Jem and the Holograms Issue 10 and Holiday Special 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 pullback

Hello and welcome to the pullback this is the

47th episode for back issue classics here inside

the pullback this is our final episode of the

year and We're ending it on gem in the holograms

from IDW. We're gonna be talking about issue

number 10 Thank you for that's the peanut gallery

we're gonna be talking about issue number ten,

which is Rio pachinko boy reporter and the holiday

special and we are a week late on the holidays

Christmas is over the new year is almost upon

us and Yeah I don't know, I'm not gonna sit here

and blame IDW, but I think it was Diamond or

somebody, somebody somewhere screwed up, and

the holiday issue came out before issue number

10. We are releasing this on the day that issue

number 10 is supposed to come out. So, according

to Kelly, through my various emails with her,

through Kelly Thompson, the writer of the comic,

issue 10. takes place story order before the

holiday issue so we're going to start with issue

ten and of course joining me as always there

are the uh... uh... no i was uh... i was going

to say a couple of misgrams uh... i'm not that

old no no no it's a it's a it's a joke from the

annual when they had to name the kitty They named

her Miss Graham because they couldn't decide

whether it would be holograms or misfits. Just

call us your misfits. Come on. We wreck your

life all the time. Ain't that the truth? So Amy

is here. Hello. And Nicole is here. Hello. Bonjour.

Aloha. Hi. All that stuff. That's right. So we

have three covers for issue 10. We have the regular

cover, which is Jem and Jerrica back to back,

and then Jerrica is next to Rio. We have the

sub cover, which is Jem and Pazazz, which with,

wow, a cat. Miss Kitty. OK. Kitty, that was Miss

Graham. There you go. Yep. Yep. And we have,

this month was Archie month for IDW. They had

variant covers based on Archie comics. And okay.

That one's all right. I don't know. Pick a cover.

Who are you asking? Hello? Which one are you

asking? Anybody. I don't care. Pick a cover.

Hey, I have to say all of these covers are awesome

and I had a hard time picking. Just saying all

three of them like give me any three those those

those I like all three for some reason It just

the stars aligned to this this this week, and

I I want all of them Okay Nicole I like the sub

cover. I think it's which one the first one oh

the regular Victoria Roboto yeah Sorry, I love

the kitty. It's the kitty Hey, the key to Nicole's

heart is animals. Yeah, that's that's true. I

was gonna say you better be careful saying something

about kitties too loud to make sure nuke and

taser don't hear you. Yeah, no, I'm a dog person

to begin with, but I do love kitties. Yeah, I

gotta go with the regular cover. It's just awesome.

I Like I like it when Jen Bartell does covers

I really like her art style We saw that back

in in Shana Wars and in the in the outrageous

annuals. So I like it when she gets to do covers

And this one is Rio Pacheco boy reporter We have

the previously page which is Rio and Jim make

Rio and Jerrica making up Yeah, probably will

make that mistake more than once No, I said Jim

not Jerrica We have pizzazz learning that Jim

and holograms are going to be their opening act

and then she gets in the car accident and we

start out with you know and kelly told us this

in the interview that issue 10 was going to be

a real one shot kind of deal and kind of like

from his point of view and this is pretty awesome

i'm digging this i didn't i know that we interviewed

here and she said that but like it was like ages

ago and i've like i've slept since then so everything

she said it was like it went in one ear right

out the i mean i i remembered it for the first

couple days afterwards but you know it's like

ah i I have a very short term memory. What can

I say? But well, with four records in your house,

you'd think that, you know, I was pleasantly

surprised by this, to be honest. I was like,

oh, it's a real episode. It's like, I like it.

I like it a lot. And it made me appreciate him

in so many ways. I'm like, he is definitely not

the Rio from the show. That's for sure. That's

for sure. I love this guy. Can I have a date?

Um, so as I said, this pretty much picks up where

nine left off with pizzazz at the end, getting

in the car accident and we, you know, have the

whole hospital thing and it's Rio and Stormer

and they're, you know, talking about pizzazz

and all that stuff. And, um, I really like, uh,

The art style in this the only the only thing

I will say about this issue in particular that

I Do not care for the art style is And oh I should

mention before I get too far into this Kelly

is obviously on writing. We have Corrin Howell

on the art What she do she did the last half

of the second wind blade miniseries And she was

also on the six issue mini -series from DC for

Batmite. Well, I love Corrin and I love her art

style. The only thing, she makes Roxy look like

a man. It just looks horrible. I like how everyone

else looks except for my favorite character.

And it's not even in the beginning page here

where... Where we find out that it's months ago

when, when, uh, Roxy and Jetta get, you know,

are pushing each other out of the dressing room.

When sober pizzazz got in the fight. It's not

even that page that makes her look. It's later.

In the story, uh, specifically when Rio is interviewing

her, the scene, the, the, the, the image where

she, it says where she says pizza. She looks

like a woman bodybuilder. She just. I guess that

makes her so you don't mess with her. I guess?

Don't mess with Roxy. So what do you guys, Nicole,

what are you thinking so far as to the inner

workings of Rio and how he's kind of like at

the center of all this stuff between the two

bands? I kind of like it because I was wondering

how they were going to, you know, get them together

besides the you know, going on tour because they

knew they were going to have to have interactions

before they go on tour. And so I think, yeah,

I like how they're they're putting him as the

middle guy, the middle man. And I got to admit,

Rio's not totally annoying me right now. He's

like the dude is like he knows all the secrets

behind things because he sees stuff. He walks

in on stuff. He's like there. So it's like. like

the fact that he's kind of be he's the secrets

thing is kind of they kind of switched in a little

way where it's instead of him being out of the

secret he's like in on all the secret everything

yeah yeah so far except for what except for one

so far yeah but that's okay because if that's

the only secret that he doesn't find out about

or maybe he finds out about it They'll they'll

they'll work it. I think in the right time. Oh,

absolutely The whole point is that that he seems

to walk in on on lots of different things. So

it's like he's seeing a lot of things and I'm

sure that eventually I don't know what we'll

see how we'll see I let's just say after reading

this I really trust anything and everything that

Kelly's ever do if I was ever worried about it

now Here we are ten issues in I'm like, you know

what? brilliant She's got a job forever, please

give her this forever. One of the secrets at

first that Rio walks in on is Stormer and Kimber.

And he I love that panel. I love that panel.

He's like, whoa, and he just walks out. I just

love that. That's awesome. Well, they kind of

didn't know because they were kind of, you know.

Well, no, they did. I'm saying, of course, I'm

saying the. the imagery of him in the two panels

where he walks in and then he just walks right

out. I just love that. And then come to find

out that Roxy and Jetta are roommates? I love

that. I like that. You know, it puts a completely

new spin because now I wonder every single time

they fight, they are totally just doing that

on purpose just it's a it's all of a show right

so they're not really they don't really hate

each other that bad it's like actually no they

have to do that so that you know they could throw

pizzazz off and i'm just like if you think about

it makes sense kind of it totally makes me fall

in love with these characters it really kind

of does oh she would kill us if she found out

yeah there's a lot of things in this that you

just don't don't expect but when you find out

it's like oh wow that's so brilliant I like that

I like that a lot so I guess since I think it

was at the very first issue or the second issue

where we run into Rio fixing his bike or something

or other and I guess now it's fixed yeah well

yeah cuz he rides off on it So after his boss

gives him a chewing out because his boss, I guess

the paper that he works for or whatever is one

of those, I don't want to say rags, but it's

one of those papers where the boss is like, I

don't care, get the story at any cost, no matter

what, no matter who it hurts. And Rio's a standup

guy. He's not going to do that. Amen. Yep. And

I like how he fixes it too. Mm -hmm, because

he gets help from Jerika. Literally, he's the

vice. He's the rock in the hard place. He's stuck

between it all the time, which is gonna make

some really great conflict for him. He's gonna

be a fun character to watch. Yep. I can't believe

Kimber still has that shark costume on. Well,

because she doesn't want to pick up. That's why.

I love Kimber. I love her so much. Shit, she's

a little pain in the rear. But she's so funny,

oh my gosh. All of her little antics. The thing

is, she does all the things I wish I could get

away with. I'm not cute enough to get away with

this. Oh, please. You know you'd get away with

half that crap. No, I'm not as cute as Kimber

to get away with that. Maybe not the shark thing,

but... Mean this one kind of read pretty fast

you have Rio's character and you have how he's

running around all the secrets and everything

else and dealing with everything else dealing

with his boss and By the time he gets frustrated

enough and drives off We then get to the point

where he's gonna help the whole he's gonna ask

them for help and he basically lets them know

that Hey, yeah, you guys are gonna be the opening

act to to the Misfits and and and Aja She's like,

why don't we just drop her light -rigging on

me again or so Absolutely love that So they give

them time, you know, he gives them time to talk

about it and they're gonna help him and and all

this and all that and This issue reads really

does it read fast for you guys cuz it read pretty

fast for me It was it was it was good. I liked

it It basically ends in the hospital with pizzazz

and the Misfits and real walking in on them and

she's kind of she's not really giving a thumbs

up But she's kind of giving like, you know, hey

a thumbs up and of course Jetta brings the cat

in there as well. I love it Hey, it's a therapy

animal. It should be allowed in the hospital.

I'm just stating that there is a cat in the final

image. That's all I'm saying. The only problem

I have is she was in a major car accident. I've

been in a major car accident. I think there'd

be more damage to her than besides her throat.

I mean, she was hanging over that steering wheel.

She should have had some broken bones. She should

have, yes, I will agree with that, but see, here's

the thing. The whole throat voice thing is going

to play into... Well, yeah, it does. That's kind

of where it's going. What else do we like or

not like about issue 10, ladies? It's got a kitty

in it. Okay, we know what Nicole's opinion is.

Amy, do you have anything more elegant to add

to the conversation? I just I just liked as a

character piece like this shows Rio I mean it

gives him a complete something I didn't know

about him, but then also that he's a good guy

I mean it just it quite literally it just it's

made me really really like his character all

of a sudden even more than I ever I mean if I

had any doubt as to what role he's gonna play

Like he is such a charming guy. I like hey Wow

Wow, I really liked that you know, he just, just

such a nice guy. So yeah, I, I have to say, I

really, it just, this issue was just really perfect

for me. I personally loved the, the interaction

with Rio and Roxy. I love that whole thing. Just

because, because she is so annoyed with him.

Like that whole is sold about his face. And then

the fact that you know, oh you don't like your

face either I love it. I love it. I love that.

They keep the bagel joke going. I love oh, yeah

They're never gonna drop the bagel. That's fine

because bagels are awesome. I agree They're better.

What's wrong with you? Yeah, that's exactly what

Rossy said. So there's something wrong with you.

I turned it around. Come on now. You know how

we've always said on Showtime Synergy, you know,

jamming the holograms, blah, blah, blah, and

the song, and then the song goes, oh, the Misfits,

their songs are better. I turned it around and

said English muffins are better. Yeah, yeah,

whatever. You're wrong. You're wrong. OK, then.

On a scale of zero to five. I know what I've

seen in you for Christmas. Bagels. pizza on them

I'll eat them oh crap this is already going downhill

folks zero to five what are we gonna rate issue

ten ladies Amy you can go first I'm gonna give

this a four and a half there you go wait wait

wait you just say Adam had a minute zero to five

zero to five four point five Nicole? I'm gonna

give it a four. Like I said, the whole she was

in a major car accident that really set me back

just because I've been in a car accident like

that. The drawing of Roxy kind of threw me off

too. Yeah because she's my favorite character

so I'm gonna be a little more picky when it comes

to her. I do like Ryo's style. I love her Stormer.

her stormer, especially the panel where she's

crying there. I think she looks absolutely gorgeous

and adorable at the same time. I really like

that. But Roxy, I don't know. I can't get over

that. But it does have a kitty. It has a kitty

in it. That plays a sub four. Oh, boy. Yeah,

I'm going to give it a four out of five as well.

I just can't get over the way Roxy looks. I gave

it a half because I really liked it. I had a

good payoff in the end. I was like, oh, that's

awesome. I just didn't expect that. I'm like,

oh, happy. And like I said, I don't remember.

I remember we interviewed, but I don't remember

where. all the the little reveals and stuff that

she gave us afterwards like she didn't she didn't

give us much all she had said was going to be

a one -shot for rio but it's intended was going

to be a one -shot for rio was going to be kind

of a special thing uh... it's special on me and

really special elected yeah i mean yeah i would

do that over and i don't think you know even

though my memory sucks as much as amy's does

i i pretty much know she didn't give too many

spoilers away about you're supposed to say that

we know stuff right? the illusion there is no

illusion in GEM I mean this is not mask for crap

sake illusion is not the ultimate weapon here

I think David Bowie would beg to differ we're

gonna take a quick break and we'll be back with

a holiday special after this Ain't that the damn

truth? Grab your helmets cuz it's time to assemble

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every Friday on the geek cast radio network All

right, we are back and it is time to talk about

the gym holiday special But first we should talk

about the fact that IDW is doing what five holiday

specials They've got Jim and the holograms holiday

special they've got the my little pony holiday

special they've got the transformers holiday

special they've got X files and there's one other

one. I don't remember off the top of my head

Mickey and Donald. Oh, yeah Yeah, but we're here

talking about the gem holiday special and This

came out a week before Christmas Sadly because

of story order we had to review this after Christmas,

but we could still look at it. It was pretty

yeah This for me is one of my joys of the year

not just because it's a holiday special is because

when Jim first Got launched and Amy members and

had done the five covers for both or the ten

covers actually for the Misfits and the holograms

issue one and issue two I was like, yeah I need

to see more of her and I know I can go over to

my little pony and check her out there But I

wanted to see what her gem art was gonna look

like and I remember this is one of the things

I mentioned in the interview with Kelly She's

like, oh, well if you like that, you know, just

wait for the holiday special Amy's the artist

in this so Amy Emerson is on art, M. Victoria

Romano is on colors, letters by Sean Lee, edits

by John Barber, and editorial assistance by Transformers

enthusiast Carlos Guzman. We have two covers.

We have Pizzaz with a piece of coal and a little

present with her red shirt saying ho ho ho. Oh,

and she's got a bracelet that says naughty. And

the The sub cover is synergy Aja, Kimber Shayna

and Jim And Jim's hair looks like a Christmas

tree. It decorated as a Christmas tree too. Yeah

Yeah Pick a cover Pick a cover. You okay there?

Too much holiday cheer choking you up there?

Take a cover. Who are you asking? Whoever. I

went first last time. It's your turn, Nicole.

OK, I will say I'm a sucker for pizazz, but I

can say the regular cover. Don't get me wrong,

the sub cover is absolutely adorable. But there's

so much I like about that pizazz look. I mean

her between her shirt, her bracelet and just

the coal. I love it. I love it. The only thing

that would make this better. Krampus should be

awesome with Krampus. Oh, that would be awesome.

No, no, no. That would be totally awesome. Oh,

next year. Pzazz and Krampus team up. Wow. You

know, I just noticed she's got black wings, too.

Okay, that's won me over. I totally like that

cover. I like most of them too, but the fact

that she's got black wings, I'm like, yeah. She's

rockin' it, man. Totally, give me that cover

right there. I love it, oh my gosh. And her earrings

are icicles, how cool is that? Yeah, yeah. This

girl's got style. She's rockin' it. The thing

about the sub cover is Jim is all water the look

on her face is priceless Like what the hell but

yeah, no, I I agree I have to go with the regular

cover with pizzazz on this one because that just

looks so badass And be members and Kona kind

of owns this issue. Yeah, she pretty much does

all the way through So we get a little bit more

of We get a little bit different look as to the

previously. We get the more, more, more video.

We get this means war, which was from earlier

issue. So we get that again. We get the announcement

that Jim is going to open for the misfits. And

then we get the car accident. And the kissing.

Yeah in the kissing This one is just simply amazing

we start off with the holograms Carrying a Christmas

tree or at least half of them carrying the Christmas

tree. One of them is not doing her part I love

the writing on this because it's just so awesome.

I totally agree It's just it's you know, this

is If you look at it this way and if issue 10

had come out when it was supposed to this was

supposed to be the last issue of the year for

Gemini hologram so they started for us it was

Well, yeah I'm saying I'm going to kill you,

Amy. I'm timber on the podcast, aren't I? Ain't

that the truth? Dye your hair red. Oh wait, you

did. I did. Damn. It's not as long as hers, though.

You need to make a red version of your Lady Rek

avatar now, because I keep seeing the blonde

red. Wait, wait, that's not right, anyway. Okay,

so we've got Kimber, and Kimber is super distracted

by her cell phone, and she ends up dropping the

tree. Well, she wasn't really helping all that

much. Yeah, true. She was like, you know, had

one hand underneath the top of it, going, okay,

it didn't drip over. And in one panel she's like,

oh my god, and I love what Jerika says more like,

oh my Kimber. And then Aja gets really, really

mad. Kimber, come on! I love what Aja says. That's

it. The tree can go inside and we can strap Kimber

to the roof. See, but now every time I see Aja,

I think of Kelly because she's... I just picture

Kelly... the writer. People don't understand

that. Yeah. I just picture because she that's

her favorite character and she always like that's

how I ever respond to things. I just picture

Kelly doing the same thing. That's awesome. I

love the look of Shane on Shayna's face. Just

like she has that look of like really that just

happened. I love how she's saying, you know,

not helping. But I was barely even holding it.

Not helping. And then we have this really weird

setup to something that happens later. We have

this lumberjack guy come by. I loved that. The

lumberjack guy is awesome. Mr. Brawny. I'd date

Mr. Brawny there. Yeah, he's cool. Just like

the fact that like I was just so like Suave about

it. Like now I know about a billion of these

guys talk to me all the time. Yeah It's just

like yeah, it's it's it's the disinterest it

draws them like flies to honey So they end up

having to go to the holiday they they talk about

in the van After she gets the tree strapped to

the thing about having to go to the holiday party

or office function or whatever it is and We get

there and apparently both bands conveniently

missed out on the Secret Santa because they got

there late The thing is, I don't think there

was really a Secret Santa. I think it was Elise

just setting it up. Yeah. Well, I'm sure, yeah.

But the way it's said in the writing is that

they missed the Secret Santas picked for them.

And this might be the best panel of gym for 2015.

The look of fire between them? No, where you

have... The name tags and their each of their

reactions. Yep. Just absolutely is easily the

best panel of this comic of the year. So far.

Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Yeah. Yeah.

Jerrica gets pizzazz. Pizzazz gets Jim Stormer

gets Shana. Shana gets Stormer. They basically

just get each other. Yeah Aja get Jenna gets

Aja. Yeah, they basically just get each other

and it's It's really funny. They really dig this

And you know so pizzazz is up and around care

to comment on this Nicole That pizzazz is up

and running around. Yeah Okay, well... Oh, good

ol' pizazz. She's having a hard time. She's not

liking this, but she has one of the best comments

of the whole comic here. She's like, I mean,

I'm Jewish for hell's sakes. I love that. You

know that she's lost her voice? Yeah, because

it's got, like... Yeah, it's like screaming that

She's like Know that pizazz has lost your voice.

I think that's just amazing The amount of frustration

that is embodied into her is just like I swear

to God Amy, next Halloween you need to dye your

hair green and go as pizazz because you can really

pull off that voice no matter what it is. Okay.

I'm not saying no. I'll have to grow it out a

little bit and shave it on one side. You can

just get a wig. I got some wigs. I really would

go with that color green, because it's pretty

awesome. And I'm Roxy, so we need to find a Stormer

in Jeddah. I don't think Heather would go for

that. Oh, she's still a Stormer. I can see Heather

being a Stormer. Everybody's kind of done with

the party. Everybody's kind of fed up with the

fact that they got people who they got and whatever

else. I love Aja. Call for everybody. Call for

everybody. We're done. And then Shayna goes to

Kimber. It's like, it's OK. I got Stormer. I'll

get her something good. And then, could you make

her an amazing dress? because we're going down

a path of regardless of and at the end of this

podcast folks we are going to get into the dark

gem solicits for next year yeah but you know

we had in the annual And we had earlier in, I

think it was issue nine, her whole thing about

the fashion design stuff. So they're, they're

working their way towards that. And they're kind

of showing it off here with, with her designing

a dress for Stormer. Oh, I love the next panel

when she says, okay, do you know her measurements?

She's like, I know everything. I can just say,

I know everything. As annoying as Kimber could

get, she has the most adorable moments. Kimber

in this has the most adorable moments. Like the

one where she's running late and she's like,

you know, so, so, so, so, so late, late, late,

late, late, like that when she's running down

the street and everything else. So the next panel

we get Jem, or Jared. I'm gonna do that, folks.

I'm sorry, dammit. It's okay. A TV Rio does the

same thing. Thanks, yeah. Got a purple wig for

me out there? Anyway. You're not part of my group.

Go away. I'm the one that brought this group

together, dammit. Anyway. You could get a purple

wig. it's a big let's see uh... the flight and

i think uh... well as i was a flight of massachusetts

have my cousin rachel die my hair purple for

the second time hoping it works at this time

his last time it didn't really work i can tell

you there well god and and and and and and and

and and and and and and and and and and and and

and and and and and and The last time my hair,

the first and only time I tried to dye my hair

purple, it went in purple, it washed out purple,

it turned my hair M &M Brown. And then I basically

said to myself, what else you got? I got Manic

Panic Red, so I essentially went Kimber in the

90s. and then I went swimming which was a dumb

idea obviously because then I ended up with gem

hair and I have photographic proof of this it's

on Facebook you guys don't get it there but anyway

back to the comic Jerika is trying to be the

bigger person here saying that they're the good

guys and I think it's Kimber that says, well,

aren't the Misfits the bad guys? And oh, hey,

we need to be bigger people. This is where you

get the holiday tie -in. Oh, everyone's good.

Santa's going to fit everyone. I want to be on

the naughty list. Thank you. Amy wants to get

it beaten by Krampus. Oh, no. Oh, my god. Come

on. We know it doesn't exist. You know those

footsteps on the rooftop? Those aren't right

there. There rose such a clatter company. I'd

say bring it. I'm not so sure Krampus could take

Amy. I seriously doubt it. I have kids, I ain't

afraid. So we've Where the hell am I now? I don't

even know. You're talking about that Kimber was

asking if the Misfits were for the bad guys.

Yeah, for the bad guys. I just like the part

where it says alright already, letting it go.

Lumps of coal for nobody. Yay! So lumps of coal

for nobody and we get We get us Kimber and her

lack of subtlety Yeah, it's like okay. We need

we need a little bit of ideas on what to get

them then already on it You know she's like click

-click -click -click -click -click -click -click

When you're ready? I guess subtlety thy name

is Kimber And then she's like, subtlety is dumb.

Oh, damn. So we get that. And then we go to the

Misfits. Come to find out that, you know, they're

all getting presents and like rocks. Yeah, I

like rock season. No kidding. What does a dumb

keytar player even want? That's just absolutely

awesome. Then they talk about letting them out

shine them and Well, I thought that was kind

of good is that there's they're going oh, we're

not gonna do this This is a dumb idea and then

and then stormer says they're apparently they're

getting us something and they're like, oh wait

Yeah, we can't be out done by them done by them.

So now they start making plans and you just see

this little smile from Yeah, I got them started

The next set of pages and panels are all about

the gifts and everything else and I think my

favorite part about this is is Kimber You need

to teach me to well, no, no, no, I don't think

it was like I don't think it was a good No, absolutely

not. No, you do not need Absolutely not no This

is amazing! You have to teach me how to weld!

No. Not at all. And then we have, the next page

is Jev and Rio trying to have a date night apparently.

They're not Jev, they did it again. Jerika! We

know who you're talking about. Jerika and Rio

having a date night. I just love this because

somebody is screaming for, Aja is screaming for

Shayna and Sharon is like maybe you can take

this screaming into another room. We see that

Shayna is decked out in a dress because Aja has

set her up with a lumberjack. I wonder if he

wears women's underwear. I have to say she looks

stunning. She looks great. She looks awesome.

For a cartoon character on a comic book page,

she looks fantastic. She looks great. Yeah, she

does. And I like what Aja's wearing, too. That's

pretty awesome. So we get to the date for Shayna.

Because issue nine, the annual and all this stuff

recently, Shayna's like, oh, I still need to

start dating again. So this is kind of where

it kind of picks up. Apparently the blind date

didn't go so well, and she's had a little too

much to drink Just standing in a bar. She's sitting

in a bar talking to the bartender Whose name

is Tony Tony? Now I know this for a fact Because

when we talked to Kelly for the interview this

was not in the interview, but I asked her off

-air if Anthony Julian was ever gonna appear

and she said yeah, but he's called Tony now so

this is Another character from the show in the

book We then get to what happened with lumberjack

he was a fake hipster lumberjack. Yeah Yeah,

gotta be wary of those fake hipster lumberjacks

Oh, boy. No, she was never worried about the

adorableness that she had. Drunk Aja hanging

out, kind of flirting with Tony is really cute.

Yes. I was going to say that Craig might not

find that too cute. Yeah. Craig is even there.

I know. Oh, God. Yes. I meant Shayna. Shayna.

Yeah. So essentially, everybody now has somebody.

dates and somebody and whatever else. She could

get any guy she wants. You're just trying to

complicate things, aren't you? That's my job.

Yeah. And when I fail at my job, Nicole does

it. That's kind of sad. Depends on which way

you're looking at it. Still kind of sad. The

next page is the reveal of the Misfits presence.

Roxy and Jetta getting rock -a -sock -a -robots.

That's amazing. Like themselves. Yeah. Yes, of

themselves, yeah. Oh, boy. Pizzazz gets a caller

from Jim. Stormer gets the dress. The next page

is the holograms gifts. And Yeah, it is The Asha

gets a helmet a Really cool -looking helmet yeah,

yeah Kimber gets a Rainbow Dash costume okay

well i just went oh i want a pair that is so

kimber oh my gosh he is such a rain yes if there

was ever a gem my little pony crossover kimber

and rainbow dash would be the team up oh boy

so we then get to obviously Jerrica slash Jim

because apparently you know pizzazz didn't get

her anything or whatever else that's what it

seems pizzazz comes to the door she asks if Jim

is there and just love this where she essentially

stands not five feet away from the door she even

says showtime synergy she transforms and says

coming like I I'm not faulting this. I don't

have a real problem with it, but I do have to

question it a little bit. Like, how does Pizzaz

not realize that it's... Because every time I

hear Jerrica or Jim in my head, it's Samantha

Newark. It will always be Samantha Newark. And

there's no difference, not that much of a difference

between her Jerrica and Jim voices. Listen, you

don't know that in this comic, though. It's through

a door on top of that. Yeah, so Yeah, but you

can hear things through you can hear people yelling

through a door come on She lives with Kimber.

There's always gonna be noise How thick the door

is I mean, you know, you know so we get We get

the reveal of Jim to pizzazz so we get Jim and

pizzazz meeting here and Pizzazz gives her this

this grab bag It has a whole bunch of things

there everything a front woman should need plus

$500 and I'm when I first read this I Understand

it's a gift and she's her hearts in the right

place all that but I'm thinking she trying to

bribe her or something Hey, I'm doing something

good. Don't forget this Well, I think for me,

the way I interpreted it, it was a, okay, I'm

going to give her something that it's not really

amazing, but it's something that I find useful

because I'm the lead person in my band. And so

she's the lead person in her band is like, okay,

this is something functional. It's not too personal,

but it's like functional. You know what I mean?

It's like pizzazz kind of, she would give something

a little bit more personable. to somebody that's

closer to her this is like a okay well if i'm

obligated to get a gift i'm going to outdo myself

but i'm also going to give her something that

means nothing other than it's functional and

so and that's what the way i took at it and i

was like wow you know it's kind of like respect

i'm the leader of my band you're the leader your

band here i'll give you something that might

be actually useful for you and especially since

you know uh jerica gave her a gift that really

was unexpectedly touching to her. I mean, Pazazz

has to be one of the hardest. I have a friend

that's very similar to her. She's like the hardest

person to shop for because she's so picky. But

if you find the right gift for her, you feel

so good about yourself. Maybe that was the real

present. She actually gave Pazazz feelings. Yeah,

I mean is the thing that she got her I'm sure

was just kind of like we saw her reaction. She's

like damn it This is really nice. I like this

so Yeah, just I yeah It this is this is her probably

being nice Probably in the only way that she

could be because somebody did something really

nice for her and again like what she says I don't

like to owe people I don't like to owe anyone.

Yeah. See, but she also in the next page, she

actually because she needs to keep her face.

There's no way someone's going to find out that

pizazz has a soft spot. You know, so she turns

around just within three panels like, OK, we're

even done. Yeah. She has that look like, OK.

This might work and she did this by herself.

Yeah, that's the other thing. She did not do

it in front of anybody She did it by herself.

So it was kind of like Yeah, I You know if anything

it has made me go I can't wait for the day that

Kelly actually kind of gives us the psychological

look into pizzazz because I know she's probably

got an idea what she wants to go with that and

This makes it really interesting. She kind of

already gave us a glimpse. We kind of didn't

even talk about it. Yeah But in issue 10, uh,

when Rio sees that, you know, deep down she's

pretty vulnerable. Um, so yeah, it's going to

be interesting to see what's, what's going to

come for pizzazz. I just got really intrigued

by this issue. So I'm like, you should accomplish

Kelly. You did it, man. I'm intrigued. And we

end on the holograms with the Christmas tree

and the happy holidays. And Kimber's like, ooh,

dibs on a cool bag. That means you have to carry

it around everywhere. Dibs. Dibs. Dibs. So dramatic.

Oh, that's Kimber for you. Yeah. Kimber looks

like she's, you know, when kids do that, I have

no bones floppy when you're trying to make them

move. She kind of looks like that, you know?

I know that look. I have an eight -year -old

that's like, ugh. They do the no -bones thing

or the stiff -as -a -board thing, and you're

just like, I don't know which is worse. Or they

slump over like they're about to fall over. They're

barely holding themselves up. Yeah, I've seen

that one before. Absolutely. Final thoughts on

the holiday issue, ladies? Again, it's another

4 .5 for me. It was brilliant. I loved it. Nicole?

I love pretty much every moment of this. I mean,

from the beginning with the tree, the lessons,

them coming together, them working as a team,

and then showing love for the enemy. It's basically,

it's a holiday special, that's for sure. I love

it. It's special! I'm going to give it a five.

Awesome! Because Rainbow Dash is in it. Booyah!

I love you for the win. I am also going to give

it a 5 because there wasn't anything in here

that... I should change my score then. Yeah,

Amy's the evil one here, folks. I just compared

it to the other one I read and I thought, wow,

these are both really great comics. They're solid.

Okay, I'll give it a 5. You didn't have to twist

my arm or anything. It's a really good fun. But

it's more fun when you let us do that though.

And it's more entertaining for everybody else

who's listening. Ain't that the truth? I mean,

it's just so, and to know that Tony's gonna be

coming in, that's awesome. Rock -a -sock -a -robots,

hello! I would have so much fun with a rock -em

-sock -em set with me and one of my friends.

If it was me, I'd be like, ah, I'm gonna get

you. I'm gonna punch you in the face. You and

Amberlynn. That's all I can think of is you and

Amberlynn. Oh, that'd be cool. All right, folks.

We give it fives all around. For the holiday

special, we're going to take another quick break,

and we're going to come back and give you...

The Dark Gem, first three parts of Dark Gem Solicits,

plus the Valentine Special that's coming in February

of 2016. We'll be back after this. So let's say

you're looking for a podcast of your favorite

80s comic books, G .I. Joe, Transformers, Ninja

Turtles, He -Man, etc. Where are you going to

go to find this? Welcome to star joe's podcast

i'm your host ryan and i'm chuck that's right

everybody we're the star joe's We host a podcast

called star joe's podcast where we talk about

your favorite comic books your favorite toys

of all the 80s properties star wars gi joe transformers

mask thundercats voltron you name it we cover

it if it's in the 80s we will cover it at some

point Yes, so what you want to do to find us,

you can go to iTunes, you can go to www .starjos

.com, and remember, the force will be with you,

because knowing us is half the battle. Alright

folks, here's the deal inside the pull bag. We

are doing the dark gem arc I know for a fact

from Kelly dark gem is a six month storyline

So it's gonna be issues 11 to 16 just like Showtime

was issues 1 to 6 So how we're gonna do this

in the pull bag is we're gonna do two parts part

1 is gonna be issues 11 to 13 and Part 2 will

be issues 14 to 16 Because of this, and because

it's just past Christmas at this point, and it's

almost the new year, we're gonna give you the

solicitations for January, February, and March

for Gemini Holograms. And you can send spoiler

hate mail to Mike. How are these spoilers? I

know you hate me. I love you, Amy. That's just

you! You'll bring me back next month. Well of

course, who else is gonna do this with me? Alright,

so January 2016, Gem and the Holograms number

11, Dark Gem, part 1. Something is wrong with

synergy as Gem and the Holograms first tour begins.

Something or someone called Silica is after them,

but who or what is she? Meanwhile, the Misfits

need to replace their lead singer fast and maybe

even permanently? Question mark, question mark,

question mark. The writing obviously is Kelly

Thompson, Sophie Campbell makes her return. The

bullet points for this one, let's see. Featuring

a black metallic cover treatment. Outrageous

new looks for Gem and the Holograms. Just like

issues one and two, they're gonna have a Dark

Gem part one complete metallic foil box set.

The metallic foil box set will have the five

covers. Deluxe black metallic foil collectible

box includes all five covers for 25 bucks just

like the other prices were. Also in January we

are getting a Jim and the Holograms Covers Treasury

Edition. Sophie Campbell, Sarah Richard, Jen

Bartel, and many, many, many more. Glamour and

glitter, fashion and fame, and covers, covers,

covers, covers. Since Gem and the Hologram's

comic debuted, we've had a special cover or two.

Now cover free from logos and type, and a giant

size under one set of covers. This is 64 pages

for 10 bucks. Amazing covers by guest superstars

like Toulouse Tommy Lee Edwards Amanda Connor

David Lafuente Stephen Stephanie hands and many

many more So that's January. What do we think

of the covers for January ladies? I'm liking

them. They're so dark and gritty This is my kind

of stuff. I like it. For number 11, I think my

favorite one is the sub cover with them on the

couch. Yeah, I like them. Oh my god, that sub

cover is amazing. Like, I don't even want the

actual five cover box set. I just want that one

sub cover. Oh no, it's so cool. I gotta make

sure Comic Shop gets me that because - So goth.

It's like, ah, as dark as my soul. You know,

and some people might have thought at first that

that was the misfits. It's not. The only reason

why I know most people wouldn't think that is

because Roxy doesn't have red hair, but it's

just one of those things where, oh my God, it's

so dark and so awesome. And I love it. It's so

cool. Absolutely. So for February. February is

going to be an interesting month because February,

just like December, is actually going to have

two releases for Gemini Holograms. Gem in the

Holograms Valentine's Day special 2016. Kelly

is on writing. Corin Howell is back on art. Let's

hope she got Roxy fixed. And Sarah Richard is

on cover. One night only. Tensions run high between

Gem in the Holograms and the Misfits as their

tour kicks into high gear. And now the sound

buried in Synergy's programming, the one that's

been profoundly affecting all those who hear

it, has just changed its tune for one night only.

Valentine's Day, it's making fr - Friends of

enemies with sometimes dangerous consequences.

Bullet points for this, Valentine's is only Gem

of the Holograms can bring. And then later this

month or in February, we will have Jim and the

Holograms issue number 12, Dark Jim part two.

Something's making Synergy go haywire and it

spreads to Jim and the Holograms just as they

gear up for their biggest challenge yet, touring

with the Misfits. Meanwhile, the Misfits introduce

their new lead singer, Blaze! Just wait until

Pazazz finds out about that. Oh, the drama's

gonna hit the fan. Bullet points for this one

the holograms are strained to the breaking point

But so are the misfits who or what is to look

a part of IDW's big Valentine's Day promotion

dun -dun -dun The covers for the February books,

what do we think of the Valentine's special covers

ladies? I Really like that wrap -around one attitude

that Valentine's like hard the Valentine. Oh,

yeah Valentine yeah, I Think that's cool. It

was very very wrong Valentine. That's really

pretty I like that I Think out of these ones

I oh man. I don't know I don't know if I can

pick one I know for a fact that I am not really

a fan of the gem and real one the yard style

on it just Isn't my thing. I like the wraparound

cover. Like you guys said I love the blaze cover.

I I can't wait to see her Take the stage just

for a moment because I know that's gonna set

off pizzazz But I think I think the blaze looks

absolutely gorgeous I think again my favorite

for this is gonna be the sub cover. Oh god. It

looks so good. Absolutely love that Alright,

and finally we've got the March Solicitations,

which, oh boy, there's a lot of stuff going on

in March as well. Gem in the Holograms, Dark

Gem, Part 3, Kellyanne writing, Sophie on art

and cover, Dark Gem, not only are Gem in the

Holograms not themselves, but whatever is infecting

them is now spreading to others every time they

play. Jerika, Ajah, Shayna, and Kimber band together,

but will they be forced to destroy synergy to

save the world from the dark gem sound? Meanwhile,

Pazez makes plans to get back at her band at

any cost. Sorry, I can't I can't see it back

at her band or to get her band back At any cost

and all I can think of is Peter Cullen and Optimus

Prime no matter the cost Bullet points for this

one the gem story of the year pushes the holograms

to the limit Can the misfits survive the return

of pizzazz dun dun dun? That's, that's true.

And they're in Hawaii! So only two covers for

this issue. We got the regular, well, only two

covers have been revealed at this point, I should

say. I know they're gonna have a retail incentive

cover at some point, but the regular cover and

the sub cover are here. Regular cover is Pizazz

on a green and white background staring at her

cat. I think that's adorable. Aw, kitty kitty!

Yeah. And then the sub -cover is Pizzazz in some

sort of TV store. It's very retro and I love

it. The colors are just amazing. And is that

a picture of Rhea? Or is that...? I can't tell

because it has like a green tint to it. The one

that's on her left hand. No, that could be Rhea

because there's no... Earrings. Yeah, and reason

why I say it could be raised because Kelly did

tell us that Raya what Raya was originally supposed

to show up before she was supposed to show up

on the viral arc But because Sophie was taking

a break or whatever. They're actually gonna be

bringing Raya into this arc Okay, as far as I

know so that could be right Yeah, I can't tell

because each one of the TVs has like a different

color to it. That TV has like a green tint to

her So I don't I couldn't tell if it if that

was Jim or if it was Rhea. I'm kind of interested

with what IDW is doing in March because they're...

Okay, so they've got the Dart Jim thing going

on. They are also doing a five -week event called

Deviations with some of the other... Yeah, it's

their crossover event that they do every year.

I don't know. I don't well These are more like

what ifs or else world tales because one of them

is what if optimus never died? Yep What if what

if they happen oh stop I Just I just absolutely

love that. I know I know we're talking about

Jim here, but the the one -shot sub cover of

the Transformers Deviations one. It's basically

86 animated with Hot Rod on the front and center.

I haven't seen these yet. Sorry. Oh, you have?

I'm not up to the solicitation. He put it in

the email. Yeah, anyway, so all right, folks.

Sorry. That's going to do it. Maybe I did see

it. I don't know. I'm sorry. Are you done yet?

That's gonna do it for the That's gonna do it

for the pullback this year in 2015 I will obviously

have my year year blog post year four blog post

because we are approaching year four for the

pullback at this point uh... in january we're

gonna have a whole bunch of stuff i do know at

some point even i think i've told her about this

so it may or may not be a surprise but nicole

and i are going to be doing d4ve parts one and

two uh... because the first issue the first series

for d4ve was uh... five issues and d4ve 2 was

four issues so we're doing that in january We

may, not we as in Nicole and I, but somebody

and I may be covering the first couple issues

of the James Bond series from Dynamite. And other

than that, I don't know what's coming up in January,

but February is going to be interesting, because

Nicole and I are going to have a lot of pre -production

to do in January for February, because February

is going to be the first time ever. Inside the

pullback, we're going to be covering My Little

Pony comics, and it's called Fiendship is Friendship

February. Wow. That sounds like fun. It's going

to be awesome. Too bad you're too busy with three

kids. All right. Follow me. Make your greatest

game of the comics. We will catch you next year.

Aloha. That was a brilliant way to end the podcast

today. Me talking over you again. You've just

heard the latest episode of The Pole Bag, the

GCRN's comic review and discussion podcast. There

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