Jem and the Holograms

Jem and the Holograms #21, by Kelly Thompson and Meredith McClaren, finds the Holograms' drummer Shana living out her dream of working in fashion in Milan, but the reality is not turning out to be as dreamy as she'd hoped. It turns out her fashion internship seems to consist mostly of fetch food for unfriendly designers at all hours of the night, and of course she's also homesick for the three bandmates who are also her sisters. Check out our exclusive preview to see what's in store.

Jem and the Holograms, the popular comic based on the 1980s cartoon about rock stars, romance, and rivalry, has been closely associated with the art of Sophie Campbell since she and writer Kelly Thompson first launched the book. However, Campbell left the book a couple of issues back to pursue other projects, and this week sees the debut of the new ongoing Jem artist, Meredith McClaren, bringing her own distinctive style to the Holograms' world. ComicsAlliance chatted with McClaren about her history with the series, how her work differs from Campbell's, and the best possible pet for Jem.

Writer and artist Sophie Campbell became a fan-favorite through her work on creator-owned titles such as Wet Moon and Shadoweyes, and she's continued to grow her audience with amazing art for licensed properties at IDW, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and a concept-redefining run on Jem And The Holograms with writer Kelly Thompson. ComicsAlliance sat down with Campbell at Flame Con in Brooklyn last month to talk about body diversity, her design process, and queer talent outreach.

Ever since I first saw Pizzazz, Roxy, and Stormer enter this world by literally crashing through a wall on motorcycles shaped like guitars, I knew they were destined for bigger things. Sure, they're a little villainous, and they're definitely antagonistic, but there's no way that they were going to spend all of their times playing second fiddle to Little Miss Pink-Hair and the Singalongs, right? Now, the time in the spotlight has finally come for everyone's favorite mischief-makers: At San Diego Comic-Con, IDW announced an upcoming Misfits series, spinning out of the events of the ongoing Jem and the Holograms comic, written by Kelly Thompson with covers by M. Victoria Robado, and interiors by an artist to be announced later.

I love music, and I often find myself thinking about how it relates to comics; which characters would listen to which artists, and so forth. But what's the best way to get around the medium's limitations when it comes to stories about music and musicians? It's a question that's especially relevant to some of my favorite recent titles. The classic way to visualize music in comics is just to put the lyrics in a word balloon with some musical notes scattered around to convey singing. I’m going to be honest; I hate this approach, and in this day and age, I’m sure I’m not the only one. I find it impossible to read the lyrics as a song instead of a tuneless poem. There are better ways, as seen in books like Jem And The Holograms and Black Canary.

Ever since the Jem and the Holograms comic started early last year, creators Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell have been hearing one question from fans of the original 1980s animated series: "When are you going to include the Stingers?" The Stingers, for those who don't know, are the third most important rock band in the Jem saga (after the Holograms and the Misfits, of course), a glam rock trio who formed in Germany. It made sense not to throw them in too early; after all, they didn't appear on the cartoon until Season 3. But nevertheless they have a fan base, and those fans want to see what Thompson and Campbell do with them. And that brings us to Issue 16, the finale of the "Dark Jem" storyline and Sophie Campbell's last issue on the book.

Everyone loves trivia about their favorite animated features and series, but with over 100 years of animation history behind us right now, there’s always some new obscure fact to learn. That’s why ComicsAlliance is going deep into the minutiae of your favorite names in cartoons in this continuing video series. You think you know cartoons? Well, here’s a few things you might not know! This week we're taking a look cartoons' most truly outrageous stars of all time, Jem and the Holograms. After finding success with GI Joe and Transformers, Jem was an attempt by Hasbro to use an animated series to conquer the pink aisle at the toy store the same way they had the action figure aisle. In this video, learn about the history of Jem from its conception to its connection to superhero comics to its connection to GI Joe and Transformers, all the way to its successful and not-so-successful latter day adaptations.

Under the direction of writer Kelly Thompson, artist Sophie Campbell and colorist M. Victoria Robado, IDW's relaunch of Jem and the Holograms last year has proven to be a huge success, becoming a fan-favorite title that emphasizes the all-female central cast and creative team. It's a book by women, for women --- but for everybody else too! (Seriously, it's brilliant.) With Campbell's tenure on the series now drawn to a close, the new artist on the series is Meredith McClaren, who previously worked with Thompson on Heart in a Box at Dark Horse, and is also known for her work on Hinges at Image. McClaren takes over on Jem as of next month's issue #19, so ComicsAlliance caught up with her to talk about working with Kelly Thompson, bringing pop power to comics, and what we can all expect from her turn in the spotlight.

The new blockbuster Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film is in cinemas now, and surprisingly it patches the flaws from its predecessor and ramps up the ridiculousness in a way that makes it an enjoyable family superhero film for the summer. The Turtles have been mainstays of film, TV and video games for decades, but their origins go way back to the black and white independent comics boom of the '80s. If you’re a fan of Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles, odds are you’re already keeping up with IDW’s excellent ground-up re-imagining of the franchise, but if you want more in that vein, we’ve selected five of the best independent, creator-owned, or alternative licensed comics that live up to the spirit of Turtle Power!

I think the record will show that I'm a pretty big fan of Hasbro's cartoons from the '80s, and one of the things I love most about them is how great the soundtracks are. Not just the theme songs, but the incidental music that provides the background for Jem and the Holograms, or that smooth jazz version of the GI Joe theme that plays under the closing credits. Heck, even in the years before More Than Meets The Eye came along and made me stop hating the Transformers, I still had to admit that the music was pretty great. The only problem is that I can't listen to it whenever I want, but now, it looks like that problem might be coming to an end. Composer Robert J. Walsh has confirmed that he's remastering the soundtracks for the Hasbro shows, with plans for Sony to release high-end versions that will include new footage and artwork, too.