Why yes, I do keep reviewing these the day before they come out. That's because the awesome Kelly Thompson keeps sending them to me! We won't stop until everyone is buying Jem and Kelly can take over the world!!!!!

As always, I start with the exciting boilerplate: Kelly writes this, Sophie Campbell draws it, María Victoria Robado colors it, and Shawn Lee letters it. IDW publishes it, and they will charge you $3.99 for the privilege of reading it.

Identity is a fairly common theme in comics - and in all fiction - and it's not surprising that in a comic about a group of people who perform, it would drive the narrative a little, but it is interesting how many permutations Thompson is going through, as she attempts to bring in a vast spectrum of different kinds of people and how they deal with the world.

In comics, this kind of identity politics makes even more sense, especially if you have a good artist, which Campbell is. Thompson doesn't force it, either, which is nice, as that would weaken the overall narrative. But it's still fascinating how she's doing it. On the first page, the Holograms talk about how their name makes no sense anymore, as they are not actual holograms while Jem, you know, is, and we get a bit of an appetizer about the entire issue - everyone is either wearing a mask or taking one off, and the fact that the Holograms make a joke about it eases us into the issue and also shows again that Thompson can write very good characters. The first page has the easy, casual dialogue we'd expect from a group of friends, but it also has quantitative subtext about the issue, beginning with Kimber's absence.

The Kimber/Stormer romance is the central focus of this issue, as their flirting gets more intense and Kimber decides that Stormer is worth much more effort. Thompson sets up a good conflict between them, as both of them are committed to their bands but also very attracted to each other. Stormer has tied her own identity to the Misfits, as she knows that she's important to them and derives some measure of self-worth from that and isn't sure if she can get that from Kimber.

Thompson implies that Stormer has some self-esteem issues and a need for approval, even as she is defying the Misfits and taking a chance with Kimber. She can't make the first step, though, and it's up to Kimber to do so. We're heading toward a showdown for both young ladies, and while it seems obvious that the Holograms might be more forgiving of Kimber than the Misfits will be of Stormer, it's not set in stone. The idea of romance interfering with a career is evident on both sides, and while the Misfits and Pizzazz would seem to be the kinds of people who would be much more insensitive to Stormer, Kimber is also putting the career of the Holograms in jeopardy - or at least at a lower priority than her own love life - and that might cause friction. The romance between Kimber and Stormer is well done, because both women are confident in their sexuality - Thompson doesn't fall into that cliché, thankfully - but they're unsure about other things. Neither can afford to get too swept up in what they're doing, and Stormer seems to acknowledge that far more than Kimber does.

The other budding romance is going a bit more slowly, but it also involves someone subsuming their identity. In Jerrica's case, it's all about completely hiding what she's doing from Rio, not because she doesn't trust him (although there is that, naturally) but because it's implied that what she is doing with Jem might be somehow "against the rules."

There's nothing that says it is (unless I'm forgetting it), but she still wants to keep her secret, one that Rio comes perilously close to discovering in this issue. Jerrica's complicated relationship with her own identity has driven the entire series, of course, and this issue simply adds more problems to it. Rio is obviously interested in Jerrica, not Jem (I mean, he might be in the future, but this is the first time he's "met" Jem, and Jerrica is more awkward than usual when he does), so what is Jerrica to do? The idea of changing to please someone or fooling someone you like veers toward sitcom territory, but so far the lack of Jem in the series has made it not a problem at all. Thompson is writing a flirtation between Jerrica and Rio without putting Jem in the middle of it, and it's been very nicely done. It remains to be seen if that will continue to happen.

Finally, Thompson makes some interesting points about the way the "outside" world interacts with "creative" types, although it's played a bit as comic relief. Clash has a way to get into the benefit for the Starlight Foundation, as she asks Blaze to put her on the catering staff. When the two meet up, it's a clever scene where Blaze tells Clash that she can't look the way she does if she wants to wait tables, because she looks like, well, a rock star (even though she's, what, a groupie?). Clash and Blaze both have multi-colored hair, but Blaze, as she puts it, has it in a "gorgeous elegant chignon," while Clash's just hangs loose, jagged and obnoxious.

Subsuming your own identity in order to work in the "buttoned-up" world is a fairly common phenomenon - there are plenty of stories about people getting tattoos where they can't be seen when they wear their work clothes - and it's interesting that Thompson adds it here, in an issue so concerned with identity. Like the opening page, it's not the most important part of the book, but it does back up the main themes of the story quite nicely.

I noted above that one reason this kind of story works so well in comics is because of the art, and Campbell, of course, is excellent on this comic (and everything else, too, but we're talking about Jem here). She can add weight to each story contained herein, and she does it superbly. When Stormer "breaks up" with Kimber, we can see how conflicted she is as she does it, and Thompson even throws a joke in that lightens the mood, and Campbell does a great job shifting from sadness to awkward laughter and back to sadness when Stormer officially "ends" it. When Kimber follows her, Thompson wisely doesn't use any words, letting Campbell do all the heavy lifting, and while a scene of someone chasing another out of a room and into the street to declare their true feelings is one of the ultimate romantic fiction clichés, Campbell is so good that the page itself is beautiful. When Rio shows up at the rehearsal and talks to Jerrica, Campbell does another great job, with Jerrica looking shocked that he's there and then nervously pushing her hair behind her ear. Jem's brief conversation with Rio is terrific, too, as Campbell shows that she's still not comfortable, even in a "different" skin.

Campbell never lets the tone get too moody, though, as she and Robado continue to make the book wonderfully vibrant. The hair styles on the Misfits when they're ready to perform are almost worth the price of admission, and she gets to draw Pizzazz in wonderful bitch mode, too. When Stormer arrives late for their performance, Campbell does an excellent job showing all their emotions, as the pressure is obviously getting to Pizzazz and her crew (and it causes Pizzazz to quote Hawkman, too, apparently). Campbell allows Stormer to lose her shit just a little, too, which is nice to see. It's pretty cool, because usually the artists on comics are more subtle than writers, but in this issue, that's switched a bit, as Thompson is the one hinting around at the issues with identity while Campbell is having a ball with showing the characters wearing their emotions on their sleeves. Neither the writing nor the art would be as good without the other, which is what makes a good comic, right?

This is probably my favorite issue yet, and it's cool to see that the book is building up connections and relationships and themes that work well, even beyond the overall plot of the Holograms threatening the Misfits' fame and someone trying to kill Jem. This is a comic about more than just the perils of fame, and it's quite cool to see all of these basic human elements playing out in such a beautiful fashion.

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆