If you've been keeping an eye on IDW's Twitter account, you've probably seen the teaser images released in advance of today's release of Kelly Thompson and Jenn St-Onge's Jem and the Misfits. The title is set to give the Holograms' eternal rivals a stage of their own, and each of the teaser images has revealed a single member of the cast, along with a full profile of each character.

But now, with the book hitting shelves and the Misfits ready to make some mischief and take their places as the Queens of Rock 'n' Roll, we're pleased to present the full image by St-Onge, along with some commentary on the series and its direction from Thompson.

 

Misfits #1, Art by Jenn St-Onge. Click for full size
Misfits #1, Art by Jenn St-Onge. Click for full size
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Obviously The Misfits is a spin off of Jem & The Holograms and the characters have been built up there, but in truth The Misfits is a very different book that is going to delve pretty deeply into each of the characters and explore some of their backstories and unearth some of their secrets. After two years as supporting and background characters we're finally going to be shining a very big light on them - just what they THINK they want - only for them to find that the spotlight can be a very harsh mistress.

Though we still try to be pretty accessible and appropriate for younger readers I would say that The Misfits is a more adult book, even if just in the complexities of the characters, but also in the kind of stories we're trying to tell. Jem & The Holograms is an almost idealized world, almost as if it benefits from the inherent goodness and kindness of those women. But The Misfits characters are a bit darker and the book is as well - dealing with some less savory and more real world problems. It's probably a better reflection of the real world - for good or ill!

One of the most exciting things for me is that we're finally - after all these years - getting to delve into how The Misfits originally got together. It's not the centerpiece of our story, but it's something we're having some fun with and because this arc will have multiple POVs we'll see that "origin story" from a few different angles, showing off how we all have our own take on events that actually happened.

 

Jem and the Misfits #1 is available from IDW today.

 

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