Comic book review for Jem and the Holograms: Dimensions #4 by Sina Grace, Hannah Templer, Shawn Lee, Kevin Panetta, Abby Boeh, and Heather Danforth
Average rating: 3/5 stars
Jem and the Holograms: Dimensions #4
Tasty by Sina Grace (writer)
Art: Hannah Templer (artist) and Shawn Lee (letterer)
Templer’s art was fabulous here. She really understood the Jem world, and how each character has their own fashions and personality expressed through it. Fashion is always important to me in comic book art. But in Jem, it’s actually a feature of the world.
Everything from Pizzazz’s lime green skull shawl to the final photoshoot angles and covers were well done.
I liked this use of the 15 minutes of fame trope. Here Pizzazz goes a bit nuts to get into Tasty, a trendsetting music magazine, and she bypasses all her normal precautions and setup from not signing a contract to forgetting the rest of the band.
Though I do wonder if Stormer ever gets tired of having to be the peacemaker. I did like how both Jetta and Roxy stayed mad at Pizzazz a bit longer for everything.
Jemojis by Kevin Panetta (writer)
Art: Abby Boeh (artist), Heather Danforth (colorist), and Shawn Lee (letterer)
This short seemed to be trying to make a joke about emojis and customized ones over trying to make a Jem comic about these characters. I get that celebrities have launched their own apps, games, etc. But this just didn’t seem to have enough spark. I also found it hard to believe that someone could easily hack Jem’s computers, given their advanced holographic AI. (And where was Techrat?)
I did appreciate how Boeh thought about what the Misfits would wear to practice compared to what they’d wear on stage. Of course, they’d have workout clothing and simple hair when practicing new material.
The audience’s reaction to their Jem emojis all turning into Misfit emojis reminded me of when Apple made everyone have that U2 album. No one ever wants to be forced to have something, and on a smart phone, it seems like an intrusion and vulnerability no one wants to remember is possible.