Jem and the Holograms Issues 7-9 Review

Hey, this is Samantha Newark, and you're listening

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on comics you might not have known about. It's

all here inside The Pullback with Back Issue

Classics. Hello and welcome to The Pullback,

because I have to start these things so fast

it's not even funny. This is the Back Issue Classics

episode 46. And we are returning to Jamming the

Holograms from IDW. We're going to be covering

issues seven to nine tonight, which is the viral

story arc. I am of course, TF2 and Mike. Joining

me is Lady Rack. Hello. You call that fast? If

I didn't say anything right, then she was going

to say something else. I know she was. We are

off to a great start, aren't we? Has it ever

stopped? I mean, it's it's just one long anyway

So lady wreck is here also here is Nicole Beatles

diva hailstorm. You got too many damn names It's

because I am so great. I can't just go buy one.

I'm not as good I'm not like share I have to

have many like Lucifer Beelzebub and Satan Okay,

so if I was gonna ever be outdone there you go

The sad thing is she has all the wigs to pull

off all those rolls she does When when you're

at Work we had a crazy wig day and everyone's

like I don't have any wigs. I'm like I've got

a whole crap load of them I brought like three

like Bags full of wigs like, go ahead and try

this on, here have this. Yeah. I enjoy my wigs.

It's fun. All right. We are here to talk about

the viral story arc. Written by Kelly Thompson.

The arc for this arc is done by Emma Viseli.

I believe that's how she pronounces that last

name and colors are obviously done by M. Victoria

Roboto. Letters by Tommy Long, and obviously

the edits are done by Captain Continuity himself,

John Barber. There was, what, one, two, or three

different covers for this, for issue seven, I

think. There's three. Because we're doing this

in story arc form, folks, it's been a while since

I've seen the covers. So covers for issue seven

pick a cover Amy I'm gonna pick the first cover

The gem Jericho. Yeah side -by -side. Yeah, I

kind of like it. I don't know just it just works

for me Yeah, I'll go with that one. I Like the

other ones too, but I that's the one that just

kind of stood out to me Maybe it was simplicity

That's the one I'm reading but I really like

the retail incentive It it it just has a bunch

of different retro style. Yeah, I love it. I

love it It brings you back to the 80s for sure

What about you Mike? Um, I kind of like the sub

cover. Okay, so each one of us picks a different

color cover. Yeah, they say cover I don't know

what you said I don't know what I said either

That's why we record it. Mike tries not to listen

to us. Oh, trust me, with what's coming in January

from Lady Rack, people will never think of her

in the same light ever again after that. What's

in January? Halloween. eBay. What? Oh, that.

Yeah. Oh, that. Yeah. Oh, that. Okay. So you

should have told me that's what you're talking

about. Everybody's like, what, what is it? What

is it? So we have the previously page, which

is catching us up on what's going on. We have

the guest list page, which still has not really

changed all that much. Um, We open now. This

is the first arc after the annual so even though

the annual came out before issue seven everyone

should have waited and I read it or no issue

seven came out before yeah Remember now know

that okay the annual came out after issue seven,

right? The annual And then this. And this, yeah.

Okay. Well, I did then, so everything was good.

Okay. There you go. Got me a little confused

there. I was like, oh no, I read something first.

What? What? No. I did read the annual first and

then I read seven, eight, nine. In fact, maybe

an hour before this podcast. Well, that should

be really fresh in your mind. Yeah, about that.

I was kind of distracted. Right. All right. So

we start out mysterious, though. I'll be all

mysterious. I like that. Yeah, apparently you

are the mysterious. Oh, boy. You're also. Yeah.

So we open up. You might be on my, you know,

card. We open up with Jerrica not being able

to deal with all this and Aja and Shayna saying

they can help and Apparently Aja's cell phone

is is pinging and She's constantly staring at

it and Asha and Shayna start arguing and Jerica's

like, guys, come on. Are you going to help or

just be hilarious and cute? Hilarious and cute.

I feel like that's a trick question. So Jerica

is basically, she's not throwing a fit, but she's

really stressed out because they have so much

they have to do. Yep. All the work. This is what

happens to become famous. You have to, you know,

do all that stuff. Absolutely. And Synergy and

Aja team up to design the website. I trust Synergy.

I don't know about Aja though. It's gonna have

motorcycles and pieces on it. Now here's my question.

Now I know Jerica's father was supposedly rich

or whatever and But how in the world did synergy

synergy just immediately purchase the six best

possible websites for Jim and the holograms She

took like she took lessons from Ultron Apparently

She's got skills Just see an Avengers gem wedding.

Oh my god. I want that on a t -shirt She's an

AI, she can manipulate the system. See, this

is why they can't, the bad guys can't get a hold

of her because they could use her for bad. Like

Ultron. Ultron Synergy Wedding, let's make it

happen. So they get the website kind of started

up and done and whatever else, and Jerrick is

asking, where's Kimber? Still in mourning, I

think. The whole time remember I mentioned earlier

that I just cell phone was was pinging or vibrating

or whatever earlier because she's dating Craig

Phillips who We haven't really found out if he's

really I Assume he's Stormer's brother. Yeah,

I don't remember. I don't remember if I asked

Kelly or not this And, uh, so we get to the point

where Shayna is basically singing the kissing

song about the two of them. I can stab you with

things, Shayna. She can threaten. Yeah. As much

as she wants. Then Asha just gets up and leaves

and Jerika's like, I thought you were helping.

I did the website. Synergy and I are on it, yo.

What do we think of Emma's art style on the holograms

here, and on synergy? I think it complements...

I just lost her name. Sophie! I wanted to say

Kelly, I'm like, no, not Kelly! I think she complements

her very well. You can tell that she's doing

the similar style, but she has her own flair

to it. I love that page, the two panels where

Synergy's eyes are closed and you see the data

moving and then she opens them and then says

that it's done. I love that look. I do like how

Jerrica and the girls look. I think it's really

cool. After reading this arc... No disrespect

to Sophie, but I'm like, yeah, we need this art

for another long arc or something because this

is really good stuff What did you think of the

art overall Amy for this one I like it. I mean,

it's a really good Let's just say, you know when

whenever an artist jumps off and then you know

another artist jumps on it's like that You always

worry that you know, will it look the same will

have the same feel and I think that the artist

that we have now is doing a really good job at

emulating that. I don't know if, I'm not familiar

with Emma's style, so I'm not really sure. So

I don't know if, if like, you know, how different

her style is from this, but you know, for the

most part, I mean, I'm not saying it's an, it's

an exact duplicate of, but it, it feels a lot

like it without being it. So I mean, you know,

definitely some of the looks some of the proportions

look a little bit different I mean, there's differences,

but it's enough that I think she's trying really

well and accomplishing, you know Pulling off

some of the looks of the of the characters Making

them look in a way like I would expect Sophie's

to look There are a few little proportion issues,

but They're all right. I mean, it's forgivable.

I like it. It's still cute. It still reads. Well,

I still know what's going on so But you know,

it's all right. Good. I like it So I get we got

synergy floating down the hall like Morticia

Adams And she comes across Kimber who is still

in mourning as we already said And I thought

this moment was really touching, because, again,

Synergy is kind of supposed, well, I don't know

in this series, and I'm sure Kelly will say,

yay or nay, Synergy has always kind of supposedly

been based off of Jackie Benton, Jerika and Cooper's

mother. I really dug this moment in the story

I thought this was really cool with the two of

them just sitting down and talking and it's kind

of nice seeing synergy actually interact with

the girls more so than just showing up doing

her magic and disappearing disappearing yeah

yeah um so she eventually you know They talk

and she basically tells her to talk to her sisters

about the whole situation. And then we cut to

the misfits. Oh yeah. Absolute disaster. Absolute

disaster. That's what she said. It says it right

there. Absolute disaster. Well, from a business

standpoint, maybe. Yeah. So we've got this manager

and we've got pizzazz kind of at odds and obviously

What do we think of the art on the misfits ladies

I Love it. I love their style Worked great worked

great for me. I was all right with it. Yeah same

here Basically saying that the misfits came off

looking bad and you know bad PR and all that

and You know and pizzazz is like I don't care

Do I look like I care what you think and blah

blah and the manager lays like we're your label

and we can drop you So you better start caring

So someone's putting pizzazz in her place And

that's not okay with her of course Nope What?

She's about to go all wrecker on her. Mm -hmm.

Pretty much, yeah. Pizzaz will be an awesome

wrecker. Pizzaz world team up. No, Pizzaz prowl

team up because of the tables, man. No, no, no,

no, no. The tables, man, the tables. Get the

tables. Not even Pizzaz. Cuz as in Megatron easy,

yeah To be punished with prowl. Oh, yeah, I was

gonna say if you really want to destroy the comic

that's what you do Megatron philosophical debate

That's gonna be interesting so That would be

awesome. Basically, this part in the story boils

down to the fact that the manager lady says that

they're going to be managed. That they need a

manager. Oh, this is when I was like, going,

oh. I know. You can feel it coming. You can feel

it coming. Yeah. My hands are going, yeah. It's

about to get... Look at that. Kind of like I

can smell the air when you can smell the storm

coming. You're like, oh, yeah, here we go. I

love the fact that Emma kept the skulls. It's

so awesome. No way! I'm sure there was never

a question of whether or not. I'm sure it was

written into the script and everything. There

has to be a skull, but still. Greta, send him

in. Ladies, this is Eric Raymond, your new manager.

This Eric looks and I'm like jobs, right? Yeah,

pretty much It's it's like boom. See you later

and It gets even better later because actually

they did this panel and then they cut back to

Shayna Doing the designs Just get it done Jericho

get it done. Yeah and apparently Rio's article

is out and apparently it's a glowing reference

or it's a glowing review for the misfits and

we hear the doorbell and synergy doesn't look

too happy well that's because she's been asked

to disappear that's why yeah but I'm not sure

I get this though in the writing like Don't know

it just I Mean it looks like because it looks

like the scene from earlier where kimber is basically

gonna come talk to them and synergy is with her

and Synergy knows Before we even know that she

needs to stay a secret So I just don't get the

glare on her face when she says of course Yeah,

because if you look at that page, Kimber comes

in and says, Jer, and then Jerica just says,

just a minute, Kimber, as she's reading this

article, because she's focused on that, hyper

-focused. And then Kimber turns around, she's

like, aw, she gets all mopey. And Synergy sees

that, and she's, yeah, so it's her concern for

Kimber is what it is. Okay, it's because if she

is the the embodiment or very like her mother

You know, we already know that she's got it seems

like from what it looks like she's she has feelings

and stuff like that She's got concern for the

one of the girls and so she's like, you know

I I'm that's what I was taking it as that she's

got concern for Kimber that there's too much

going on and they're not keeping everything good

with her and she did promise her that her sisters

wouldn't understand so Yeah, and then absolutely

she's not there to see it pay off right away.

That's gonna be I'm sure she's concerned. So

yeah So at the door is the scoundrel himself

real pachinko Wait wait, he's not that guy yet.

I do not hate this Rio. I'm just testing the

waters here. Okay, that's all I'm doing is testing

the waters and seeing what kind of reaction I'm

gonna get. This Rio hasn't had the chance yet

to get under my skin. We didn't get to read,

yeah, we haven't read the article like Jerrica

did, so yeah. well we don't really need to because

she's essentially you know giving us all the

exposition about it with this and i have to read

it yeah it was a glowing review and he's you

know has to give a fair chance i'm like okay

that's a you know that's a that's good yeah i

accept that i wouldn't be upset i'm well it's

not my band so maybe i would be if i was jerk

i'd be like i'd still be a little upset but like

okay well i guess You know, that means when you

review us, you know, you'll give us a fair shake

too. Well, right? Yeah. Yeah. There you go. All

right. Well, then I guess I pick it with that.

And he does tell her about his new assignment,

which he's supposed to be writing a piece on

Jem to get to the woman behind the performer.

And all that's coming out of her mouth is exclamation

points. What do you say to that? Yeah. And at

this point in the story. This is where you needed

to read the annual before this issue, because

we go back to Shayna and she's having a lot of

indecision and she can hear them outside because

the whole speculation thing kind of floats in

and she is submitting her application to the

fashion internship. And she does. She clicks.

She clicks. Yep. And that is one of the cutest

panels. That last panel on that page. Congratulations.

Application submitted. Oh no. Oh God. Just love

it. I think it's adorable. She actually looks

like a news anchor with no face. Like it looks

like this is a news desk with one of the visuals

behind. It really does. We go back to the misfits.

the manager lady Leaves them to talk with Eric

Does that sticks her tongue out? Yeah It's like

she's expected her to do it she's done it in

the past, you know, it's pizzazz Don't break

anything, please and I cannot wait until if Samantha

Newark and her manager Willie Callahan, if they

get Charlie Adler on the next GEM CD for the

comic, I cannot wait to hear Eric Raymond say

some of these lines. Oh my god. That would be

awesome. You've got to think about this as we

go through these three issues tonight or today.

Charlie was also tech rats. You basically have

Eric and tech rat in the same room. So they could

do their Lincoln do the lines back and forth.

So we get to, you know, this, this scene in the

office and Eric's like, I thought she'd never

leave. Uh, and basically, basically tells them

that, you know, He's gonna repair their image,

but part of ensuring you the place you deserve

is taking down Jem and the holograms. Eric, you're

hired. So we have a nice little excursion with

Aja and Craig on dirt bikes. Aja and Craig are

really cute together. I think they are. They

are. The whole comic is adorable at this point.

I like these two. Keep them together, please.

I know. I hope they never break up. I just kind

of I don't know. I don't want to bring it down.

I think it's a great thing. I'm just kind of

not worried or concerned, but I'm kind of interested

to see how if he is who we think he is compared

to Stormer, how that's going to unfold because

we essentially meet him first with Aja versus

what happened in the show where Stormer told

everybody about her brother first and then Aja

and Craig met. I like this, I think it's really

awesome, but I'm just really interested to see

how Kelly breaks that whole thing down with them

figuring out that it's Stormer's brother. Well,

I'm actually kind of wondering if they're going

to do something like, hey, you're dating her

brother and Kimber wants to be dating Stormer.

Like hey, well you can't date him unless I can

date her Family isn't it? You are such a meathead

No Nicole, okay Yeah, I got it. I got it. Okay.

I just want to make sure Alright, so Stormer

is in the middle of writing a ballad and she's

having a bit of some problems with that. I have

to say, I love this page. I was gonna say, this

is probably my favorite page of this comic book

right here. I love the doodles. I love everything

about it. It is so very awesome. And we are...

We go to a panel where Eric is just sitting there

with his hands. So Eric Raman. It's so Eric Raman.

Yeah, but if he was about 50 or 60 years older.

Mr. Burns? Uh huh. Excellent. Mr. Burns. And

we see a shadow come in. And we are introduced

to TechRat. I just laughed at this point went

yeah, all right So Eric has a job for tech rats

and Tech rat is very very interested and this

is kind of how this issue ends where he's listening

to what Eric has to say and Basically, he wants

tech rat to hack them And that's how the issue

ends. What do we think of this overall, gals?

I like the stuff that they're setting up. There's

a couple of really interesting things that could

be coming out of this, um, right from the get

-go. And it just, it was a really good, really

well, really well done. I thought they did a

good job with this one. So yeah. Happy. Give

me more. Oh wait, I've got two more. It's really

fun because you like like Amy said it's sitting

up with a lot of things you're seeing Shayna

going through her her Debate of what she wants

to do with her life. You see the Relationship

starting to bud with Aja and Craig and best of

all we've got Eric We've been wanting this since

issue one. Yeah, we kind of have. But obviously

they had to set it up. Yeah. I just I just loved

it. I love that TechCrack's about. It's so fun.

I love that character so much. Oh, boy. All right.

We are going to take a quick break and then come

back for issue number eight after this. What?

Play it. Something to say, Rio? Oh, Rio, shut

up. In fact, get out. Out! We are back, and it

is time for issue number eight, Viral, part two.

Uh, covers. The regular cover is synergy wrapped

around kind of Jerrica with purple and pink and

blue and all that. She's transforming her. Oh,

okay. And she's got awesome boots. Yeah, I want

those boots. I do too. There's a blank sketch

variant, and then there is an actual sketch cover

with no color. I'll take the regular one. I'm

sorry. The sketch, because it's essentially two

sketch covers, really. I mean, if you think about

it. I wasn't really hubba hubba about the covers

on this one either. I'd like to see it colored.

I like, I like, um, what is it? It's a, uh, Jen's,

Jen's covers. Jen Bartelli. Yeah. I like to,

I, I like that. Don't get me wrong. I do like

to see it just as it is, how she, how she draws

it, but I really, really like it's how they color

it. It looks so sparkly and pretty. And, you

know, it just adds such a, it just dresses them

basically in such a, you know, I like that. So

to see it, I was like, yeah, I like it's cool

to see it like that. But I think I like her stuff

the most when it's colored because the colorist

really makes it look all pretty and gorgeous.

And so, I mean, yeah. See, I'm going I'm going

off the grid here because I actually had the

retail center in my hand. Oh, really? It's really

cool because you can kind of see still some of

like the sketch lines. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah,

the gem logo, you can see the charcoal shading.

It's just a very, very faint shading. It's really

cool. And I don't know if you could tell, but

they have little notes and markings on the very

edges there. Yeah, I can tell. But it's really

cool. It's like what you see, like the final

before, how the artists take their big eraser

and erase all the the extra lines. And I love

that. I love seeing like the work in progress.

I think it's so cool. I'm still gonna go with

the first step. Yeah, I'm still going with the

regular cover as well. I'm just like, don't get

me wrong. I absolutely love seeing sketches,

but I love seeing sketches finished. I guess

you could say I'm a fan of tracers. with it if

it was like, you know, like, hey, I like that

cover so much that I want to go out and buy the

original and put that up on my wall, not just

have it on my cover, but like actually have it

up on my wall. And I'm cool with seeing it like

that. But at this point, I'm like, you know,

but I really like to see lots of gem stuff. So,

you know, keep the covers coming that are actually

like, you know, awesome looking. Not that this

one isn't awesome. I'm just saying it's just

I Expect this to be something like hey, I like

the artwork so much I want to go out and buy

You know actual inside pieces of the comic cover

art that hasn't been colored, you know that type

of thing. So yeah So we get the previously page

to get caught up and we don't need to because

we just read it, right? I know I was gonna say

and then we get the guest list And we open up

with Once Upon a Lime. Oh, I'm sorry, Once Upon

a Time. I seriously read that as an L when I

went back and read this. Yeah, but if you just

look at it just like a quick glance and you don't

see the way the T is only crossed at the right

instead of both, it really does look like lime.

You're weird. It's a lime and a coconut. Telling

me I'm weird coming from you right you should

take it as a compliment Yeah, I know right So

we've got this song The the more more more song

So they're watching the video for more more more

and this is the video that they put into the

contest so then this issue basically um wait

no was that video the original contest video

or is this the new one that synergy made Okay,

this is the new one. Okay. Okay. Yeah, so this

is the so basically last issue We found out that

five by five own they don't own the song but

they own the video For the more and more more

song That was submitted to the contest so they

need to then make a new video and this is what

synergy did with The I like the way they explain

how the art for the singing is because I wasn't

like In the beginning, I wasn't really sure.

Okay, I think it's a great art style. I've said

it before in the previous episodes that we've

done. I love the art and how they do the videos

and the colors and everything else, but I just

wasn't sure if it was synergy because both bands,

both Jim and the Holograms and the Misfits have

that same art style for when they're doing songs.

To find out that it's Synergy doing it for the

Jim and the Holograms, I think that's awesome.

And then we get into the drama about, you know,

Kimber, you know you can't tell anyone about

Synergy, right? I love Synergy's hair. I love

too. The ringlets. I love it. I like that she

has a sense of style herself. She's styling the

girls So she's got it. She's got a fight with

what with her sense of expression as well. I

like them. Yeah Yeah, and it looks like she's

actually wearing clothes Yeah, yeah, I agree

because the panel where she says in the hands

of people with bad intentions It can be very

dangerous weapon. Indeed It looks like she has

a strapped back dress on because you can see

the whole yeah um so we cut to the misfits and

they're singing the ballad uh that stormer wrote

and the last yeah yeah and pizzazz is like yeah

this isn't gonna work needs to be more edgy or

else it will stand out on the album and we can't

have that and they have a blow up over it which

is like yeah this is awesome i'm glad that stormer

stood her ground though Yeah, it is her piece

of art She has a vision for it and pizzazz is

kind of like pissing on it, you know so Is it

just me or is it? the four of them In the panel

where pizzazz says I know because this is what

I do for Jetta and Roxy Jetta looks like a 13

year old and you know, deer in headlights, and

Roxy looks like she's 60 years old for crap's

sake. I think it's because they don't want to

be in the middle of this right now. They just

want to get their job done, and they're just

like, they're gonna have that look of like, we're

gonna be here all day. Oh, no. I love it as we

go to, as we get through this argument and whatever

else, and Stormer's last words are, you're not

the boss and... Pizzazz is just kind of smirking

and the other two are like just shocked face

and next next thing you see is Jetta go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go go go

go go go go go go go go go go go go go That's

right No, that would be yeah, but you're as the

audience Don't try to confuse their stage left.

I get what you're saying. It's a Bugs Bunny joke

damn it It's kind of bad, folks, when Amy's the

one giving me the jazz over here. Okay. Yeah,

exactly. I'm gonna pull an Aja and throw a shoe

at you from Kentucky. That's what's gonna happen.

Sure, I could deal with another pair of shoes.

Go for it, man. So the Misfits, their laptop

is ringing, and it looks like, well... Now that

I look at it more, it's an actual phone thing.

But when I first looked at it, I thought it was

a cassette tape. And it's the, the manager lady

and she just shouldn't have answered it. Cause

she's the harpy. I loved that. And, uh, Eric

has apparently worked, uh, impressively on their

behalf and, um, They're going to get a short

West Coast tour. I like the fact that even, even

on top of that, just forget it. I've called you

worse. I'm sorry. Cause I got caught. That's

why she's sorry. I've called you worse. I'm sure.

Oh, loves that. Yeah. So we get this, um, Uh,

you know, so we get that. And after the call,

Elise, Jerrick and Benton is here to see you.

Oh no. Yeah. I read that and just went, Oh, all

that thing about setting up and now they're.

Yeah. Well, I like the dynamic that they don't

have their own music label already as it is so

I do like that They have to go somewhere else

to be signed with somebody. So I kind of like

the idea the potential Problems that could also

erase but it also doesn't mean that they can't

ever have their own label. They might someday

But right now, I like where they're at. I like

how that's building. It's good potential conflict.

It should be pretty interesting. We'll find out

more on the next issue. Ha ha. And, you know,

I love the scene where Jerika needs all their

help and they all make up excuses. And Kimber

just waltzes through. And, you know, I was just

like, nope, sorry, I got a date. Kimber, nope.

Just nope. Nope. Kimber deserves a little slapping

now and then, you know. Yes, but in this instance,

we still have not had that conversation that

Synergy tried to have or have in the first issue.

So, or in issue seven. So it hasn't happened

yet. So, so we get Jerika's blow up. because

they find out that she signed them to five by

five who was the same label as the Misfits and

Shane is like is that the best idea and This

is where she blows up It's sad because she's

got everything on her shoulders everybody else

has got stuff going on and she's been doing all

of the work So yeah, everyone else is having

a personal life. Yeah their whole future on her

shoulders, you know, and it's just like, plus

she also has to do the singing. So she has to

save things. Some of the times even she has to

do the writing. It says in here, I do the writing,

do everything. Yep. Yeah. We get to Pizzazz's

place and she's trying to destroy some kid. I

love this. I love thinking that there's some

celebrities out there. They're just Trolling

on little kids and she knows that he's a young

kid. She don't give a damn And I love it Not

only that she knows until 6 she knows when his

mom comes and get him off. That's awesome. I

I've been in her shoes did you see the little

xbox logo yeah in her i thought that was hilarious

i put up against the green yeah that's awesome

so class shows up to show her the halloween thing

that jim and the holograms are going to be doing

the halloween party and of course they have the

password yeah of course Well, Clash is a woman

of many talents. She just had to get information.

So we then go to Eric and TechRat. And TechRat's

not okay. That's why I love him. He's not stable

whatsoever. Nah. Not at all. He's such a drama

llama. I love it. And apparently... I love the

panel where he's sitting on the beanbag chair

almost cross -legged. I'm in hell. And then,

and then as this four panels later, he's like,

ah, this is, I've never been happier. He's only

happy when he's got a challenge that's so big

that he can't solve it. Yeah, and then we go

back to the demon. I love the demon. You don't

know what you're talking about. I hate you. In

that voice right there. That's what I heard it

as. I hate you. And the issue ends with the misfits

showing up to the Halloween party. in skull costumes.

I love the costumes. I love the costumes. But

why do Stormur, Roxy, and Jitta all have to be

wearing the same color? Because Pazazz said so.

Of course, no one else can wear green but Pazazz.

I'm purged. And they had this conversation before

they showed up. Why are we in purple and you

in green? Because I'm the boss. absolutely because

i have to be something different because i'm

the boss and my hair is green and yours is not

tell you i could totally be possessed we know

you could amy we know we've spent almost two

years knowing you could be um okay so overall

thoughts on issue eight ladies i love it I love

it. I love it. That's it. Just love it. Yeah.

I like all the good stuff that's going on here.

I love the fact that tech rat had his moments

and they were just like, Oh, he's going to get

more. I love the Xbox game being, especially

the fact that she's playing with a little kid.

Oh my gosh. Cause that's all that's on right

now. Oh my gosh. The misfit moments are just

amazing. I mean, when she gets called out for

calling the other gal a harpy, I mean, there's,

I mean, there's, there's a lot of, there's, this

is the emotion issue. You know, everyone's on

the edge. because they're not exactly getting

what they want until the very end when it's just

like, you can see that little glimmer just with

TechRat, like, ooh, ooh, yay, you know? And then

the Misfits look pretty happy there at the end.

We'll see if it continues. Okay, so we're gonna

take another short break. You're going to hopefully

hear another audio clip and we will come back

after this with issue number nine. Misfits. This

means more. We are back with issue number nine.

This is viral part three for Gem of the Holograms

from IDW. We have Emma Visselli on the regular

cover, Jen Bartell on the subscription, and M.

Victoria Roboto or... Roboto or yeah, I don't

know how to say her name show Roboto Roboto I'd

be like Rob Roboto Roboto That's cool. It's the

closest thing that I've ever heard the robot

is ever and I'm like, yeah I would totally play

that I would totally play that So pick your cover,

Amy. Which cover you like. I'm gonna go with

her cover, because I really like that cover.

I wanna see the rest of them done like that.

Huh? Yeah, the Aja cover. The Aja cover. I wanna

see the rest of them done exactly like that.

That's cool. That would be kinda awesome. My

next one up, I'd say, is the Jen Martel one.

I don't really care too much for the first one.

It's not that it's... I like the idea of it.

I like the idea of it, but it's just... I wanna

see more to it than just that. See, here's the

problem with the first one. This is what should

have happened at the end of the last issue. They're

all in different color skeleton costumes. True.

What about you, Nicole? I'm so not on the same

vibe as you, because I love the first issue.

I love the regular cover. In what word? Parcel

preference. Hello! No, I just think it's fun.

It just shows the personality of the Misfits.

Like I said, it's got Tech Rat just being all

nonchalant. Look at the bottom of the cover.

Tech Rat is at the bottom of the rope. It looks

like he has a tail. Tech Rat. Oh, gotcha, gotcha.

Am gonna pick Jen's cover Jen Bartell the subscription

cover. I really like her style. I loved her stuff

in the annual I Wish she'd do more for covers.

That would be so awesome to see her do more stuff

on covers. Yeah All right, so we get into it

As always the previously page the guest list

and we pretty much pick up where we left off

And Stormer comes out and says I'm still not

sure why we're dressed up as the bullies. Why

are we the villains? Really is like a matter

of perspective storm Yeah, she's got a rock point

there right yeah Roxy would be the right one

to say that because if you think about all the

bad guys in history They actually thought they

were changing the world for good You think about

it Except for Rasputin But anyway So we get the

skull girls for the misfits and then a giant

shower curtain And I saw that movie there were

no skeletons or showers in it You obviously saw

the remake, lame. Well, fine, but it's not exactly

stealthy. Well, it depends on your point of view.

Only if you have your curtains open, is it, you

know, then people will see you, but, you know,

I'm not going to see what you're doing inside.

I want to see this as a costume. Somebody's to

dress up as a shower. I love TechRat's skull

thing. The little frowny face skull. I love that.

It's almost like a sad fart. Sad fart. Oh my

god. Wow. Okay. I love it. I love it. So apparently

they showed up too late. They already showed

the video. They gotta figure out another way

to create Mayhem. So they just start pushing

the guests around. Yeah. And Jenna really wants

to push somebody in a pool. When she said that,

I thought, oh, no, one of the misfits are going

to end up in the pool. We'll get to that a little

bit later. And then I saw Kimber's outfit and

went, oh, man. Oh, my gosh. I wanted to high

five Kimber. That was the awesome outfit. She's

Sharpie. She's a left shark. Left shark. No,

no, no. I just look at this and, oh, it reminds

me of Finding Nemo. We'll call her Sharkbait.

It also reminds me of when she was about ready

to be eaten by a shark in the cartoon. Oh, nice.

Nice. Not even funny. I'm going to go old school.

She dressed up as Jabberjaw. I love Jabberjaws.

So We got Kimber and Stormer and Stormer is not

ready. Nope. Nope. Nope not ready We got real

the reporter and we got the crowd basically just

crowding all over Jim Rio comes in to save the

day and They have he and Jim finally have a private

moments now I remember when We were first introduced

to Rio way back when in the Showtime arc and

how he was always missing out on being able to

meet Jim and how his opinion back then was like,

oh, well, Jerika is better and Jerika should

be the star and this, that, and everything else.

And I liked that they finally met and that he

isn't, I like how Kelly's writing him because

she's not writing him as falling head over heels

in love with Jim. Yeah. I do appreciate that.

I like the idea that these two are just going

to kind of unfold, you know, it's not just like,

Oh, he's smitten with her right away. It's like,

no, I'm just going to be a little less. Don't

want to know. I still want to find out if Kelly's

ever going to allow him to find out. I guess

we'll have to keep reading. That'll be issue

50. So the book, not trying to be negative here,

but let's hope the book makes it that far. Oh,

it will. Yeah. Yeah. So they get into the, I

guess, a private dressing room or bedroom or

whatever it is. And I really like her look. I

like what Emma did with the gem look here. I

think that was really, really cool with the star

earring, like looking at tattoos on her arms.

I like that look. I thought that was pretty cool.

Yeah. And I mentioned a couple of weeks ago in

episode 22 of Showtime Synergy that a father

should be Rio Sings. That's not exactly what

happened. What happened was the visual was of

Rio and Bonnie where he's holding her up and

hugging her or twirling her around or whatever

he's doing with the child. And his lips are moving

while the singer for Riot's voice is singing.

So it makes it look like Ryo is singing. And

I thought that was hilarious, because after I

read this issue, it's like, oh, wow. Because

the whole line of, I do not know. It's why I'm

not a rock star. Well, that and I can't sing

or play guitar or do any of that stuff. I love

how they're interacting here because he that

they're kind of flirting back and forth a little

bit but He's more angling towards the reporter

job than anything else. Yeah So she basically

tells him that she'll you know If she's gonna

do an interview He'll be the first one to know.

She'll call him first. Yeah, pretty much. And

he helps her escape. And this is where we meet

the enraged fan that I pointed out to Nicole

way back when this issue came out. That guy is

the worst. Who is the girl that I was just talking

to have no idea it's yeah Just just a random

girl. Yeah Okay, you know it makes sense that

they'd have like friends and stuff like outside

of the group. You know, yeah I just I wasn't

sure if she was supposed to be anybody that we

might have already known I thought, I thought

it for a minute when it, no, it's not. I don't

think Kelly would write that on the nose for

Lindsay Pierce. Um, it was just the hair. Yeah,

it was just the hair. So, uh, Craig shows up

and they have matching costumes. I loved that.

No way. I can't believe you're wearing that.

I can't believe you're wearing that. You guys

are 10th level of gross coordinating costumes.

But we didn't! That was the funny - oh that's

even worse. I love her look at that panel. It's

alright, she's recently spurned by love and so

she's understandably a mess and lost her cat

in the settlement too. So they go and make out.

They need a room, that's what they need. These

two are perfect for each other, I love these

two. now Anybody else think that pizzazz is Tom

Hanks and Jim is Leo DiCaprio in this next scene

catch me if you can yeah, yeah I Love it. I love

the artwork and it's really fun. It's just so

fun. So pizzazz is gonna stake out Jim She wants

to have a conversation with her Until you get

A nice little shower curtain boy, yeah. Yeah.

Kali will have that costume. Distracted her.

Yep. And Jerika sneaks out. Uh, so Tekrat's gonna

go find the pool house. And Pizzazz opens the

door, finds that, uh, son of a she -she missed

out on -on gem. And apparently, uh - There's

breaking news rising stars jim and the hologram

is rumored to open for the misfits on a west

coast tour. Oh At least it's her revenge Yep,

and this pretty much sends pizzazz into a tizzy.

Oh I love that panel, too There's no skulls though.

I was hoping for some skulls on the panel, but

it works No, that has to be the primal scream

right there. Yeah primal scream I mean, you can

see it in the next panel, too. It continues.

In fact, everybody is starting to go, where does

that come from? Yep. So we get back to Rio and

Jerrica, because Jerrica has obviously changed

from being Jim back into herself. Now, I think

it's ironic here. that she chose the black swan

costume because you remember the black swan was

used to be the white swan again doing the whole

change -a -roo thing so yep multiple personalities

just maybe a little so rio apologizes to her

she leaps into his arm they share a kiss and

smoochy smoochy yep Well, I guess they made up.

Thank God. I love Shayna and Aja in this book.

They're so awesome. I just love Kimber and the

left shark, man. That shark outfit. The expression

of the shark is just priceless. Kimber sees Stormur

and she runs off and this is where we have that

really awesome status update panel Where we are

taken through to every section of the party and

given statuses on everybody Apparently Pizzazz

is enraged even more than usual She's on her

way out the gem super fans where she touched

gem and will never ever wash her hand again Shayna

is thinking she better get back into the dating

pool again Clash is deciding how long she needs

to wait before accidentally bumping into pizzazz.

Also wishing Blaze was here. Craig and Aja are

making out. It's just obvious. Kimber is on her

way to see, to confront a party crasher, a seriously

cute one. And then Stormers is the same thing.

It's about to be confronted by the most adorable

shark ever. I thought that was cute. And this

is the one that I... Screen capped for for Nicole

Grouchy guy still hates Rio will blame him forever

for ruining his photo with gem will become Rio's

premier troll leaving crappy comments for him

on every article he posts forever He's my hero

he's also talking about cats Yeah, Jenna still

trying to find someone to push in the pool And

Nicole, 20 % interested in pushing someone in

the pool, 80 % concerned with the dwindling bagel

supply on the refreshment pool. Exactly. I love

that. Her little speech bubbles of bagel. I love

it. Because I myself love bagels. I understand

where she's coming from. You really are Roxy.

Oh, she really is. I love my onion bagels with

a nice schmear. Wow. Jerrica is so glad that

she and Rio made up. She's forgotten she's kind

of sort of hates PDA. Rio is glad he came to

the party instead of checking out, which almost

happened twice. Tech rat shed his shower costume

six minutes ago trying to get into the pool off

limits pool house also hoping pizzazz doesn't

find out he took off his costume The ninja thing.

Are you kidding me? Kimber and Stormer have an

emotional moment with each other and they make

up kissy kissy. Yep and Azure Runs into this

and I I really love this man. I really gotta

start dating again. This is getting Because for

some reason I've always like it like that at

parties to Mike all my friends are out would

make it out I'm just like I'm just wondering

where that we're you know the stack trees at

Her ears disappear Look from eep to man. I got

to start dating dating again. This is getting

ridiculous No, her ears don't disappear. Look

she has elf ears and then she does elf ears and

then she but she has regular ear I thought you

were completely gone the art style. Okay, the

art style on her ears changed but I see what

you mean. I just like, in the panel where Kimber

and Stormur are making out, it looks like the

shark is devouring them. I know. It's just so

wrong. That's what they eat. Instead of the hearts,

just put nom nom nom nom nom. So, we see a creek,

and TechRat finds the pool house. Intruder, you

are in restricted space. The party organizers

have been notified. Please stay where you are,

so you may be escorted off the premises. And

he sees all this stuff. Is that a recording studio?

Yeah. No, it's Synergy. Yeah, I know it is. It's

supposed to be where they record stuff, and yeah,

you're right, that's where Synergy is. Excuse

me, please, move! Come on! Isn't that tech rat?

Yeah, yeah, he books it really fast and in the

process Who is it? He pushes Jetta in Yeah, where's

the fire dude? He's he sure no, it's not him

Because he's The panel where he said, where everyone

says, Hey, stop shoving out of my way. Yeah.

Where's the fire, dude? He's sure in a hurry.

There's a guy in the center of the panel that

is not tech rat and the guy. Okay. I said, I

thought it looked like it was tech rat. And I

was like, Oh, that's awesome. You're right. It's

the alien. Take me to your leader, dude. Yeah.

Uh, and he accidentally. But it was because it

was because of tech rat because of tech rat.

Yes pushes him and he bumps Jeddah into Jeddah

and Jeddah in Ends up in the pool. I love that

Roxy's doing like the whole Joker Roxy if you

don't shut up And apparently pizzazz has stranded

them is anyone surprised And Stormo calls a cab

they all get in the cab and Jetta calls Pizzazz

and leaves this really really nasty voicemail

message meanwhile Pizzazz is driving like she's

in England on the wrong side of the road And

she gets in a car accident. Oh no, she's checking

her messages No, she wasn't. I've looked at this

thing five different ways to Sunday. She is looking

at her phone. She goes to grab it. It's in the

back seat. Yeah, but she's still looking. The

next panel, she's still looking where the steering

wheel is. She's not looking behind her. She goes

to grab it, but then she turns back, it looks

like. Oh, okay. I see that now. So and that's

you know she ends up in it in a car wreck, and

this is where Jetta's message is still going

And we go back to Eric and tech rat and Eric's

like are we in? And tech rats like nope You know

and he's like well can't you know you owe me

an explanation tech rat and he's like It's impossible.

What's going on in that house is impossible.

Explain. Use small words if you must. Again,

this is why Charlie Adler needs to come back.

It sounds so much like him. Yeah. So TechRat

explains it to him. We go back to Jim and the

Holograms and because TechRat is doing the monologue

here. And he basically says there's nothing we

can do Eric whatever they've got running things

I'm like a caveman to it a genius caveman, but

still a caveman and Eric's like Alright already,

I got it, but I didn't tell you the good bit.

There's a good bit Yeah, we don't have to do

anything Because there's something wrong with

it When I saw because again this goes to synergies

design when I saw her eyes closed and I've looked

at this panel so many times where eyes are closed

to see if we see any of the leaky color and we

don't and then we get to the next panel when

her eyes open and it leaks the green and black

goop and whatever and I was like oh my god so

good yeah that looks so cool so the viral arc

ladies Yes, gentlemen, yeah Wow Three issues

and we're like, wow lots of good stuff really

good stuff set up. I can't wait to see how it

all comes out and Explodes on the screen. But

yeah, we're good. This is awesome. Yeah, a lot

of potential stuff happened in three issues and

it'll be interesting to see where it goes and

Yeah, it's got a lot of good setup, but yet you're

still entertained because because you know, I

trust these rights. I trust Kelly. She's going

to wrap up whatever questions we have, whatever

setups that she has. You know, I really am enjoying

this. I love reading these these issues. I really,

really do. I actually, it's funny, after I got

the review copy from IDW servers, I tweeted at

Kelly about, you know, I was just like, oh my

God, thank you, and whatever else, and obviously

at that time I couldn't say anything because

the issue wasn't out. So I immediately emailed

her after I tweeted to her. And I asked her about,

and we can say this now, I think, it'll be kind

of a teaser for the holiday special coming up,

I guess. I hope I can say this. If I can't, I'll

whatever. I'll just go with it. Fuck it. If I

have to edit this, I will. When I emailed her,

I asked her because she is going around the whole

party saying, oh, I need to start dating again.

Well, we all know who Shana used to date in the

old series. So I emailed, part of my email was,

my burning question is about Shana. Are you going

to find a way to introduce Anthony Julian? Please.

She replies and yes Anthony now Tony will be

popping up in the holiday special next month

because of dark gem events a bit of a wrench

has been thrown into the beginning of that relationship

But he will also pop up in the Valentine special

and probably briefly in the dark gem arc And

then I hope we'll see more of him after dark

gem. That's the plan at least nice so Yeah So

we are getting A lot. I mean, we've already gotten

a lot of characters from the old show, obviously,

but they... Kelly's really working it and really

doing a good job introducing old characters as

new ones. Right now, my burning question is how

the whole reveal of Craig and Stormer being brother

and sister, how that's going to come down. That's

what I want to know now. Cool. Alright, are we

gonna rate this as individual issues or overall

story arc? You're the boss. You tell us what

to do. I'd go for overall. Why not? Ladies and

gentlemen, you're never gonna hear a woman ever

say that again. It just depends if you believe

what I just said. Right. Yeah, we can go overall.

That's fine. Overall, I thought Viral was great.

I loved it. Yeah, it was good. There was nothing

in the art, nothing in the writing that I didn't

like. I don't see how anyone can be negative

about this comic. I understand someone coming

in and saying, oh, but it's not the cartoon series.

We spent almost just over two hours talking with

Kelly on how she wanted to update the cartoon

series. And it's still, it's still keeping the

heart. I mean, it's still, you know, I don't

know. People that bash this comic just by saying,

oh, but it's, it's not the gem. I know if you'd

actually take the time and read it, you'd see

that it kind of is with a few twists and turns.

But you, I know some people that are going to

say that I can guarantee you. I know two people

I personally know and love. They will not like

it because it's not their classic. Cause they,

they, they, some people just don't conform to

change very well. Yeah, I see this as being classic

and modern. I don't I know you do but yeah, but

I know some people They just won't get past it

Because some people actually like the old Rio

That hurt that hurt for me to say that Alright

overall story arc rating I'm gonna give it a

four and a half I loved it. I thought it was

great. Amy. I agree with that. Four and a half

is great. Yeah. That really defines my feelings

behind these last three issues as well. So good.

Yeah. Cool. Give me more. I'm giving it a five

because it's got tech rat. Woo! No, really. Honestly,

I know a five is kind of like, well, jeez. But

there's so much and so much fun with it. The

relationships, the new characters, the new story

developments. I mean, even got the fun. Like

I said, the whole Billy Idol more and more and

more song. I know it's not Billy Idol, but that's

what I got. You got a left shark in there. You

got mentions of bagels. You got a guy dressed

up as a shark. Come on. You got you got someone

telling, you know, Zaz. Yeah, I love it. It's

there's so much fun. I love it. It's just yeah

hi for me Alright folks, so we're gonna take

another quick final break and we're gonna come

back and give you The solicitations for issue

number 10, which will be part of our next episode

We're gonna do that and we're also gonna give

you a solicitation on the holiday special coming

up We'll be back after this show time's over

synergy Synergy, I need you to protect Jem! Getting

into a cab down the street! We are back, and

we're going to give you the solicitations for

this month's comics coming out, Jem and the Holograms

issue number 10, and the holiday special. Number

10 is a one -off, it's kind of a one -shot kind

of deal, where Rio Pachinko, boy reporter, go

behind the scenes and see the holograms and the

misfits from a whole new perspective. That of

music columnist Rio Pachinko. What mysteries

will he uncover? What truths will he reveal?

Or will it mostly just be pizzazz flipping tables

and Roxy crying over ruined bagels? Obviously

Kelly's on writing. Corin Howell is on the art

for this. It'll be fun to see that. Yeah, Jen

Bartel is doing covers. There is a subscription

variant with Emma doing that, I believe. There's

an Archie anniversary variant as well. Bullet

points for this one. Spotlight on fan favorite

Rio. See? It's true. Yeah, favorite. He's dating

Jerika, hates Jim, and doesn't know they're the

same person. That's called explaining the joke.

Featuring a tribute cover celebrating Archie's

anniversary by Tonya Del Rio. And then the holiday

special written by Kelly. Art and Covers by Amy

Memberson. So I'm finally getting interior arts

from Amy again. That's awesome. Secret Santa

is when Jim and the Holograms and the Misfits

draw each other in their shared record labels

gift exchange. Heads will roll! Oh, I'm excited.

That's got so much awesome signed to it right

there. Oh my gosh. What will the holiday spirit

getting to eat? beginning to even the bitterest

of enemies uh... subscription variant uh... by

agnes garbowska bullet points will enemies become

best friends forever will friends become worst

enemies forever who's going to wear the santa

costume uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...

uh... uh... uh... uh Coming up next folks for

back issue classics. We're gonna have Jim and

the Holograms number 10 the Rio spotlight and

the holiday special so We will see it just before

Christmas. Where can the people get in contact

with you online Amy? You can find me on Twitter

at lady of wreck Nicole that will be Beatles

Steven Beatles like the band not the book Of

course you can find me, TFG1Mike on Twitter,

you can find The Pull Bag on Twitter, at The

Pull Bag, at Geekcast Radio, all that stuff.

Make your greatest gift to comics, and we will

catch you next time! Aloha! Bye -bye! Shows over,

Synergy! You just heard the latest episode of

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