Our last issue wrapped up the "Misfits VS!" battle between the Misfits and the Holograms. The Holograms got disqualified from the contest after getting into a huge food fight. It hardly seemed fair after the Misfit's assistant, Clash, nearly killed Aja following an act of sabotage! But Jem and the Holograms got the last laugh. They ruined a Misfits concert and cemented their reputation as the new "It Band" through great music and outrageous holographic special effects!
Issue #7 is a transitional issue. Jerrica Benton (secretly AKA Jem) has a million tasks to attend to now that everyone wants a small piece of the Holograms' music and success! The Misfits are fuming after the launch of their new album got ruined by the Holograms' successful attention-grab. Meanwhile, Kimber and Stormer both mourn the death of their secret romance! Great stuff!
Here are six great things about JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS #7!
1. Synergy Is An Awesome Webmaster!: I really love this version of Synergy. Too often, the cartoon version of Synergy was a passive member of the Holograms. She usually sat around waiting for Jem and the Holograms to request simple holographic tricks. This comic book version is much, much bigger! Not only does she transform Jerrica into Jem and provide holographic light shows for the Holograms' performances. She also does cool stuff like instantly purchase domain names for the Holograms' new website and designs web layouts!
2. Mom?: I do have a confession to make: I don't like the visual design for the comic book version of Synergy. She's got this superhero-dominatrix look happening, which doesn't really impress me. I much prefer that aspect of the cartoon version of Synergy. That said, it appears that Synergy's appearance was patterned after the girls' deceased mother. Which is sweet. But it also means that Mama Benton had H-U-G-E(!!) hair!
3. Meet Eric Raymond!: 5X5 Entertainment was not impressed with the Misfits' recent antics -- nor are they happy that the Holograms have gone viral at the expense of the Misfits. 5X5's top execs have saddled the Mifits with a manager and his name is Eric Raymond! Check out the cartoon sometime and you will quickly realize that Eric is no good! He looks like a white knight, but he really a rogue. And he seems to have it out for the Holograms. I can't wait to discover the origin of this particular grudge!
4. Rio's "Misfits" Article Gets Published: When we originally met Jerrica's love interest, Rio, he was immersing himself with the Misfits in preparation for a writing assignment on that band. He hated them and they (mostly Pizzazz) hated him. But he really likes their music. And he wrote about that. Which didn't impress Jerrica...
5. Rio's Writing What??: Speaking of bad timing (Was I??), Rio shows up just after Jerrica discovered his "Misfits" article. Did I mention that she wasn't impressed?? Not only does Rio have to figure out how to dig himself out of this hole, but he also needs to figure out how to get Jerrica to permit Rio to write a tell-all piece on Jem herself!
6 Techrat!!!: Lastly, we were treated to another familiar face from the 1980s "Jem and the Holograms" cartoon: Techrat! Techrat is this techno-wizard who loves using technology to cause trouble. He's also a bit of a social misfit. Eric Raymond's first managerial task with the Misfits is to hire Techrat to hack into the Holograms' computers and dig up their dirt! I'm not sure how easy that will be considering that the Holograms' have a living computer in charge of everything, but I'm pretty sure that Techrat might be the one to give Synergy a real challenge!
Once again, pick up JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS! It's a great comic book filled with all sorts of great characters! I've noticed that several of my Archie friends have begun reading this book, which is pretty neat!
"Viral! Part One" was written by Kelly Thompson, with art by Emma Vieceli, colors by M. Victoria Robado, and letters by Tom B. Long.