Jem and the Holograms have found themselves in a strange situation in another reality, and don’t even know the worst of it yet. Check out how this issue of startling reveals holds itself up! (There are only very minor spoilers in this review, though.)
Written by Kelly ThompsonCover by Stacey Lee
Illustrated by Jen Hickman
Coloured by Sarah Stern
Lettered by Shawn Lee and Sarah SternThe FIRST EVER Jem/Misfits Crossover Event continues here in “INFINITE PART THREE!” Jem and The Holograms are transported to another world where they (and unlikely allies The Misfits!) must save the world from JEMCORP, a corrupt corporation that now controls all Hologram Technology!
There are a lot of parts for writer Kelly Thompson to juggle in this crossover, with a big cast of two bands plus side characters, a whole new setting incorporating more sci-fi elements than the series has ever had before, and changes to the status quo. The information dump of the recap page and the character list at the beginning of the issue are definitely necessary for anyone who hasn’t read all of “Jem and the Holograms” and “The Misfits.”
Jem has had science fiction elements from the start, but this is taken to a whole new level in the ‘Infinite’ crossover as Jem and the Holograms and the Misfits travel to an alternate, almost dystopian reality where only the people who can afford extremely expensive hologram technology can live securely surrounded by giant walls and everyone else has to survive in the outside world. The story explores what could go wrong with the hologram technology used by Jem if it would be taken into the hands of a giant corporation with some dramatic twists.
However, the tone of the writing doesn’t get overly dark and stays mostly in the vein of “Jem and the Holograms,” at least until the final pages. The alternate reality is coloured just as cotton candy pink, blue and purple as the bands’ home world, too.
There are some very interesting setups in play here with characters meeting alternate versions of people familiar to them. Thompson’s dialogue sometimes has a habit of sounding so unnatural it becomes annoying, but in this issue it works well.
Artist Jen Hickman crafts imaginative visions of a world where hologram technology controlled by JemCorp fills the streets and skies. The setting is a delight to look at even when it’s not very detailed and I wish more of the issue had been set outdoors so that there would have been more of it visible. One-coloured blank backgrounds are wisely used only for emotional moments where the characters and their expressions are the most important thing, and there are a whole lot of those emotional moments in this story. Hickman also uses character’s body language skillfully and brings out the character’s personalities with it.
Colourist Sarah Stern has a huge effect on maintaining the style of the now-finished “Jem and the Holograms” series in this miniseries and does a great job with it. There are a lot of bright colours and unusual shapes that make the alternate reality look beautiful, meanwhile the pages depicting the headquarters of the shady JemCorp boss are coloured with more muted colours. At another point of the story Stern uses cooler shades to give a house the feeling of being empty of life and warmth. She also does a good job with the song lyric lettering of the issue, which is always tightly woven into the artwork in Jem comics and has become a trademark of the series.
There is still much unexplained about this reality and an ominous voice talking with JemCorp’s owner adds to the mystery. The world outside the walls will apparently be explored on the Misfits side of the crossover. The Misfits didn’t appear in this issue at all, the story seems to have split up between them and the Holograms. This gives an opportunity for all the characters to have something to do instead of making some of them just stand around, which is always a danger when handling a big cast. It also gives the chance to explore both sides of this alternate world with the Misfits trying to find their counterparts in the outside world and the Holograms taking freeing the city from the evil JemCorp as their mission. On the other hand, it kind of takes away some of the meaning of having a crossover if they don’t interact.
Since there are so many new and different things introduced in the ‘Infinite’ crossover, the first issues felt very rushed, but now the pace settles down to way slower, so the big reveals of this issue feel much more impactful than the ones in the previous parts. The group hug that happens halfway through the issue in a big, textless panel definitely is the most important moment of the comic and the layout and art really make you feel it.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – “Jem and the Holograms: Infinite” #2 offers emotional moments instead of action and has some beautiful colours.
