Jem and The Holograms, Issue 1 (IDW)

Showtime, Part One

General Information

Issue #

1

Published

March 25th, 2015

Chronology
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Showtime, Part Two

Jem and The Holograms #1, subtitled Showtime, Part One, is the debut issue of the Jem and The Holograms main comic series, and is the first part of the six part story-arc Showtime.

It was originally published physically and digitally by IDW Publishing on March 25th, 2015, and was later included in the Jem and The Holograms Vol 1: Showtime trade paperback published on October 27th, 2015, followed by being digitally available on November 11th, 2015.

It also serves as the debut issue for the The Holograms.

Official Synopsis[]

"SHOWTIME, SYNERGY! Meet JERRICA BENTON—a girl with a secret. She and her sister KIMBER team with two friends to become… JEM AND The Holograms! But what does it mean to be JEM today? Fashion, art, action, and style collide in the most outrageous comic of 2015!"

—IDW Publishing

Plot Summary[]

Jerrica and The Holograms are performing, recording a music video to enter the Misfits VS! competition. Jerrica gets stage fright and runs off stage. Kimber follows her, and explains that this recording is their final chance - they can't afford to try again.

Kimber goes back inside, but ends up in an argument about the band with Aja about Jerrica's lack of confidence, which Jerrica overhears and leaves.

At the home studio, Jerrica picks up her guitar, and sings Breathe. Thunder and lightning cracks, startling her, and when it fades, an extremely tall, pink and purple humanoid is hovering in front of her. She introduces herself as Synergy, and explains that Jerrica's father, Emmett Benton, created her - she is a holographic computer, built to be an 'audiovisual entertainment synthesizer'. She explains that Emmett left a gift for Jerrica in his safe, that he was not able to give to her before he died. Inside her dad's safe is a box, containing a note and a pair of red, star-shaped earrings. Jerrica realizes that they are holographic projectors connected Synergy, which can create holograms anywhere she goes.

Kimber, Aja and Shana arrive soon after, having driven home to find Jerrica. They are startled and confused at finding a giant, glowing person in their home studio, and Jerrica explains who Synergy is, and what she - and her earrings - can do. They don't believe her.

Synergy tells Aja to enter a six digit code into their jukebox, which opens to reveal a glowing, white staircase. At the bottom of the staircase, is the enormous computer which controls Synergy. Synergy demonstrates her abilities, by creating a lifelike hologram of Jerrica, indistinguishable from the real thing. Kimber, excited - asks Synergy to make a copy of her, too - but instead, Synergy uses her holograms to temporarily turn Aja and Shana into holographic copies of Kimber.

Jerrica realizes the potential of Synergy and her earrings, and realizes it's the answer to her performance anxiety problems. With this technology, she can be anything she wants to be.

In the final page, we see Jerrica has transformed herself into into Jem.

Characters[]

The Holograms	Jerrica Benton, Kimber Benton, Aja Leith, Shana Elmsford, Synergy
Side Characters	Emmett Benton (mentioned)

Song List[]

Performers	Song
Jerrica Benton	Breathe

Notable Locations[]

The Benton House

Official Preview[]

Cover Variants[]

Covers A - E were available in a box set with B - E being exclusive.

Bonus Material[]

Easter Eggs[]

		The outfits worn by The Holograms are redesigns of their very first outfits in the very first 1985 cartoon episode The Beginning.
		The guitar Jerrica plays strongly resembles the guitar played by Samantha Newark, who was the speaking voice of Jem in the cartoon.
		Aja and Kimber mention Marvel superhero Iron Man (also known as billionaire inventor Tony Stark) when talking about their father Emmett.
		On the wall in the home studio is a poster for Starlight Music, the music company The Holograms owned and ran in the cartoon.

Navigation[]

IDW Continuity Navigation
Issues & Volumes • Creative Team
Issues
Main Series	01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07 • 08 • 09 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 • 17 • 18 • 19 • 20 • 22 • 23 • 24 • 25 • 26
Specials	Valentine Special • Holiday Special • Annual (2015) • Annual (2017) • IDW 20/20
Spin-offs	Jem: The Misfits: 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 Jem: Dimensions: 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 Jem: Infinite: 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06
Characters
Holograms	Jem, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Raya, Synergy, Holograms Songs
The Misfits	Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Jetta, Blaze, Misfits Songs
Stingers	Riot, Minx, Rapture, Stingers Songs
Other Characters	Clash, Elise Harcourt, Eric Raymond, Madmartigan, Rio, Silica, Techrat, Minor Characters