Meet Jerrica Benton, the gifted singer of The Holograms, a band that has the right look and the right sound…but one thing is holding them back—Jerrica’s crippling stage fright. Luckily, Jerrica is about to find help in the most unlikely of places when she discovers a forgotten present left by her father. And what she finds is truly outrageous!

Courtesy of IDW Publishing, the 80s toy/cartoon icons ‘Jem and the Holograms’ are getting their first American comic book series.  That’s right, this cult favorite has never had their own comic books!  That’s Outrageous!  (And not in a good way.)  But that’s being corrected in March 2015, thanks to IDW who already produce popular comics based on other Hasbro toy properties like ‘My Little Pony’, ‘G.I. Joe’ and ‘Transformers.’

Of course, 2015 will also see the release of the ‘Jem’ live-action movie.  Looks like this could be the Year of Jem!

Though there were some Jem comics made in the 80s, they were not released in the US and never as an ongoing series.  The new series will be scripted by Kelly Thompson (‘The Girl Who Would Be King’) and illustrated by Ross Campbell (‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’).

The new character designs are a far cry from the tamer 80s looks, but believe it or not, back then THOSE looks were considered controversial and even shocking!

But in case you were worried that the new book would stray too far from the original, Thompson assures, “As a kid I was a huge fan of the original ’80s ‘Jem and the Holograms’ cartoon and so the chance to breathe new life into it for a savvy modern audience, not to mention to work with Ross, an artist practically destined to draw this book, is really a dream come true.”

John Barber, IDW’s Senior Editor admits that plans have been in place for three years for a Jem comic book, but they weren’t able to find the right formula.  Apparently, Thompson and Campbell were just the right mixture!

‘Jem & The Holograms’ as they appeared in their 1980s cartoon by Sunbow.

IDW must have a lot of faith in this series, as they aren’t just releasing one version of each issue.  They’re not even releasing a regular and a variant version.  No, the first issue will have five different covers!  ‘My Little Pony’ artist Amy Mebberson will provide four covers– one for each Hologram– plus one by Campbell which is the image at the top of the page.  All five books will be available together in a “deluxe rainbow foil and holographic collectible box {set}.”  Sounds like Jem meets another 80s icon, Lisa Frank!

And you can’t just focus on Jem and her good girls!  Get outta the way, The Misfits are here!  For issue #2, there will be four covers.  Mebberson will also supply one cover apiece  for Pizzazz, Roxy and Stormer, with Campbell illustrating all three on the regular cover.  (No word on if issue #2 will be collected in a box set.)

Sharing the Pony love, another MLP artist, Sara Richard will also contribute variant covers for upcoming issues.

So come March get set for your LCS to get a little more Outrageous (in the good way)!  Are you ready for Showtime (Synergy)?