he can never get a break. and I'm

hoping I don't know because I have not I have

not read the like this is the first time before

we recorded this episode of the podcast I have

the last time I read a gem comic is when we did

17 and 18 I have not this is the first time I've

been reading through these so I don't know what

happens in 24 25 and 26 is is not out yet but

I don't know I'm hoping by the end of this he

finds out Because he never found out in the damn

cartoon he deserves to know here So they're all

going to the ball and Speaking of having a ball

we have Shana and regime. They're gonna have

a party of their own This is awesome I love the

art in this. The art in this looks great. Yeah,

the fashion show. Absolutely, yeah. So great.

And seeing the two of them team up and all of

the panels with them together is just so fun.

We even meet the girl that runs the agency where

they're interning. Yeah. That just goes to show

that... Sometimes, you know, the big guys don't

even recognize talent until it's, like, right

in their face. Practically screaming in their

face. They won't even give the small guy a chance,

you know? They don't have time. Don't have time.

Yeah, I watch you today working for me. Actually,

I already do, huh? I love that. I thought that

was great. I'm like, yeah. That was awesome.

Yeah, we're interning here. Really? Okay, wow.

Now I get a chance to actually see what you guys

are doing. It's the first time that they've actually

sent us somebody that actually could do something.

And she does stand by her offer, and we go back

to Los Angeles to the party on the boat, and

we have this cool big splash page of click, click,

click, click, click, jam, jam, jam, Kimber, Kimber,

where's Stormer tonight, Kimber? All the paparazzi,

Aja, Fox, over here, that kind of stuff. Wait,

it doesn't say clash though. It should, yeah.

That would be funny. I don't even think she makes

an appearance in this series, does she? Yeah,

I read the click clash the song yeah, I know

the original yeah That's what I was meaning to

say. It's that's what it reminded me of And the

stingers are all eating hors d 'oeuvres Apparently

they all hate the pink ones Yeah, it's set for

set for rapture. Yeah rapture loves the pink

ones Riot abandons them to go hunt down Jem.

I love the look on his face. There she is. I

like his expression in that panel. I like the

broken hearts when when she says I can't see

you anymore. So sad. And she tries to tell him

more and more and more but Elise comes up to

the stage and They call the stingers onto the

stage and he has to go up, so it's like, ah!

Can't tell me. Timing! Timing is everything.

Yep. And the Misfits are all just there in their

waitress uniforms just looking, you know, pizazzes

like that. Those brats, it should be us up there.

And when people come up and say, hey, can I have

one of those? Go away! More pink ones! Can I

just grab... Yes, yeah. No, no, no. Yes, it's...

Fine. Thank you for that. And they're about to

do something stupid as usual. And Riot is talking

about their new single, it's called The Queen,

and it's dedicated to Jim! Everybody's in stunned

silence. I wonder how the rest of the... rest

of the bandmates how they felt about that um

well look at the i'm like i'm like talking about

the whole process of writing the song they're

just like oh i guess i guess we'll go with it

it's better than arguing with him exactly it's

better than arguing with him just let him have

it he'll drop this one just like he's dropped

every other girl before this one point they'll

indulge it to a point so and they play through

their song and and and uh we find out that uh

fox is uh gonna basically um drop him like a

bad habit yeah spurt him over hard i don't think

i'm gonna be here today I think the very last

thing she says to them is the worst thing of

all so yeah I'm out but I was never really in

and the fact that you guys couldn't tell the

difference is most damning of all. Oh geez. Wait,

what is happening? You forgot to be kidding me.

Oh, and yeah, and Priscilla sends her regards.

No way, unfreaking believable. I love Aja's reaction

because she was the one that brought her in.

So of course, you know, unfreaking believable.

She has the biggest to lose here because she

was the one that brought her on. So yeah, that

sucks. Ready in 60 seconds? Ready, set, go. Yeah,

ready, set, stop. Yeah, stop on a dime. And that's

how this one ends, where they're like, you're

out in 60 seconds, ladies. What are we gonna

do now? I have no idea. Uh -huh. Again, another

showstopper. I had to read the next one after

this. I was like, no, no, no, no, I can't do

this. This is why I'm a little behind, so I don't

have to wait. I really want to bring the Fox

back because again, we have two cliffhangers

and the past two issues and it involved her.

I'm just like, yeah, here we go. That's gonna

be great. Overall, I liked issue 22. I think

it was a good penultimate issue leading up to

the finale. This arc. I think it is so fun. I

think the stingers are fun. I think where the

misfits are in the story is Slightly depressing

but it's fun because you know that pizzazz is

eventually going to do something To get them

back on top because you know as as the theme

song says their songs are better So yeah, Amy

final thoughts on 22 brilliant I was good with

that. I was good with it. I thought, you know,

I actually thought Fox coming in and out as fast

as she did. I thought I was a little fast because

I thought, well, she really didn't get any dirt

on them, didn't she? I mean, what do we at this

point? We really don't know what she's learned

because they never revealed any of that. So I'm

like, well, I hope it's really juicy what she's

found out like or or not, because, you know,

I don't want anything happened to Jim and the

holograms. But still, it's kind of like, OK,

wow, OK, she. found anything did she really find

anything or is it just she's revealing their

fatal flaw and throwing them under the bus so

that those questions are really big those are

really huge make me want to keep reading just

to find out what happened um and that's the reason

why i really like this issue is because of the

amount of i'm invested i don't want to stop reading

And so it just it worked for me, but I kind of

was like Nicole. I hope we get to see the Fox

again I hope she gets to be brought in over something

else because as a new character She was very

in in two issues. I Really kind of like her.

I like what they've built with her. I want to

know more I'd like to see more of her. So I Think

it was the only downside to me is the fact that

the Fox Before I let Nicole give her final thoughts

for me. I very much liked 22. Like I said, I

think it was a good middle Story developing issue.

I do like the Fox I almost want to say and I

don't think this is true, but I almost want to

say that the Fox is kind of like a female version

of tech rat a Little bit because tech rat has

not been around Yeah, now that you mention it,

that's true. Well, Eric Raymond hasn't really

been around either. Yeah, I mean, Eric was in

the very first issue, you know, when they were

at 5x5, but he hasn't been around much either,

but I'm saying, like, pizzazz bringing in the

Fox, it just kind of rings like, um... It's almost

like when Eric in the show would bring in Zipper.

Sometimes he would use TechRax, and then other

times he would use Zipper. That's what it kind

of reminds me of Nicole final thoughts on 22.

Oh, I really liked it. Like I said, I really

like the Fox. I Man, she's sinister and she knows

how to play it off pretty cool I Just I love

knowing that they're on a ship. I just think

that's I'm like I want to be on a ship party

Yeah, I really had fun at this issue. into twenty

three and we start as always with the previous

play previously page and we obviously get caught

up in we start off where we were picked up we

pick up where we left off with the last issue

with them uh... you know scrambling for a drummer

and uh... i would say I could have Synergy conjure

up someone, but a fake drummer, there would be

lots of questions, and we don't have... I can

help. Rhea? If it would help, I could sit in

for her. I love this. I like this is how she

comes into the band. I really do. This was great.

Because originally it was... in the cartoon series

it was a it was a drum it was not a drum it was

a guitar audition it was it was some sort of

audition it was between craig and and rea at

first and you know craig was stormer's brother

like like he's always been and then there was

rea and that's how she came and was through the

contest but uh or the talent search or whatever

you want to call it but uh this you know her

just kind of coming up to them and offering and

they welcome her in and they introduce her more

than that more than that she's a fan she's a

fan she knows all of their songs by heart what

are the odds that the stinger you know drummer

would know all of that she does absolutely and

uh you know we want to introduce our you know

guest drummer rea and The singers were like,

what is that? Wait, what is happening? Say what?

I'm actually surprised that Riot isn't more like,

oh, well, that's kind of cool. They're kind of

like, no, that's not OK. The other two, that

makes sense that the other two would be not.

But Riot, I'm like, hmm? I don't know. I mean,

you do like Jem, right? If her band falls on

its face, what, you'd be excited to the fact

that she'd be a nobody now and you can just do

whatever, or what? What's up with that? Where's

your logic coming with that, Riot? And so we

get Rhea as the drummer, and we go to the stables

at Starlight Manor, I guess. We see Rio is gonna

bring Jerrica some chicken soup, but she's not

home And this is where we get, you know, we go

back to the concerts, but you know, and we'd

like to offer special thanks to our guest drummer,

Rhea of the Stingers. Unbelievable. Look how

happy they are. Yeah, look how happy they are.

Look how miserable the Misfits are. And Fox is

standing right there with them. I like it. I

love her jaw drop. It's awesome. Yeah. And Pizzaz

throws the tray. The misfits and, not the misfits,

the holograms and the stingers meet up with each

other. It's like West Side Story's standoff.

Uh huh. Yeah. When you're a jet, you're a jet.

Okay. Wait, what when you're a jet you're a jet

Westside story you never seen Westside story.

It's been a long time You know When you're a

good feather you're a good father if you made

that reference I would have gotten that Yeah,

they didn't put that on the you know audition

thing. Hey, are you a fan of another band? Of

course, I love all their songs Something new

that you didn't know. Yep. And so we get Kimber

jumping on Rey's back, literally, thanking her.

That's so Kimber. Yeah, it is. It is very, very

Kimber. We get Minx and Rapture talking with

them, and Riot goes off with Jem, and they have

their conversation. you know she's like well

I'm seeing somebody and it's wrong and even says

to her well you can just break up with this other

person yeah the logic of that makes sense right

well the thing is I see where he's coming from

because if she was truly in love with a guy she

wouldn't even be looking at another guy yeah

very true Very, very true. And the Misfits come

in and it's a cake bomb. It wasn't supposed to

be that big. You said a hundred fireworks. Oh

my god. Yeah, somebody got a little higher. Yeah.

Giant cake bomb. And this... What happens she

Lose one of her Yeah, no the fire the fire is

Interfering with the synergy. Okay, and this

is where's holy crap Jericho Benton is Jim. So

this is how I like this I think this is cool

the fire. Okay, I get that part now because originally

I thought she lost one of the earrings because

I mean Because we all have to have an adventure

in China to find the lost earring. I hope they

never do that, oh my gosh. That's a tough episode.

So Rey is coming and they get onto lifeboats

Titanic style. Too soon? It's been over a hundred

years, it'll be alright. We go back to Shayna

and Regine. And they have a funnel blast and

kind of split up with each other because Shane

is going back home. We get in, we get Rhea introduced

to Jerrica properly. And basically Rhea wants

to join the holograms and Jerrica asks, what

about the stingers? I told them I can't play

with them anymore. I was just like, I bet that

conversation went well. Raya said, Fred said,

peace, Raya said. They're all pretty mad. I think

Raya and Rapture are the most mad. I think Minx

is just crying. Just based on her expression.

Her teeth are clenched. This only goes further.

This only goes further. Those doggone Americans.

We get Shayna coming home, and they're practicing

with Rhea, and this ends on the cliffhanger of

Shayna walking into a whole new band dynamic.

Next up, truly, truly outrageous. Yep. Yep, good

stuff. Yeah, this whole arc was very well done.

I love the writing. I'm still iffy on parts of

the art, but for the most part, I very much enjoyed

it. I think I liked when Meredith would do the

emoticon skull things, goat faces, whatever you

want to call the anger emotions. I think those

were done well. The story, by far, is spot on.

Kelly's doing an amazing job here. Oh yeah. Oh

yeah, for sure. Any overall thoughts? On the

arc or on the issue in itself, Amy? Oh no, it

was pretty solid. I really liked it. I liked

how it was unique into itself. It departed a

little bit, but I liked that. Gave it a fresh

feel to it, but it was still a very organic feeling,

and it worked for me. And by the end, like I

said, the arc didn't bother me as much. It was

just a shift in style, is all. Yeah. Nicole what

about you? I've got a kind of mocking me there.

Yeah, I really enjoyed this storyline There's

a lot of different emotions going on and it leaves

you and wanting to get the next issue right away

You're gonna mock me with that She's going to

copy you I'm a mockingbird. Yeah, overall, I

thought this was a good storyline. I thought

this was a great new and interesting way to introduce

the Stingers. You know, the Stingers, even in

the Cartoon series, were already established.

They're already established here. We don't get

too much in depth with the three of them, but

we get the basic personalities between Riot.

Rapture and Minx. I like, as I said before, how

Rhea is introduced and how she comes and crosses

over. I'm curious to see how she's going to reveal

to them that she knows the secret, because that

did not come out at this point. We as the readers

know that Rhea knows that Jerika is Jim, but...

The holograms don't know that Rhea knows yet,

so I'm going to be interested to see how that

all plays out, if it even does. Enter the Stingers!

I think eventually it will. Oh yeah, I'm sure

it will. You know, the funny thing is at the

end of this arc you find out that each one of

them all, every single band is pretty much on

the same foot. They all had something new happen

to them and now they have a dynamic they have

to shift to. The Stingers lost a member. the

holograms gained a member then lost and then

gained another one and you know the Misfits have

a new member as well so it's like everybody is

like they're kind of pointing fingers at like

oh the weakest link is but they're all actually

in the same boat at the very end I liked that

I like the fact that they were all pretty much

hey you really can't knock you know can't knock

this band because everybody is actually in the

same boat together it's great yep Absolutely

So next time around next episode we will have

We're probably gonna go to the Misfits miniseries

first Issues one to five of the Misfits, but

after this in the ongoing We have the gem annual

and then the truly outrageous arc is in episode

147 of the pull bag and for truly outrageous

part one of three gem in the holograms head to

guess where Hawaii to get away from it all but

the song is grating but it's alright I had to

go to Hawaii at some point yeah as long as they

don't end up on you know a deserted island with

just you know gem and riot uh... all or don't

don't give them ideas please don't do that yes

so that's what's coming out of the podcast you

didn't say i hate you guys he's just saying though

he was tempted i'm getting there getting rusty

call we need to have our game yeah that that's

right So yeah, that's what's what's coming up

here on gem gem in July We've got like I said

the Misfits the annual along with the truly outrageous

arc and then after that will be infinite Which

is the the epic gem Misfits crossover event Amy

where can the people find you online? Yeah, you

can find me on Twitter at lady of rack What about

you, Nicole? Just Google Beatles, Diva. That's

Beatles like the band, not the bug. That's basically

me. I am at TFG1Mike on Twitter. You can follow

at ThePullBag on Twitter and at GeekCastRadio

for all the other network updates. And of course,

overall, I'd probably give the Stingers arc as

a whole. Probably a four out of five. What about

you, Amy? Seems about fair four out of five is

good Nicole I Agree four out of five They're

separate there because there's no mention of

bagels hardly. Where's the bagel job? Chips or

fries because you never know anyway The bagels

are coming I I know the bagels are coming because

I've read a few of the solicitations so Join

us next time make your great escape into comics,

and we will see you next time when we get into

the misfits five -issue miniseries Need more

what Yeti oh no Go away, Yeti. Ugh. I tricked

you on that one, didn't I? Yeah. Leave that Yeti

alone. listening to Gem Jamming July here inside

the pool bag. We hope you enjoy hearing Mike,

Amy, and Nicole give you their thoughts on IDW's

Gem comics. Show's over, Synergy.