Jem and the Holograms Volume 2: Viral

Jem and the Holograms

by Kelly Thompson, Emma Vieceli (Illustrations), Corin Howell (Illustrations)

Jerrica and her sisters face their biggest threat yet—success! Meanwhile, the Misfits aren't taking these upstarts lying down... as they find themselves under new management. Plus, go behind the scenes and see THE HOLOGRAMS and THE MISFITS from a whole new perspective... that of music columnist Rio Pacheco!

Written by Kelly Thompson with art by Emma Vieceli, Corin Howell and Amy Mebberson with colors by M. Victoria Robado.

Collects issues #7-10, the Outrageous Annual 2015, and the 2015 Holiday Special.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult, Graphic Novels Comics, LGBT, Music, Fiction

152 pages, Paperback

First published May 3, 2016

About the author

KELLY THOMPSON has a degree in Sequential Art from The Savannah College of Art & Design. Her love of comics and superheroes have compelled her since she first discovered them as a teenager. Currently living in Portland, Oregon with her boyfriend and the two brilliant cats that run their lives, you can find Kelly all over the Internet where she is generally well liked, except where she's detested.

Kelly has published two novels - THE GIRL WHO WOULD BE KING (2012) and STORYKILLER (2014) and the graphic novel HEART IN A BOX from Dark Horse Comics (2015). She's currently writing ROGUE & GAMBIT, HAWKEYE, and PHASMA for Marvel Comics and GHOSTBUSTERS for IDW. Other major credits include: A-Force, Captain Marvel & The Carol Corps, Jem and The Holograms, Misfits, Power Rangers Pink, and the creator-owned mini-series Mega Princess.

Kelly's ambitions are eclipsed only by her desire to exist entirely in pajamas. Fortunately pajamas and writers go hand in hand (most of the time). Please buy all her stuff so that she can buy (and wear) more pajamas.

Reviews

[Jo (The Book Geek) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Jem and the Holograms. It gives me a rather pleasant trip down memory lane, because as a child, I used to adore the films. I'm sure I watched them until the video tape was well and truly knackered.

This was the second installment in a series that I found quite by surprise, and although I enjoyed this one, I didn't enjoy this as much as the first.

I appreciate how this series is based around strong and feisty women, who are not size zero's, and appear to have other obsessions and interests apart from the male species. How refreshing!

I think the artwork is absolutely wonderful, and the illustrator has obviously gone into much detail. This is a grand series, and I'm looking forward to more of Jem and the Holograms in the near future!

[Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kimber is my bae.

[Sesana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as single issues. I love this series. It's just so bright and fun! It's still everything I could have hoped for in a new Jem comic.

Re-read 9/21/2016

[Maddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everyone in this series. EVERYONE.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series continues to be a chipper, brighter alternative to current, mainstream publications. What it lacks in depth and development, it makes up for in positivity and inclusiveness.

Just like in the 80's, I'm finding myself more drawn to the plight of the Misfits than the Holograms; however I find that the dynamic between the Holograms is more ripe with humour, especially with Kimber and Aja.

The biggest stumble in this volume was with the artwork in issue 10, which seemed completely off-model with every character.

Not quite truly outrageous... But pretty fun, nonetheless.

3/5

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first issue of this volume was a little random, but it was smooth sailing after that.

[Katja · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second collected edition is a bit of a mish-mash, the main story doesn't advance that much but it's still a lot fun (and builds up to things that look interesting), and the Christmas story was very cute! The annual material was okay in places but it was my least favourite part.
This comic series is GREAT in general though! ♥

And ohmigosh I love Kimber! (>3<)

[E. Ardell · Rating 4 out of 5]

****SPOILERS!!!****

I love this comic series so much. My inner child is singing, but only Misfits lyrics because Jem songs still kinda stink.

So many characters I remember from the cartoon are stepping into this new plot. We've got Eric now, and Techrat, and I love the new take on Eric. He didn't discover the Misfits, he was brought in to help rein them in. I love how they get to business with him basically saying, You know, you signed a terrible contract. This is what you get for signing before had a manager to read over things for you.

We find out Aja's blue-haired boyfriend is indeed Craig Phillips and Shana's bartender cutie is Anthony who is now a film school student instead of an older man who probably could have been Shana's father (in the cartoon).

I'm loving this modern take. And Jetta and Roxie are hilarious and I wonder about their relationship. Stormer will always be my favorite Misfit, though Jetta's looking pretty cool. And Pizzazz... Pi's not so bad. I've found her amusing, but in these books, she's human. She shows remorse and actually does things that shows, deep down, she does care about her group.

If you ever were a Jem fan, you need to read this series!

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this in the individual issues + Outrageous Annual + Holiday Special, and the only issue I didn't give 5 stars to was #10 Jem and the Holograms (2015-) #10.

The artwork in #10 didn't have the same feeling to it as the others. Even though the artists have varied in other issues you can still see the familiar aspects to each character and they still look like themselves. Like Aja and Rio's Asian features are gone, as one example. The writing doesn't have the same feel to it either and comes off a little trite in places? It might just be that the whole thing is from Rio's perspective causing the difference in tone, but the combined feeling of the issue is just *off*. That's the only reason this volume isn't 5 stars like the first for me. I only took off one star too since the other issues and the two specials were their usual awesome selves. (On it's own issue #10 gets 3 stars from me.)

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun read. I especially enjoyed the muppet babies and karate kid references. I love that there are fuller figure characters and gay characters. I love the colors and illustrations. There is one issue where the art is really bad but thank goodness the art goes back to normal in the following issue.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I didn't love it as much as Volume 1, mainly because of the boring, contrived dream sequences at the beginning, but it turned it around and managed to keep up the fun pop culture references and maintain the sweet, funny, heartwarming vibe of the first one.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goddamit, this series is so ridiculous and so good. Patchy art and a meaningless 'what-if' issue, but the rest hits ALL MY FEELS. Better storylines than the first volume, especially now that Thompson is moving away from simply adapting old episodes (okay, unless she still is, bc honestly past the first few eps I wouldn't know. I try to act like I'm cool, but I'm not that cool).

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK. . . . I really liked this. <3

The art can be a little overwhelming at times, so many things going on at once and so many colors being thrown out everywhere, but the characters are interesting and this is honestly less about Jem and more about the other characters.

[Becca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am devouring these and in love with them. Enough of the original to keep Jem fans happy bit then it's a new take with a host of new selling points like diverse/Plus size/LGBTQ characters who are ace. So much fun too. In love with it all.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first volume better but you bet your buns I’m going to read the third anyway! Not much happened in this volume but there’s some good stuff set up for next time.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was even better than volume one. I can't decide which characters is my favorite. They are so lovable and adorable and funny.

[Rachael Quinn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally! I finally got to read it. And, yes, I loved it, though maybe not quite as much as the first trade. It still manages to be a powerhouse of strong women, great body image, and style that I want to steal, shallow as that sounds.

I'll do my best to review without giving too much away.

Now that Jem and the Holograms have gained some fame, Jerrica is stuck with all of the management work while the rest of her band mates get to have lives. Jerrica pours over her e-mails for most of this book (At one point we learn that she has 600) and struggles to manage the band, lead the band, and maintain two identities. Whenever the Holograms are asked to help, they are too busy. They have romances, classes, internships to apply for. You just can't help but feel BAD for Jerrica.

Understandably, everyone is upset when Jerrica agrees to sign the band with the same label as The Misfits but they give in a sign contracts when Jerrica loses it over the lack of help. On the other side of things, The Misfits have been given a manager after some bad publicity and the manager has won over Pizzazz by promising to take down Jem and the Holograms. The only problem? The label has planned a tour with the Holograms opening for the Misfits.

There are a couple of cliffhangers in here that are vital to the story but would spoil it for you too. Suffice to say, I will be waiting impatiently for the next trade.

[Rachel Fellows · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this volume a month or so ago but just got around to reading it because I was a little disappointed to see that Sophie Campbell didn't draw it! I love her art style. But the writing is still on point and there is still a lot to love about the artwork in this book. Story-wise, I love the introduction of Eric Raymond and Techrat (especially Techrat) and I'm looking forward to seeing the character development of Pizzazz, which this book started to really touch upon. I'm also thrilled and amused to see how the writers and artists included the famous scene from the original cartoon of Rio kicking over a plant in frustration, but with an updated twist. Comic Rio is infinitely more likeable than cartoon Rio, that's for sure.

As for art style, I think I was most pleased with Rebekah Issacs' artwork in Aja's Mad Max inspired dream sequence (Angry Aja), Tula Lotay's artwork (which is similar to Campbell's style) and M. Victoria Robado's artwork. They're all pretty different, but if any of them continue to do pencils for this series, I'll be pretty happy about it.

I'm looking forward to volume 3 (and I might have to pick up Sophie Campbell's Dark Jem series, which I know little about.)

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I initially started reading Jem, the draw for me was nostalgia and the super appealing artwork of Sophie Campbell. This second TPB of the series is sorely missing Campbell's work. I was disappointed, not that I don't like the artists that have taken over, I just don't find the art as appealing as it was in Showtime. That being said, thank God Kelly Thompson is still at the writing helm on this series, because while in this volume I find the art lacking, the writing is top notch. A good story can carry a comic. I was pleasantly surprised in this issue with the subtle touches of humanizing the Misfits, especially Pizzazz, it's nice to see the antagonists get some more depth.

The story is getting much more meatier, the characters are really coming into their own, and I am hands down loving what is being done here with this title. I'd give this volume five stars, but I really wish Campbell was back doing the artwork. I came to Jem for the art, but am staying for the story. It's such a rare treat to see female relationships portrayed so honestly in a comic. I cannot wait for the next volume.

[MerryMeerkat · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 stars
Buy it

First there was some dreams of three of the girls. Jerrica’s was a bit predictable but otherwise good. Aja,s was fun and Shana’s was a spoof of starwars which was funny. Finally Kimber’s dream was a spoof of the 80s Muppet Babies tv show. It was sweet but a bit too much so. The rest of the volume continues with the Misfits out to get Jem and the holograms. They are working hard to get back at them. In story 3 or 4 Jem and the Holograms have a party and the misfits are undercover to take them down.

I just have to say, who let the artist draw on issue 5. It's so bad it makes me say WTF!!??!??!! At least the story was still decent.

So overall, this volume wasn't as good as the first. The first had a good arc but this one seemed weak so I had to lower my rating. Plus having guest artists was really bugging me, especially whomever drew story #5. That being said, it was still a bunch of fun so still worth buying and reading.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was weaker than the last, but, from what I've seen of the next arc, leads into some amazingly cool sci-fi stuff. It has a little bit of middle-book-syndrome where too many plot threads are going at once and none of them resolve. It's point B rest-stop on the way to point C. But, the moment when the hacker guy says that Synergy is broken and her eyes go black gave me shivers. I have the singles for the next arc and I'll probably read them right now.

[Maija · Rating 4 out of 5]

The whole suffered a bit from having so many different guest artists and "filler stories" from the Jem annual. While they were cute, they made the volume a bit all over the place. I'm still into the plot, which did progress a lot, the character interactions continue to be great, and I found some of the artists quite enjoyable. Very much looking forward to Sophie Campbell being back on the job in the next volume, though!

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh?
Like, I want to love this series but there is like zero plot. It's more Kimber moping over Stormer, Pizzaz and the Misfits moping over Jem, Jerrica and Rio moping over miscommunication...and then at the very final frame we have a bit of plot that Synergy has something wrong with her. But honestly this was just fluff and filler and we're two volumes in with just nothingness and I don't think that's ok. Like, I love the reimagining of the characters...just, do something with them?

[Nick Sweet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent outing from the Jem and the Holograms comic. I am seriously surprised this has yet to be optioned off as a TV Series, cartoon or live action. THIS is what the movie should have been based on. The characters are compelling, the storylines good. I cannot wait for the next volume, which I assume will cover the Dark Jem storyline.

[Ma'Belle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really saddened by how quickly this comic became repetitive and boring. The first volume was great, even without having grown up with the cartoon show. This one was pretty and I love seeing all the cute flirty scenes featuring such an array of diverse queer femmes, but the script-writing was really bad.

[Bodea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume was a little slow, but I still enjoyed it a lot. I appreciated the insight on the Misfits and how they work as a team despite all of the attitude and snark. Basically, I continue to weep at the perfection.

[Lady Entropy · Rating 3 out of 5]

While they lost the amazing Sophie in the art, I still quite liked this series. It tries very hard to be more than just "about music and glamour" and more about girls and people, and for that, I'll always keep reading it.

[rye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love all of the characters in Jem & the holograms especially Pizzazz, Kimber, and Stormer. The colours and outfits for each of the girls is beautiful I die everytime. It's just a very cute series in general

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Not quite as good as the first volume. I loved the Muppet Babies arc tho and so glad to have the Christmas story included. It was a favorite.

[Cat]

I am enjoying these Jem comics SO MUCH. I love the new look, and the story is decent. Can't wait for the 3rd volume about Dark Synergy!!!