Dark Gem Issues 14-16 Review

Hey, this is Kelly Thompson writer of IDW's gem

in the holograms and you are about to have a

truly outrageous time here inside the pull bag

Hello and welcome to back issue classics episode

67 here inside the pull bag I am one of your

hosts TF Joe and Mike and ladies and gentlemen,

it is time to welcome the return of lady rock.

Hello. Hey I'm here. I trip over all the chords

You can't see it. And we have our Roxy. We have

Nicole Beatles diva hailstorm. Hello. Aloha.

How's it going? It's going. We're all alive still.

How's it with you? So we are here to go through.

Yeah We are here to go through gem and the holograms

from IDW publishing issues 14 15 and 16 This

is dark gem parts 4 5 & 6 It is our part 2 of

our dark gem coverage here inside the pull bag

and on Showtime synergy At the end of the podcast

we will be talking about Various IDW staff changes

and the gem solicits for 17 through 20 So that's

what's going on there. Amy, since it's been a

while, what has been going on with you? I moved.

It's the first time in 13 years, so hey, there

you go. It's been an experience. Moving, technically,

usually is an experience most of the time, sadly.

And not necessarily a good experience, but it's

just an experience, right? Yep. It's never a

good experience unless you have, like, a bunch

of guys that just want beer and pizza to help

move you. Oh, I wish. I wish that would have

made things a lot easier, to be honest, if we

had done that. Beer and pizza for everybody to

show up. Yep. Hey. Doing the long drawn out thing

is not what I recommend. Yeah, you got to be

careful about advertising buried pizza on Twitter

though that might Yeah, that might backfire a

lot. Well considering most the people that follow

me are out of the state it really Oh boy. And

Nicole, what's been going on with you? Last time

we talked to you, it was in our hot damn number

three review. And at the end of that, you talked

about stuff your dad says. That's still in the

works. We've got a long ways to go with that.

I want to listen. I have become a godmother.

this past week so yay so so so Phil and Kim Scott

over in Ireland have have granted me the the

title of their godmother and I'm like that's

so awesome because she's adorable do you grant

wishes too? I try I try my hardest we all know

you're not Glinda the Good Witch All right, so

Dark Gem, this is part two where we've talked

about part four, five and six. We go dark, really

dark. Well, Amy's already halfway there. She

essentially it's Kimber at this point. I mean,

I'm not tall and skinny. Yes, you. Well, you're

skinny. You're tall enough. I'm not that tall.

I know people taller than that. When I think

of Kimber, I think of my BFF who lives in Virginia,

who is like over six feet. That's tall. That's

who I see Kimber as being, is really tall like

that. All I can think of is Beverly Hills Cop

2. Actually, you're talking about a six foot

blonde woman. Six foot blonde women grow on trees

here in California. Alright, Dark Gem, part four.

Written by Kelly Thompson, art by Sophie Campbell,

story by Thompson and Campbell together, colors

by M. Victoria Roboto, Roboto, I don't know,

whatever. Letters by Sean Lee, edits by, what?

Roboto? Roboto, there you go. Something like

that. Edits by John Barber, the publisher obviously

is Ted Adams, and we start off with our previously

page. where Jem kisses Rio for the first time.

What the hell are you doing? Let the drama begin!

Yep. And for those of you who don't remember

from our last episode, this is where the kiss

and Rio's reaction to Jem kissing him, this is

where Jerrica is able to break out of the silica

sickness... thing. What do we think of the art

on this first first few on the previous page

here? It's awesome Yeah, that's silica synergy

shot is just Yeah, I just you know it kind of

shows the whole you know synergy is this light

and you know silica is this like dripping ooze

Creepy She's the she's she's spider -man symbiote

So we start off with the girls arguing over disconnecting

synergy Kimber is against it, but even though

she knows that sadly it has to be done She's

still not okay with it, and I'm totally on board

with Kimber like yeah But you don't know how

that's gonna react and could be everything you

know like Okay, but I don't like it We then go

to blaze who's in the bathroom Which I at first

when I saw these panels on the on this next page.

I thought she was alone and then clashes behind

her there And blaze thinks that she ruined the

misfits Because of the sickness yeah, it's not

it's not her it really isn't it's just that that's

what she thinks it is because This is my first

time on stage, and I've screwed it all up. It's

like no you haven't you were awesome Don't worry

about it, but yeah I'm glad to see clash. You

know befriend her Yeah, absolutely I was getting

more of a vibe than just you know befriend her

it seemed more about before like in the previous

issues I didn't think those two were gonna be

like buddies, and now it's just like okay. Yeah,

we both thought that we were like She's gonna

sell it this friendship. Yeah Yeah, I was like

oh, that's a nice surprise. I kind of like that.

That's kind of cool Yeah So they have a couple

of moments still in the bathroom. We then get

back to the misfits where they're all arguing

and they're being misfits. Yeah. I mean, I mean,

it's not a bad thing, but at first when I, cause

I, I obviously, it's been a while since I've

read these. So I went to reread them before we

did this and it took me a while to understand

what words were coming from who because it's

an all it's an all interconnected conversation

you don't see the little white balloon things

coming out of the white balloons that's because

it's mayhem they're supposed to be all talking

at once and having a drama moment and everybody's

just like and can i just can i just say i love

how they've drawn eric raymond's hair to look

like devil horns Teddy Graham would be proud,

right, Nicole? Oh, exactly. For those that don't

know, Teddy Graham is the main character in IDW's

Hot Damn. Nice. So yeah, Eric looks like the

devil. We have Blaze and Clash walking back in.

Should we just come back later? And then Roxy

throws her healthy cereal. I don't blame her.

It's healthy cereal. It's no bagel. It's no bagel.

It's healthy cereal. It just tastes like cardboard

anyhow. Just toss it. And you'll be on the toilet.

And this part of the discussion is basically,

you know, them saying that, you know, even though

Pizzazz would yell like crazy, She would at least

have a plan. She always has a plan and Eric apparently

went out to the stage and or he went out somewhere

to make a call to five -by -five records and

nobody can tell him anything apparently and He

says I'm pretty sure as I was hanging up one

of them said jam is a god. It's insanity Somebody's

heard the music So basically Eric then goes into

a diatribe to all of them But it eventually becomes

more specifically towards Stormer about how he

doesn't want them going anywhere near Gemini

holograms, especially Stormer And He gets a phone

call and call and so he says he needs somebody

out there immediately I don't remember who right

off the top of my head What do we think so far

of even the shadow even the shadow has horns?

Yeah, I need you get on the plane It's now officially

No, I don't think it's tech rat I really don't

think it's tech rat. I think it's it's either

it's probably zipper. I don't know. It's somebody

I don't know. We've read ahead, right? We've

read ahead, right? Yeah. Yeah, but I don't really.

Yeah, I don't really remember. It was TechRat.

I'm pretty sure it was TechRat. Yeah, probably.

It probably is. So we then go to Phyllis Gabor's

house, a .k .a. Pazazz, and she lives in that

giant house all by herself. Why not? Why not?

What do you mean why not she's rich That's a

big -ass house Tony Stark's is bigger. Yeah Actually,

it kind of looks not exactly like but it does

kind of look a little bit like Tony's house because

it does overlook the water there Yeah, I can

see where you're going with it a little it's

not the exact shape but yeah so pizzazz's phone

rings and it's her amy here's your chance daddy

it's it's her father uh and He's just assuming

she wants money and doesn't even really want

to talk to her. I'm hoping, I'm pretty sure I'm,

but I'm hoping that Kelly writes Mr. Gabor a

little bit better in the future issues. Cause

starting out now, he's about as big of an ass

as he was in the cartoon series. I think that's

very well written. I mean, I'm not saying it

isn't well written. to introduce us to his character,

I'm just saying that I hope that as the series

progresses and the character development between

Pizazz and her father progresses, that it moves

away from this whole, the way this whole conversation

goes. Well, the thing is, it's been like this

for, what did you say, Pizazz, is 20, 21, 23

years? Yeah, it's been like that ever since she

could remember. So it's not probably going to

change anytime soon. Yeah, well, and here's the

thing is that it was right after the start. She

says that she's been calling for weeks. This

also means that it was after her accident. He

didn't rush home when she got an accident. I'm

sure he probably talked with the doctors and

all that and knows that, oh, you know, she's

fine. She'll be all right. She just needs to

recover and all that stuff. But it's the whole

point is that he's a workaholic and he is missing

out. opportunities to really connect with his

daughter because oh I'm you know I'm here on

them there's a really important work the really

important stuff going on that's real life there

are a lot of parents out there that are like

that too they're workaholics they you know they

have a big deal coming up and it's you know they

can't just drop everything and come home and

so I got what was going on but you know clearly

his daughter really kind of needs you know a

supportive parent She's very here in the house

by herself. It is very, it is very true to life.

And I think anybody that's reading this that

maybe they're a teenager or whatnot. I mean,

this is why gem to begin with was a very approachable.

franchise for kids to begin with is because they

talked about some of these things that were very

difficult to talk about and kids could relate

to that and I think a lot of people could see

themselves as being one of those kids you know

where you know my parents always working and

I'd like them to come home and I could you know

spend some time with them and whatnot and you

know they can't for whatever reason so it's like

I like the fact that they're keeping this element

because it's a really good element to have in

there, especially for Pazazz who's, you know,

she has her way, she has her tics, she has her

things that she does. And she's a vulnerable

character. I love the fact that this page showed

how much, how vulnerable she really is. And then

the next part of the panel after the conversation,

after he hangs up on her and she says, I can't

live like this. And yeah, no, I agree with everything

you're saying. What I'm saying is, I'm hoping

that we see the character progression between

the two of them get better, not worse, is what

I'm trying to say. So we move. Go ahead. I said

cool. Good point. We move back to the holograms,

and they're still arguing over disconnecting

synergy, and Kimber finally comes around. We

they then all agree to stay together, which does

not happen. We got this is post after they've

been through their hermeneutic, you know, silica

versions of themselves. And, you know, there's

some massive stuff that needs to be cleaned up

in the wake of that. Oh, yes. So you got Aja

and Kimber. In one bed, you got Jerrica and Shayna

in the other in the hotel there. And Aja wakes

up first. She sneaks out. Kimber then wakes up

and let's see. We go to Craig, who the poor sap

gets smacked right in the face. Oh, not not not

only you get smacked, he's up late watching TV.

Probably, you know, nursing his, you know, ah,

what's going on with my girl? She's not here.

Yep. Yeah. And, uh, we see Aja and she apologizes

and he just jumps down to her. Okay then. That

was awesome. I was like, oh, she catches him.

And I loved that. Those two are totally made

for each other. Complete role reversal of the

Romeo and Juliet thing. I love Aja. She's awesome.

Yeah, she is very much so. And I love Craig here.

How many windows did you try before you found

me? Like nine. Your whole floor hates me. We

then go back to Shayna who gets a phone call

as she's still in bed and she then rushes out

and basically Jerica is the only one left in

the hotel room and Tony showed up the door and

Tony's at their door At least he was the one

that could actually find their room Yeah, that's

true. The other two went after their their significant

other and he came to her yay with treats Yep,

that's always good treats is good Treats is always

good and a nice diving kiss. I love it and it

seems I Don't know because I don't know how much

time passed but it seems that they're all staying

at the same hotel, right? Yeah Okay, so if they're

all staying at the same hotel the only one that

actually went out somewhere away from the hotel

was Kimber obviously because stormers not there

but you know, so we get to the scene where You

know, you got Shayna and Tony with Jerrica and

then Aja, Craig, and Rio show up and, oh, busted.

Not that busted, come on. They haven't gone really

anywhere. They just got out of bed and woke everybody

up. Yeah, but that's what Aja says, uh -oh, busted.

They come back in. So Aja and Jerrica have a

little bit of an argument and then they all realize,

where's? Kimber and Tony's like, who's Stormer?

So the Misfits bus, that's pretty cool. I like

that bus. That's an awesome bus. Very awesome

bus. So Kimber and Stormer make up. Yay. They

then... She's half asleep. Who's half -asleep?

Stormer? Oh, yeah. Well, you know, hey You'll

wake up whenever someone jumps in your arms and

kisses you like Kimber Kester So there's that.

What do we think of the art stuff as this is

progressing through? Because it's gonna do a

major... I mean, it's all Sophie in the issue,

obviously, but the style is gonna massively change

because of the characters. But what do we think

of the Tony style in the previous panels and

all that? Like the style of Jerrica and... I

almost called her Asia. Asia! Those are the verge

of racism there. Actually, it's a band that's

an 80s rock band. You've heard their song, right?

Come on now. Yeah. Heat of the moment. Come on

now. Heat of the moment. Technically, that won't,

you know. Anyway. Totally makes sense. Yeah.

What do you think of the art here, ladies? Nicole?

Oh, I think it's great. I'm just so used to Sophie's

work. I mean. I'm just so jealous of how cool

their hair always looks. Even when it's a messy

wreck, it still looks cool. Agreed. I'm distracted

by the hair constantly. What about you, Amy?

Any thoughts on the art so far? I have to say...

Complete and total kudos to Sophie because I

mean every single facial expression is so unique

and so cool I mean I can tell it speaks so much

they all speak like The faces the facial expressions.

I mean like you don't have to you totally know

what's going on Just because her facial expressions

are so amazing and not only that is that they're

unique to the individual Like every single one

of these faces just looks so Like, it's her style,

but it's like, Jerrica's face looks like Jerrica.

Ajash's face looks like Ajash. Her face is slightly

different than the other, than Jerrica's face.

And, you know, vice versa. Like we got, you know,

the same with Stormer is different than Kimber.

And it's just, it's amazing that, I mean, there

are definitely similarities, but they're all

very still unique. I'm just always happy with

how Sophie's doing all of the work. It's just

amazing. Totally makes the comeback for me. So

we get to the point in the story here of issue

14 where Kimber tells Stormer that she has to

go do something, something to make sure that

Stormer will never get hurt like that again.

And she walks off towards the very nondescript

gem bus, has no name, no nothing on it, and the

gem van that has a license plate. J -E -M, really?

Seriously? Okay. Why not? Why not? We're not

getting the rockin' roaster, folks, so I and

everybody else just has to deal with it. And

Silica shows up and talks to Kimber. Is that

a tongue off of her dress? It is. Well, look,

she's got the teeth as the collar. Yeah, I think

it's the skeleton shoes. I have to say silica

is just as awesome with her, like, you know,

wardrobe is as anything else. And her hair is

like trying to eat Kimber. I know. I love it.

That has an eyeball. It's a snake. Yeah, it's

just wow. There's a lot of creep that comes out

of that. Sophie, I don't know if you were on

any, like a lot of caffeine or anything, but

you must have had a lot of caffeine or something

to help you come up with this design for Silica.

That is awesome. Lots of cream. Just something

out of a horror movie and it's awesome. Silica

and synergy have a giant argument and Synergy

tries to stop silica, but she can't her her language

turns into binary code And Silica has taken over

pretty much so silica looks all nice and evil

and mysterious Until you get her pissed off,

and then she turns into a monster with really

sharp teeth she's very metal she's very metal

oh no oh god people are gonna kill me for this

my eyes are playing tricks on me it's cuz it's

cuz of the teeth dress damn it I thought that

was rarity inside the dress where are you getting

that it's the purple part of her hair So we meet

shiver synth and scream which are part of The

Sickness, her band. And she is spreading her

sickness across the land. Oh, I forgot to say

that the rest of the gem and the holograms show

up. Yep. Jerrica and the other two show up. What's

happening? And they came prepared. They put on

headgear. Yep. Yeah, they, yeah. Jerrica, Aja

and Shayna all have the headphones on. But but

yeah, I mean these designs are just so cool.

Just absolutely awesome What way to make a comic

book so dynamic And it pretty much ends on the

to be continued of Synergy saying what have I

done because all the holograms are just laying

it at silica's feet and it's kind of yeah this

this Fourth part of Dark Gem is just, wow. Good.

Good stuff. So good. In a word, good. Yeah, very,

very amazing. Amy, what are your overall thoughts

on issue 14? I want more. Yeah. No, it was really

good because like, hey, this is where they confront

Silica. They see what's going on. And because

of other recruits. They get, uh... They get bamboozled!

Yep. Very much so. But, you know, there's other

good things that happen in this comic, too, like

the whole makeup, everything, but everybody makes

up with their significant other. Yep. Everybody

makes up, which is great, and it's not shoehorned

into anything. No, it feels very natural. It

feels very like this is the next thing that should

happen in this situation. Right. What about you

Nicole overall thoughts on issue 14? It's it's

a great weight. I mean it Wow, there's a lot

that did happen in this issue Yeah, and so that

that ending is amazing the design the coloring

the oh Like the little cliffhanger with with

the synergy I mean, she's a computer program,

but she actually She had she has terror in her

eyes, and it's amazing So you're just like, ooh,

what's going to happen next? So when they introduced

the new band, like, this is awesome. Like I say,

the most impressive part of this comic was actually

in the holograms, if you've read the holograms.

A little 10 -year -old girl, True Roxy, yelling

out bagels. I knew you were going to say that.

That's awesome. I love that. And I said, oh Nicole's

gonna say something about this. I know she know

And by the hologram she means the letters page

in the issue Yeah For me, I'm just absolutely

digging this I think this is a great way to further

along the care all the characters not just Jim

and the Holograms, Jerika, not just Eric, not

just the Misfits Pizzazz, Blaze and Clash, Kelly

is, Kelly and, cause Sophie was also doing on

the story, has a story credit as well, so Kelly

on the writing and story as well as Sophie, the

both of them are just brilliant. I know, it's

awesome. I mean, it's, you know, they're giving

us a knock -down, drag -out rock concert every

issue, and it's, the story is just getting so...

much better as it goes along. Issue 14, I know

this is going to be hard because we still have

two other issues to talk about, but issue 14,

zero to five scale stars, what would you guys

rate it, Nicole? That's a hard one. I'll give

it a solid four, a solid four, like creeping

up to four and a half, but there's other stuff

going on that I can't. Yeah. So. Amy? I give

it a four and a half. I'm also gonna give it

a four and a half it It's just that good if we

hell if we could give it a six we would but we

can't so all right issue 15 dark gem part five

this has a Beginning that I was not expecting

at all so we get the previously page to catch

everybody up And we get the guest list, as always.

And then it starts out as a flashback with Kimber,

Ajah, and Shayna as kids running around a pool.

What the hell is going on here? You can tell

it's a flashback. No, no, no. I'm not saying

it as a bad thing. I'm saying it as, oh my god,

what are we doing? Why are we opening with a

flashback? This is so cool. Something we need

to know about the past. I like this. Especially

once I got into it and went, okay, what's going

on? And then I read through and I was like, I

like this. It's building to something. Something

is going. I don't want to spoil anything, but

I like the vibes that I'm getting from the flashback.

Oh yeah. Well, we're going to spoil the hell

out of it. Yeah, but but yeah, no the Seeing

I love the super soakers, too Yeah, that's so

90s So I just still loves jumping in the pool

so she does a cannonball And we meet Jackie Benton

At this point I was shocked mom yeah, I was shocked

to see Jackie and Emmett Benton Hence my reaction

of oh my god. Why aren't we starting where we

left off earlier from the last issue when I first

read this I think I got to about the middle part

of the flashback here after the food scene that's

coming up next. I think I got to just when Jackie

and Emmett are kind of arguing, which is after

the food scene, and I just stopped. I exited

out of full screen from Comixology and I just

had to email Kelly and I'm just like, oh my God,

what have you done? Not in a bad way. I'm like,

oh my God, what have you done? Thank you. Because

I was never expecting this series to do a flashback

to the Benton parents. What did you guys think

of them, Nicole, bringing up Jackie and Emmett?

I think it's a great - great way to expand the

characters. Because, well, first of all, even

just without the parents, you see that Kimber

hasn't changed a whole lot since she was six.

She's still starving all the time. She still

whines a lot, but, you know, she's still adorable.

But, you know, I think it gives more of an inside

of... What happened it just expands the characters

tonight? I would love to see more flashbacks

of them Yeah Absolutely, what about you, Amy?

What did you think of I thought that was brilliant?

I thought it was brilliant one We still get more

character development with it obviously you know

take every opportunity that you can to do stuff

like that But we're also getting background back

story to what's going on here that you know Silica's

been around for a whole lot longer than what

we think. Exactly. So I just loved this. This

was like, it brilliantly played, brilliantly

played. And of course, it was always great to

see mom and dad. Of course. Well, we see Emmett

working on what we assume is synergy and we see

him having issues with it. I think the coolest

thing with Emmet that I noticed when he and Jackie

are arguing and then discussing and eventually

making up is the fact that he has a Starlight

music t -shirt. That's awesome. You gotta promote

your own brand. Yep. And he does say that there

is a virus in the code or something. And he's

constantly having trouble dealing with it. But

no this whole scene. I absolutely loved it. I

thought this was so great the entire beginning

of the of the thing and It does tie into where

we left off obviously because these are amazing

storytellers so the end of this scene the One

of the super soakers and a shoe ends up in the

pool Oh, it's more than that well, yeah It's

was it was it Jericho Yeah, Jericho. Yeah, yeah,

Jericho ends up in the pool more than that. She's

watching She's watching dad and mom make up and

all that and then you see the the he says was

it He keep on thinking that he's got this virus.

It's insidious insidious Yeah, and there's a

little the Stuff that comes out of the computer

is like all going, you know Wobbling like that

and I'm like, I think that it did that to her

Yeah, oh, yeah totally did that to her and I

was like going oh, I love the mystery. I'm just

sitting here At this point I stop it went. Oh

man, this is brilliant I was on a plane and I

was reading this going. Oh, this is great I mean

not that I want anything bad to happen to Jericho,

but I was just like I got goosebumps reading

this part, just going, ooh, I love this. And

the one panel where flashback Jackie calls Jerrica's

name. We flash to her again, but it's Synergy's

purple -ish bubble. And then we see Synergy herself.

And we see just. Synergy isn't exactly in Jackie's

image because of the way Sophie designed her

but she's meant to be in Jackie Benton's image

for the most part and she asks yeah, she asks

Jerrica if she's alright and then it brings us

into the present day and we have let's see here

we've got more conversation with all of them

and and she's telling them about the virus she's

telling them about silica and the sickness and

She basically agrees to be shut down essentially.

Well, not knowing that is that she saved them

too. She sleep basically to keep them from being

harmed anymore by them. And then of course she

says, you know, you remind me of my mother, blah,

blah, blah. It was good. It was good. Yeah, it

was absolutely amazing. So Jerrica gets a call

from Rio. And she basically she kind of cuts

him off a little bit And basically says she has

to go that she has half of a plan and then we

cut back to the misfits and They have sat on

two of their members pretty much They've got

the thing Well, because of the consequences of

them feeling like, hey, you know, we didn't amaze

the audience, they go and actually listen to

the music and they become part of the throng

of Silicon Valley. They're zombies, mutant zombies

with really great clothes. Should I come back

Eric? Yep, there's tech rat. Yep He hops into

the screen. We know that that's who he asked

to get on the plane because he's yep. Oh, yeah

And he's still going over the code and and everything

and Eric is being Eric. Don't go anywhere. Stay

right where you are Figure this out right this

second I love expressions, man. So good. So good.

Look at Roxy and Jedda. They're just yelling

their eyes out. We're going insane. And apparently

Stormer isn't even there. Who is Stormer trying

to get help from? The holograms. Yep. So we get

to all of them back together here Yeah, they're

they're the whole problem not anymore everybody

shows up Yeah, here we come to save the day Yeah

We get to One of the members of the sickness

she's woken up apparently Where am I what's going

on? it's worn off yeah and it's it's wearing

off of them and then silica you know puts them

back under the spell and she charges them yep

i'll tell you as much as i love the crazy letterings

the multicolor letters are killing my eyes when

i was reading this oh really oh i i don't think

it's that bad No, I'm just saying the... I'm

not saying the stuff itself, but just looking

at it consistently just kind of hurts my eyes.

So we have Silica reasserting her dominance over

them. We have... We have Kimber babysitting the

zombies. Lays and clash look pretty good. Why

is there an eyeball earring though? Because they're

part of the sickness. Yeah, she's got the sick.

They've got the sickness I know they've got this

sickness, but why did it have to be an eyeball

earring because it's creepy and it's awesome

and you're a pansy And eyeball earrings are awesome.

Yep Come on we were all right with the skulls,

but not the eyeball Sculls are fine. Eyeballs

are creepy. Awesome. Your definition of creepy

is very different. Yes. I love Kimber here. Shut

up. Shut up. Yeah. I mean, I admit you make some

sense, but still shut up or it's tape mouth city

for the both of you again. I love her. That's

what I thought. Heckle and Jekyll. Yeah. Oh,

boy. How's the story? Go ahead. I was going to

say, Jerrica basically tells them how to break

the spell, is that they have to have something

really bad happen to them that shocks them. Mm

-hmm. So that's the idea. So they have to figure

out what would shock the heck out of those two.

I don't know. And we go back to kindergarten

class with TechRat. Yeah. I love tech ratness.

Tech rat. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, it's like everyone

but me is so dumb. God, it's tedious. Hey. OK,

let me tell you about you. Let's go back to school.

OK, the dummies, which is apparently all of you.

You know, I love sarcasm and this is so funny.

It's like, yeah. I can totally hear the voice

of the tech rat that we remember. Yeah, Charlie

Adler, you know. Just perfect. Absolutely. And

then Roxy's, uh, I don't get it. I mean, music

is powerful, but come on, it's controlling people.

Get real. I like what he says. The fingernails

on a chalkboard and everybody's like, uh, yeah,

that's why. Yep. So they they come up with a

plan here to to end this little thing Which is

interesting now, we don't know what it is that

they shock the heck out of those two to get him

out of it It's Roxy and Jetta is like, oh yeah,

these guys know stuff They're on the bus So before

that we get we get Roxy and Jetta we always haze

clash remember that time when we super glued

the guys focus We've got it give us two shakes

we're on it so the pranksters are Jetta and Roxy

That doesn't surprise me when it comes to Roxy,

especially when I think about Nicole That's right.

So we see the rest of Jem and the Holograms and

Stormer and Eric and TechRat, and then we see

the Jina. You guys are jerks. And also, thank

you. Sort of. Sort of. And then the return of

Pizzaz happens. Kaboom! And that's how we fix

things. Wow. Oh my gosh, she looks awesome. Yeah,

the design on pizzazz here is great. Yeah. When

things get tough, the tough get tougher. Yep.

Absolutely. All right. Issue 15. What do you

think, ladies? Amy? Brilliant. Humor, mystery.

And break heartbreak. Yeah, we're doing it here

and most of all tech rat Yeah, I Love tech rat

as much as everybody else on this panel does

but Honestly is as cool as tech rat was really

the flashback is what got me emotionally. Yeah

It's absolutely awesome. All right, I know it's

gonna be hard but zero to five. What do you give

it Nicole? I'm getting this four point five Okay,

I love the beginning actually screw it I'm giving

it a five because that beginning was awesome

See you guys see you Roxy and Jenna be little

brats and I love I love anytime those two together

I love that you got to see A shiver like come

out of it a little bit and get repossessed. I

thought that was kind of sinister There's a lot

going on. Yes. I'll give it a five. Why not five?

Why not? Five. What about you, Amy? We get mystery,

we get some flashback, we get, hey, some kind

of comedy moments, and then Pazazz shows up.

It's an absolute five for me for two. Same here.

Fives all around. If this whole issue had been

flashback with only three pages that's furthered

the story along, I would have been fine with

that, but just the beginning flashback just...

Stole a show. Yeah, I really did steal the show

until Pazazz comes in at the end and steals the

show again, but the flashback is what really,

because I was not expecting to see little Jerrica

in the holograms. I was not expecting to see

baby Kimber, you know, saying that she hadn't

eaten in months and was starving for a hamburger.

Not that she said that, but just... you know,

the way that it's, it's portrayed. Cause that's

what that was like at the first issue too. Yeah.

Yeah. All right folks. Issue number 16 dark gym

part six IDW's gem of the holograms. This is

the concluding part of the story to wrap it all

up. Now, the funny thing is in the solicitations,

I don't know if it was something that And again,

I'm not sure who puts the solicitations together

at IDW. I don't know if it's John Barber or if

Kelly writes a solicitation and sends it to John.

I don't know how any of that works. But in issue

15 solicitations, they kept saying, Dark Gem,

this is the finale in issue 15. And I'm like,

wait, no, that can't be right. But Dark Gem,

part six, this is the conclusion to it all. We

start off with the previously page, which basically

catches us up on Silica, the sickness, synergy,

and jamming the holograms and misfits in Pizzazz's

return. We start off right away with Stormer

basically tackling Pizzazz. You're back! Actually,

they're all tackling Pizzazz. She's like, ack.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's not a big fan of

that. Yeah, no. Well, again, with the whole character

development, she's not a fan of that in public,

but we've seen that, you know, from the last

couple issues that she wants people to come see

her and interact with her really deep down. But

yeah, public face, yeah, no, she's... So Pizzazz

comes in and basically says, where the hell is

Jem? Because planning anything can't go a minute

longer without Jem here. Yeah, there's a classic

Pizzazz within half a second. Less than half

a second, like a millisecond. We're minus one

member. We've got to have that gem here. Yep.

So we get to the holograms going outside, because

Jerrica says she's going to go find gem, and

they ask her if she's going to hologram. Go as

gem and hologram Jerrica, and she's not sure.

she doesn't really want to what happened last

time to happen again for her to change and they're

not sure how that's gonna work so we get that

part of the story and they come up with come

up with a fairly decent plan and we get to pizzazz

and the misfits so you traders replaced me Of

course she's gonna say something like that. I'm

glad she waited until the holograms left though

to say that. Yeah. Yeah I don't think she would

have said that in front of them though. I really

don't. I mean I know we've seen in the past that

the Misfits have fights in front of the holograms

but I mean that was pretty serious that they

had to replace Pizzazz here so... You know, I,

I am also glad that they waited until Jim left,

but I really don't think she would have said

anything in their presence. Uh, and she faces

off with, uh, with, with Blaze. Um, but then

she does something unexpected. She says, um,

you were great and you're not going anywhere.

You're her misfit now. Yep. So that was awesome.

Yep. And again, it's character development, it's

character change, it's not just sticking to the

old style anymore. And again, I have to praise

Kelly and Sophie both on the story arc here because

both of them, Kelly on the writing and Sophie

coming up with the story ideas is just absolutely

amazing. And we get to... Cat 5. Am I interrupting

something? Well, it's about time. They just throw

in the attitudes around. I can just see the finger

snaps and the head bobs and the toss of the hair.

There's no room to toss all that hair, so much

hair. The panel where Jim says, so word is you've

got some kind of plan. Please tell me it's better

than dropping a light rigging on me and just

me and mine and just as we begin to perform.

This panel kind of reminds me of not what she

says here, but just the way it's drawn, the way

the two of them are facing off reminds me of

the end of the animated series where they shake

hands finally. Oh yeah, just like, okay, we'll

be friends. Yeah. Yeah, Pizzazz has a plan. Well,

then do tell. Yeah. And then we get to Silica

and the sickness again. And wow. I'm glad this

isn't a real sound because, well, boy, that is

really intense. Yeah. Just how she's basically

controlling all of them. I love I love this page.

It's beautiful. Yeah. Kind of reminds me of Sinead

O 'Connor, sadly, a little bit. We get back to

Jim and the holograms. Somehow both Jim and Jerrica

are there. Oh, it's got to be Synergy. Yeah,

Synergy's playing one of them. Synergy is playing

gym. Okay, let's just it's really really really

tall Yeah, she's supposed to be that tall. Yes,

I guess maybe she has heels on so Once she's

got heels on but in every episode every episode

and in every panel that I've seen her up until

now She does stand a little taller So what are

we thinking so far for the story and the art

for this issue, ladies, Amy? I'm liking it. The

art is amazing. The story, it's in a natural

progression where it should be. Everybody's getting

in line with the pizzazz, obviously. And we don't

even have to fill in too many of the gaps. I

mean, it's just like, you know, pizzazz is there

to fix things. And then bringing Jim in here

also is just very helpful. Jim, according to

her bio, is five foot eleven. Yeah. Okay, so

two things. The height difference is between

both of them. As Jerika, she's five five. As

Jim, she's five foot eleven. Okay. So there's

that. Five eleven. Gotcha. So they come up with

a plan. And Kimber. The hair makes it six. It

does. Well, she's got a lot of hair. They all

have, you know, you put all their hair together

between all of them and, you know, you could,

I don't know, save a third world country or something.

I know I'm jealous of all their hair. That's

cool as hair. I love it. Well, you got all your

wigs. You got enough hair. It's not the same

thing. I know. Still. So pizzazz's plan has Jericho

backstage trying to use the signal jammer tech

rat cooked up while everyone else Including gem

is on stage a hologram of me can't do what it

needs to be done backstage But in theory it can

do what I can do on stage is gem. So that's how

they're gonna do it they go to the sickness concert

and And try to up stage them. Yeah, try basically

try to up stage them And again, I've said it

since we started reviewing this almost a year,

probably over a year ago now at this point, even

though I said earlier that the sickness lettering,

the way the colors are, the black and the orange

and that, it just kind of was playing with my

eyes. What I love is how they transform it into

the gem lettering and just how it interplays

with it all. I just love that. And the same thing

with the misfits because it's all dueling musicians

at this point. I love it I love all these next

few pages how bright everything is Yeah, it's

a rock concert. I love it. It's working I love

the giant splash page where they say try to mind

control the world through this silica Just that

big splash page when you first get to it after

silica says no Just look at that. You've got

Gem and the Holograms with their music. You've

got Silica. You've got Zazz and the Misfits with

their stuff. Just all intermingling. That is

a great splash page. Fantastic. Everyone's getting

along. More or less. This is a for now, yes.

And the other cool thing is how they eventually

do get rid of Silica, seeing her deconstruction.

The white page, the white panel, the full panel

page there. Oh, so cool. She's basically turned

into what if Sinead O 'Connor and Edward Scissorhands

had a baby. Do you think she's actually gone?

I mean, can you truly 100 % get rid of a virus?

Maybe. If she's on an offshore thing, as they

were saying, that she's pulled herself away from

synergy and she's got She's got another place.

I don't think so. I think that there might be

another copy of her somewhere. Exactly. I'd love

to see this character return, but not anytime

soon. Yeah, not anytime soon. We still have to

get to Rhea and the stingers and all that stuff.

So everybody is woken up. Everybody is fine.

They all go their separate ways. Jerica and Rio

make up a little bit more. I like that we could

see the the natural version of the girls that

were in the sickness. Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely.

And we go back to being on stage. You like that.

You want more. Yes. Woo. Jam. Misfits. Stimber.

I love it. Stimber. Stimber, what the hell? You're

talking about Kimber and Stormer together when

they're kissing? Yeah, I know, but I didn't say

that. I know, it's on the page. It's on the page,

yeah. Oh, okay. Open your eyes. Oh, I hadn't

gotten to that page. I was still on the... I

just got to the pizazz. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Stimber, yeah. Yeah, okay then. Another great

big panel shot here as well. And we go to the

audience and we see someone saying she is magnificent.

So this caused a lot of controversy and I wanted

to bring this up. uh... it actually caused me

to leave several jim groups on face book because

i'd just could not handle the constant notifications

and constant arguing and bickering back and forth

over this one little panel in this issue so we

get to we have the panel word uh... jim uh...

jim miss fits are playing and then we get the

little panel of of the slide there all of them

and then we get to this one panel where This

one guy says she is magnificent. This one teaser

image that they put online caused everybody to

assume that Riot was transgendered. And it was

just some weird wacky explosion. And for me personally,

they already introduced a transgender character.

They already have gay characters in Kimber and

Storm. Yeah. Blaze is the transgender character.

Why in the world would you assume that? Riot

is Transgender just by this one little panel

that he's very feminine looking. Yeah He is he's

very 80s hairband looking yeah Yeah, and we and

we get to the full kind of panels here And I

believe it's rapture that asks which one Jim,

of course. Nadja, they're not so impressive,

if you ask me. And what do you think, Rhea? Rhea,

Earth to Rhea, I think they're fantastic. What?

Yeah. Two controversial things in one page. Well,

if you think about it, half the band likes them,

half the band hates them. And they go, yeah.

I'm just so excited for Rapture. I don't buy

Kate's Rapture. I'm so excited. No, I don't.

Wait, wait, wait, wait a second. When did you

get off me saying I hate Rapture? From the cartoon.

OK, we've already talked about the... You hear,

okay, if you're gonna sit here and call me out

about that, miss, I hate everything Rio. I do

hate everything Rio. We've already established

that cartoon Rio and comic Rio are two very different

things. The same thing, like, this is just the

first appearance of The Stingers, of Rapture,

so I didn't, we haven't even seen anything with

them yet. They have. They're right there. I'm

going to reach the place, gentlemen. You're going

to hear murder on this podcast. And our ratings

are going to go skyrocket through the roof. I'm

just excited that they're bringing in Stingers.

I really am. I've been waiting for this. What

did we think of the reveal that Rhea is with

the Stingers? I thought it was a great move.

Because I was wondering how they were going to

introduce her. I'm just like, because the comics

aren't really following the cartoon, you know.

So I wouldn't think they would have a contest

or anything like that. So this was a really good

way to bring her in because I really did miss.

I like Rhea. Well, for the cartoon, I liked her.

So we'll see if I like her through here. So,

you know, I like the fact that they're just doing

something unexpected. Yeah. And I like that.

I like the unexpected. You're adding elements

that are just different than what. It's just

what we expected from the show. Obviously, this

is not going to be the show. And so I like the

fact that they're doing something completely

unexpected with that. And Raya is with the Stingers.

I'm like, that's kind of cool. I kind of like

that. I mean, I was just thinking about it today

going, you know, it's the perfect play. It's

the perfect play. Because now you get to create

conflict between bands. By you know, she's gonna

get moved over it at some point or maybe not

Maybe they'll play it this way for like a couple

issues or even for half a year. I don't know

We'll see I think she's adorable blonde hair.

Oh, yeah, I love it. I love it I'm really really

digging it. So I'm I'm I trust whatever they're

gonna do because they did something completely

unexpected and it's new and fresh and it's It's

it's different and I like that Might be controversial,

but you know what controversy is a good thing

Yep Before we give our ratings for this issue.

We also have bios for the stingers we have See

this is the reason they should have just put

out the bio page Then they wouldn't have had

this oh We're we're gonna freak out that riot

is the transgender is like, you know what? It's

just the angle. They just need a little bit more

pictures to see Yeah, it's a dude. It's totally

a dude. So we got riot Also, don't forget the

fact that this is a character who's stuck on

himself. So of course he's gonna look beautiful

and fine. You know, it's just, it's a small panel.

It's hard to pull that off in one little, you

know, one little facial feature. That's all that

they, that was all that they teased was a facial

feature. That was it. So give it a chance. I

mean, that's how that that's how I felt the same

way when I first saw Rio. I'm like, oh he kind

of has a feminine look to him, but Yeah, it's

just that's that's the style that's yeah, Sophie

draws it I like it good at giving them a fine

look and yes Sometimes that can make it look

a little more feminine, but that's okay She's

got a very good look with it though You know

who he looks like? On the bio page. I'm looking

at the bio page. He looks like the Nelson twins.

Remember Nelson from the 80s and 90s? The Nelson

twins? That's what he looks like. So the bio

page. That's awesome. The bio page. Real name,

Rory Llewellyn, age 25, height 5 '9", instruments,

vocals, and piano. He'll be the same. Oh, he'll

be a little shorter than Jim. Yep. Yep. He loves

fame and fortune, comics, especially rare European

ones, Germany, independent films, bratwurst and

sauerkraut, poetry readings, being in control,

private islands, and gems. All right, we're going

to get a private island and one with gems. Aztec

adventure. Hates. He hates being controlled,

the military, imperfections, big budget action

movies, and sellouts. His prized possession is

a signed Mobius print, and he is most likely

to charm you. I believe it. I'm glad they added

a comic book element to this character. I really,

really liked that, especially since we are reading

comics. Why not call out to something else that

is just as... completely valid as this and add

to that in that way. It just, it legitimized

the character to me. Yep. We have Minks, real

name Ingrid Krueger, age 25, height 5 '4". Her

instrument is the keyboard. She loves tech, fashion

especially, fabulous hats and shoes. Flirting,

travel, sparkling water, football, aka American

soccer. Soccer. Underground Parties, Lowensof,

Nacker Worst, and Hairbo Happy Cola. She hates

Commitment Rejection. Wow, those two go hand

in hand. American Chocolate and Americans, with

a few exceptions. Her prized person - Prize possession

is a Karl Lagerfeld vintage couture gown, most

voted, most likely to create drama. Well, yeah,

that's Minx all around. And she's got an incredibly

long torso. I know. Yes. Yes, she does. Her incredibly

short pants. They're on her hips. All right,

we have rapture Phoebe ash age 24 height 5 11

So she is tall as Jim. Yeah, she is as tall as

Jim is Her instrument is the guitar. She loves

fantasy novels and films collectible griffins

horses Ramen Chicago style deep dish pizza. Is

there any other? cartoons manipulating people

playing practical jokes gossip and hilarious

gifs Okay, folks, this is the first time I'm

able to say this. This article came out a few

years ago, but I recently saw it reblogged on

Facebook for some stupid reason about the creator

of the GIF coming out saying it's pronounced

GIF like the peanut butter, not GIF. Awesome.

She hates train travel, bare feet on concrete,

peanut butter, hula hoops, and New York style

pizza. That's just obvious. You like Chicago,

you hate New York. Prize possession, an antique

Griffin statue made of carved jade. Voted most

likely to secretly be a writer of self -published

fantasy novels. I love this character. I was

thinking that her and Roxy would be along great

with the food part, but she likes to write and

Roxy hates to read, so that's not gonna work.

All right. I love it. I love it. I love her.

I love what the extra ads that they put in with

this character. It's gonna be fun. I love the

look. It's gonna be so fun. I love the look of

Rapture. I love her look. Yeah, she looks great.

All right, we have Rhea, Carmen Alonso, age 24,

height 5 '5", instrument, the drums. loves her

brothers, Greece, archery, milkshakes, authentic

Mexican food, coffee, young adult novels, horror

movies, carnivals, dogs, the ocean, loyalty,

and flying. She's my new best friend. She likes

dogs and pizza. Horror movies. Horror movies.

This girl's. Yeah. She hates her brother's drama,

fake people and long car trips. Her prized possession

is a custom hand -made bow and set of custom

hand -made bow and arrows. She was voted most

likely to keep a secret. So she hates her brothers

and loves her brothers. Well, that's pretty much

any siblings. Now, at this point, this is where

I kind of thought, OK, she does not strike me

as one that actually fits with the other guys.

With the with the stinger stinger. So my first

question was after reading this is then how did

she became a stinger? How does she become one

of them then? Why? She doesn't fit. I'm sure

they'll give us some background. Yeah, so if

anything, that's what these these character Pages

did was like hmm. She doesn't seem like she fits

with the other guys. I want to know that story

now And then we also have a bio for Mad Martigan.

I love that they put this in here. I love it.

This is awesome. So Mad Martigan, aka Mads, is

Pzazz's cat. She is age two. She is almost 6

.5 inches. For her instrument, she thinks she's

very good at the piano. She's not. It says it

in the bio, folks. I'm not being negative. Says

it in there. She's not She loves pizzazz who

thinks she's a giant green -haired cat certain

other cats catnip Sashimi playing watching neko

at I don't know on the iPad Fancy feast she is

fancy watching crabs on the beach. Hey, look

a mr. Krabs reference from spongebob making yelling

noises that sound oddly human, cuddling, but

only for a maximum of seven minutes. She hates

most other cats, dry cat food, birds, dogs, and

probably you. Prize possession? Pizzazz. Loaded

most likely to star in a vine that gets a billion

views. I could totally see that. I love that

they, I mean, they've been throwing the bios

in since day one, but just seeing them here even

more just points to me that, oh wow, this series

just gets better and better and better. I agree.

All right, before we go to a break, what would

we rate issue number 16, the Dark Gem finale?

Nicole? Oh, this is a hard one. I'm going to

give this one a 4 .5. because it just had it

didn't give me teary -eyed like the last one

yeah the other one kind of got a little teary

-eyed there yeah but the the artwork and you

knew what was going to happen it was the last

issue you knew it was going to be the end you

kind of figured out i kind of figured out that

the bands are going to come together and you

know so um but i loved how they did it i loved

how they pulled it off the and the two panel

the two page spread of silica degenerating the

white and the black and the pink is beautiful,

love it. And of course the introduction of the

Stingers loved it. It's just like, it's great.

How they introduced the Stingers was amazing.

It was just like, it just continues on this story.

There's not like this clear slice of bread cut.

It's like, oh, they were there. They're witnessing

it. And I loved how they introduced them. So

yeah. Yeah. It's not forced. It's not the seat.

The three bands, the way I see the three bands

is the holograms of the holograms, the misfits

of the misfits, and the stingers of the stingers.

With the misfits and the stingers specifically,

the misfits with pizzazz and all that, they're

more likely to break out on the scene or break

into one, not break in, but break out to one

of Jem's shows or something like that. They're

more... In line to do something like that where

they're more to break out off the page saying

hey, we're here Whereas the stingers are just

kind of playing it cool playing it really sly

and riots Just making all kinds of plans in his

brain and and and everything else Amy what are

you gonna give issue 16 definitely think the

4 .5 is definitely worthy of that. Yeah Loved

the introduction of the stingers. I did not expect

that. I like surprises in my comics, so totally

with that. That's what I would give it. 4 .5.

Absolutely. It's 4 .5s all around. I love how

they wrap the story up progressively without,

like we've said, without needing to throw something

in there very quickly. Everything is paced nicely.

We do have a potential for Silica to return,

but at least, like Nicole said, we do see how

the people that were infected by the sickness

and became our bandmates, we do see them unaffected

by it like that. Yeah, four and a half for me

for this one. We are gonna take a quick break,

come back with some IDW news and some other stuff,

as well as the solicitations for... Gem in the

Holograms issues 17 to 20, so the next four months

of comics are going to be solicited here in this

podcast. We'll be back after this. Alright, we

are back here in baggage you classics episode

67. So there are a bunch of editorial changes

coming in IDW Which I was at I will ask Amy about

in a moment the one thing I want to hit on really

quick before we get to that and before we get

to the solicits Issue 16 for now apparently as

far as I know was Sophie Campbell's last issue

on the series. She is left I saw this, Samantha

Newark was doing a convention, I forget which

one it was, and she said she was gonna have signed

copies of Gem 16, and in the Facebook post she

said it was Sophie's last one. I... I think I

might have remembered seeing something online

about that. I emailed Sophie directly and I asked

her point blank. I don't mean point blank isn't

being rude, but I mean like... Straight out.

I've seen this. I gave her the link to Samantha's

post. I said, is this true? If it is, you know,

thank you for bringing Jim into the 21st century.

And she emailed me back and said, yeah, it's

true. I'm moving on. Um, but who knows? Maybe

she'll come back one of these days. Maybe. She

does. All right, Amy. IDW editorial changes.

Go. Okay. So a week ago IDW announced that, uh,

John Barber is no longer gonna be senior editor.

I know I totally freaked out. I was like No,

no and luckily they linked when I saw this on

Twitter They linked to a news around my but I

believe it was news around my article that basically

detailed what's going on He's not leaving IDW.

He's just not going to be the senior editor anymore.

That is gonna be turned well They added another

thing, it's not senior editor, it's group editor.

So I don't know where that sits in between senior

editor, group editor. The whole point is, is

that over gem and I think over transformers and

a few of the other Hasbro titles, her name is

Sarah Gaitos, either Gaitos, one of those two,

is going to be the editor. So John will not be

editing anymore and it'll be Sarah. So she's

going to be taking over on Gem and the Holograms,

and John will continue on with IDW writing, and

he's got a lot of projects that he's working

on. So I'm guessing one of them will be Transformers,

because he's already been working on that. Some

of the other stuff that he's been working on

as well. But some new stuff coming out of Revolution's.

I'm really excited for him. I'm really excited

for the new editor as well I've actually kind

of reached out a little bit to her on Twitter.

So I'm excited. We'll see how things go Yep,

absolutely. I hope they keep the letters page.

That would be kind of cool to see Sarah, you

know responding so yeah, I Like it what I think

they've only done this once I liked it when Kelly

responded a few times. Oh, yeah, that's you I

think there was one issue where Kelly did a few

responses. All right Gem of the Holograms solicitations

coming up here in the next few months. Gem of

the Holograms Outrageous Edition Oversized Hardcover.

Kelly Thompson, Sophie Campbell, Emma Vaselli,

Coren Howell, Jen Bartel, all those ladies. It's

Showtime Synergy. Jerrica Benton and her sisters,

Kimber, Aja, Shayna, and are trying to make it

as a band, but Jerrica's stage fright is holding

them back. When they make a shocking discovery

in their father's secret laboratory the mysterious

synergy changes everything and Jim and the holograms

are born Just wait until pizzazz and the Misfits

find out they have competition This beautiful

oversized hardcover collects the first ten issues

of the critically acclaimed series plus the double

-length annual and the holiday special as well

as the Valentine's special so pretty much this

is collecting the first half of the series right

before dark gem quite literally it's almost like

the first whole year it's the collection yep

340 pages 50 bucks pretty slick yep awesome so

then we have gem of the holograms issue 17 this

will actually be out the day this podcast goes

live uh uh kelly thompson jen bartell yay love

jen's art still reeling from the shattering conclusion

of dark gem gem of the holograms regroup just

desperate to find a path forward. Meanwhile,

the Misfits find themselves with a unique problem.

One lead singer too many. We'll have to see how

that plays out. Yep. We're gonna get cleaned

up, Rox, and then we're gonna give a couple fantastic

live shows as promised. The Misfits always put

out deliver. Clash. If you really did this, you

better make sure it comes nowhere near us. Alright,

IEW's greatest hits collection, gem number one

for a dollar. So there's that. I love that they're

giving that. In August, we get Gem of the Holograms

issue number 18. Kelly Thompson and Jen Bartel

on art again, yay. The Holograms struggle to

come to grips with the emotional ramifications

of Silica and their short tour gone wrong, unsure

what recent events mean for the band's future.

Is there even a future for Jem and the Holograms?

Dun dun dun. The lead in to next month's big

new story, soaring highs and crashing lows as

only Jem can deliver. And then also, I believe

in August, Gem of the Holograms, volume three,

Dark Gem. Kelly Thompson, Sophie Campbell, collecting

the Dark Gem arc. Issues 11 through 16, it looks

like. 16, yep. So there's that. Also available

again will be volume one and two for Gem of the

Holograms. And then... In September, we get the

next new story arc with a brand new artist. Gem

of the Holograms, issue number 19, written by

Kelly Thompson, art by Meredith McLaren. The

Stingers, part one. You thought the Holograms

had it rough back when they had to team up with

the Misfits. Well, just wait until they meet

the European Supergroup, taking the U .S. by

storm. The Stingers meet Riot. Rapture, Minx,

and Rhea? What? Stop the record. Bullet points.

All new story starts here. The return of fan

favorite characters, the Stingers, and Rhea.

We'll say it again. Rhea? What? Also on this

solicitation, new gem artist, Meredith McLaren,

Hopeless Savages rejoins her heart -in -a -box

collaborator, Kelly Thompson. Awesome. And then

in October, we get Jim and the Holograms, number

20, The Stingers, part two. The Stingers have

found themselves a label. But does that mean

the Misfits have lost theirs? Meanwhile, the

Holograms struggle to find the missing piece

to their band as Shana finally heads to Milan.

And the Stinger's singer, Riot, has his eyes

locked on Jem, which means life got a lot more

complicated for Jerika. I can't wait! Okay, so

bullet points for this one. Fan favorite characters,

the Stinger's make and take a bite out of the

world of Jem. Jerika delves deeper into the Jem

persona. New GEM artist, as I said, Meredith

McLaren, continues her collaboration with Kelly

Thompson, and we will have a variant covered

by Giselle Lagase? I assume that's how you pronounce

that name. I don't know. I'm sorry if it's wrong.

So there you go, folks. Dark GEM. The Stingers

return eventually. The start of the Stingers

arc in issue 19. More fallout from Dark GEM with

issues 17 and 18. That's a lot of stuff. Lots

of fun stuff, yep. It's gonna be great. Can't

wait. So, depending, because I have not emailed

Kelly as of this recording, but depending on

how the Stinger's arc comes out, we will probably

do that. All is one, we might break it up into

two parts, depending on how big the part one,

two Stinger thing is gonna be. I think we're

going to do issues 17 and 18 as one podcast,

so that'll be once those get released. So it'll

be a few months again before we get another Gem

comic episode. By that time, most of Amy's Rugrats

will be in school. Mostly. Most of them. Just

that Dr. Evil one she has will be running around

the house a little more, I think. I swear, in

that picture, he looked like Dr. Evil. So that's

it for this episode of The Pull Bag, and I want

to say, for a little while, that's probably gonna

do it for The Pull Bag. I'm gonna kind of put

the show on hiatus for a little bit, folks. I

have been doing comics for four years now with

this podcast, and while I do want to still keep

it up, I'm probably gonna go back to a more...

Relaxed schedule you're probably gonna get a

few months for the rest of this year of 2016

Where I only have one episode on a month. I don't

know it just depends Because I've been doing

a lot of podcasting recently. I just for today.

Just alone or Yeah, yeah the the time of this

recording I did three recordings today, so So

there's that, but I recently, over the summer

here, my buddy Pecan Court Michael and I were

doing a daily Phineas and Ferb review show. Oh

my gosh. Recording that. Amy, you think you had

problems with the underpants. No, no, no, no.

I completely defer to you. Yeah, yeah. I am the

podcast god. I know. So we did it. We tried to

do a Daily Phineas and Ferb podcast. We are still

going to be doing a Daily Phineas and Ferb podcast.

It's called the Podcast Organization Logical

Acronym. And we did the first season of Phineas

and Ferb all in one go, 27 days. If we kept up

the production, we'd have to record seven days

a week. And Michael, he's got a wife, two kids,

a life. And he has no time to do all that seven

days a week. We got that going on, but that's

going to come back later this Christmas. So yeah,

right now, just for a little while, I need a

vacation because my brain needs to shut up. Where

can the people find you online, Amy? You can

find me on Twitter. I'm Lady of Rack. Nicole?

Just Google Beatles, Dima. That's me. That's

you. And of course at TF2 and Mike you can follow

at the pull bag on Twitter at geek cast radio

You can also check out the geek cast radio network

on Facebook and the pull bag on Facebook as well

Please go like us on Facebook make your greatest

game of the comics and we will catch you in a

little bit folks We'll be back soon with more

comic coverage here inside the pull bag vacation

totally need a vacation Yeah, somebody send me

some money so I can go to California. Damn it

Showtime's over synergy Synergy, I need you to

protect Jem! Getting into a cab down the street!

You've just heard the latest episode of The Pullback,

the GCRN's comic review and discussion podcast.

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