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There were a bunch of Jem story books released, aswell as activity books, sticker
albums, note books. Some of the US books were translated in French, while the UK
created their own storybooks and coloring/activity books.
The books deserve their own piece of recognition as part of the Jem universe.
Or rather, their stories can almost be considered an alternate Jem universe, because
although the books are mostly based on the stories from the cartoon and
the drawings from the doll boxes, the characters act and look a little different.
They create their own paralell style of Jem.
And this even differs between the different books.
It's interesting to see all the different versions of Jem, different hairstyles, colors,
personalities, fashions, by the different artists and writers (most of which we don't even
know the names).
Personally I think most of the books make the characters look a bit old fashioned. But after
seeing all the Jem episodes so many times, it's entertaining to also read all these stories.
Just like with most Jem things, there are collectors of it. So how rare are the different
kinds of books? As for the US books: storybooks, sticker albums, coloring books, there are no
rarities at all, though some are slightly harder to find. Most of the UK books are very easy
to find and cheap nowadays, with a big exception of the activity books. Some books from
Italy and everything from Sweden is very rare.
Story books
All the US Jem books that are illustrated, were illustrated by Tom Tierney, who also
illustrated the books for Barbie and the Rockers.
Hardcover, 1986 by Golden:
The back of the books advertises the other books in the series, and also the paperback titles.
These stories were also released in France by Whitman, with French titles.
- Battle of the Bands
Written by Deborah Kovacs. Illustrated by Tom Tierney. French title
was "Le concours de rock".
Story:
The same as in the first five episodes of the Jem cartoon (or rather
"The Beginning" and "The Battle Of The Bands").
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Rio, Eric, Synergy, the Starlight
Girls, Howard, Zipper, and the Limp Lizards.
Funny notes:
Although the story is the same as in the first five episodes of the Jem cartoon,
there are several noticable differences.
The Jemstar earrings are shaped as regular stars.
The hairstyles on Jem and the Holograms are different, especially Jem who has
pink and blonde hair, and Shana who has a round afro.
Synergy appears in the mirror in Jerrica's bedroom.
Aja and Shana are called "Jerrica's roommates".
The Holograms and the Misfits' instruments are the doll versions.
Kimber has the keytar the doll came with which was never seen in the cartoon,
and she even has it before they find the instruments at the Starlight Drive-in, but Aja
gets hers at the Drive-in.
Kimber refers to Starlight Music as "half ours".
Kimber calls Eric Raymond "dad's partner" while in the
cartoon Emmett called him "assistant".
The Misfits come driving into Eric's office, not on the guitar-shaped motorcycles, but
on regular motorcycles.
At the Starlight Drive-in, Synergy appears as a large face only,
and nobody needs to walk through a wall, Synergy starts removing the holographic walls
instead.
Kimber says the line that was Jerrica's in the cartoon "Father made you?".
Jem comes up with everything about the band right at the Starlight
Drive-in, she decides that Kimber will write the lyrics, Rio can be
their manager but he must not know Jem is really Jerrica, and Jerrica herself
will be the leader of the band which will be called "the Holograms".
The Limp Lizards are actually dressed out as lizards.
Instead of by accident, Zipper burns down Starlight House
intentionally and smiles looking back at it.
Some of the fashions have other designs, colors and patterns.
Zipper has three friends that don't resemble the ones in the cartoon.
Instead of arriving themselves to the Starlight Drive-in
before the contest, the Holograms are thrown into the
back of a van and taken to a dark warehouse. Instead
of Lions there is a tiger and then a train. Instead of
getting help by Rio and and the police, Jem and the
Holograms escape themselves.
Rio wears the outfit the doll wore, but has brown hair.
Shana plays guitar instead of drums, like the doll.
- Night of a Thousand Earrings
Written by Rusty Hallock. Illustrated by Tom Tierney.
French title was "La nuit aux mille étoiles".
Story:
The Top Rock Music Awards is coming up, and the envious Misfits plan to get even on Jem
and the Holograms when they accept their award. When Jem takes off her earrings for the
hairstylist, the Misfits take their chance to steal them and throw them out to a crowd of
fans, all wearing copies of Jem's earrings.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz,
Roxy, Stormer, Synergy, Rio, Donovan, Katie MacDonald, and David Michael Springer.
Funny notes:
The story is a bit similar to the cartoon episode "Adventure In China", with the hunt for the Jem star
earrings.
Jerrica is rehearsing with the Holograms by using a conductor stick.
Jem and the Holograms are competing in the Top Rock Music Awards.
Kimber takes skydiving lessons, and takes a limo to it.
There is a fan club for Kimber.
The Holograms each have different colored version of the fashion Command Performance.
Jem's hair and makeup is being taken care of by a hairdresser,
contrary to the cartoon episode Starbright part 1, where they are not allowed to touch her hair because
of her holographic disguise.
Jem's earrings are being stolen, but Jem doesn't change back to Jerrica.
Instead the big deal is that Jerrica can't sing like Jem without the earrings.
There's a rock singer named David Michael Springer
who has purple hair, Aja is crazy about him and he kisses Aja on the cheek.
Jem and the Holograms get an award for "creating the most exciting new look
and sound in rock and roll this year".
- Spoils of Success
Written by Larry Weinberg. Illustrated by Tom Tierney.
French title was "Le gala des Misfits".
Story:
Eric Raymond offers Jem and the Holograms an opportunity to help the earthquake victims in
Zania, by arranging a charity concert, and they agree, unknowing of his plans to turn it into a
publicity event for the Misfits.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Rio, Eric Raymond, Starlight Girls
(Ashley, Ba Nee, Krissie, Deirdre, Lela, Terri, Anne, Delaree...), Zipper, the mayor, and the president.
Funny notes:
The story is somewhat similar to the episode "The World Hunger Shindig", which is also about charity
and Eric trying to steal the concert money by the help of Zipper. But here it is Pizzazz being locked
in a room right before the concert instead of Jem, Aja and Shana.
Although several Starlight girls look recognizable, some have the wrong skincolor, like
Krissie and Lela.
Eric is in jail but is out on parole.
Zipper is referred to as Eric's right hand.
There's a stadium called "Mammoth Stadium", a magazine called "Music Makers" and a newspaper called
"The Daily Blurb".
Stormer shows a sign of being a nice Misfit, when approving of an article that says their fans
suspect their arrogant behaviour is just part of their image. Although Pizzazz doesn't agree, she
later shows a good side aswell, by refusing to let Eric steal the concert money for himself, and
demands it to go to the earthquake victims.
Eric locks Pizzazz in, to be able to steal money from the concert. Seems a bit out of character of
Eric to do that to Pizzazz.
Apparently most of Pizzazz' old pals don't have phones. Is this to suggest they are poor perhaps?
Jem and the Holograms has a new charity song with the lines "This world is one world, babe,
And we all know it. Could even be a fun world, babe, So let's not blow it! Up or down, Come aroun' -
What's it gonna be? It's up to you and me, babe!!!". Apparently they had several new songs for this
concert.
Samples:
Paperback, 1986 by Golden:
These stories were also released in France by Whitman, with French titles.
- Dance Club Magic
French title was "Mystére á la Voie Lactée".
Written by:
Jennie Abbott.
Story:
Jem and the Holograms are rehearsing for the opening of the new dance club, Spangle,
where a costume contest will be held for the guests. The Misfits plan to sabotage the show.
Characters:
Jem, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Rio.
Funny notes:
Stormer, the usually "nice" Misfit, comes up with one of the ideas of how to sabotage
for Jem and the Holograms.
One of Jem and the Holograms' favorite songs is "She's Got The Power".
Samples:
- Secret Star
French title was "Le secret de Jerrica".
Written by:
T.P. Turner.
Story:
Howard Sands wants to direct Jem and the Holograms in a movie about how a
music video is made. And he wants Jerrica to be his assistant director. Ashley feels
neglected and sneaks along to sabotage on the set.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Ashley, and Howard.
Funny notes:
Ashley's yellow clothes miss the triangles they have in the cartoon.
Aja and Shana are wearing different colored fashions based on the fashions
released in the doll line as "Permanent Wave".
Jem and the Holograms have a song called "Magic" with one line
being "...a secret kind of magic...".
Samples:
- Surprise at Starlight Mansion
Written by:
Sara Hughes.
Story:
The Holograms and Rio are all too busy to spend time with Jerrica, and
through the Misfits, Jerrica finds out that he is having a party on saturday. Jerrica
happens to catch Rio with an unknown woman.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Rio, Shari West.
Funny notes:
Apparently the "Dream Team", "Hugg", "Pax" and "the Flosz", are some of the rock stars
signed at Starlight Music.
There are some bands called "Smash" and "Zarp".
Starlight Mansion has a different kind of stairs in front of the entrance, compared to the cartoon.
Samples:
- Video Mischief
French title was "Tournage en Afrique".
Written by:
Mary Packard.
Story:
Howard Sands has arranged for Jem and the Holograms to film their new animal themed
music video in Kenya with real animals. The Misfits decide to go to Kenya too, in
disguise, to mess up their trip.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Rio, Howard, and reporter Holly Pierce.
Funny notes:
There's a reporter called Holly Pierce instead of Lindsey Pierce, but she
looks nothing like Lindsey.
Jem and the Holograms have an album called "Animal Attraction" and they shot several
videos in Kenya, Africa.
Jem and the Holograms won the Gold Record Award for their last album.
The Misfits have an album called "Riot in the Streets". And this was before the character Riot had
appeared in the cartoon.
Howard Sands has a private game preserve in Kenya where he raises orphan animals like
lions and monkeys.
Jem and the Holograms have a song titled "Goin' Ape Over You" and another titled
"Can't Take Those Lyin' Eyes" (as in Lion eyes).
Samples:
Find Your Fate, 1986 by Balantine Books:
The idea of these books is that the reader decides between two options what Jem and the
others should do, by turning to a specific page to continue the story.
The only artwork in these books is the one featured on the covers, only text inside.
The first two of these books contain something as unusual, for Jem books, as dedications.
The last three were apparently never released but are listed at amazon.com.
- Jewels In The Dark #1
Written by Rusty Hallock, with the dedication "For
Eric Affabee my college roommate, mentor, protégé, and
friend."
Story:
Description on the back says "YOU are JEM,
the super-glamorous rock star! You're in New York
City for a whirlwind of parties and concerts to
promote a new line of costume jewelry based on the
priceless Langley jewels. But while you're modeling
the real Langley jewels at a big photo shoot, the
room suddenly gets black. When the light comes back on,
the jewels are gone! Your rivals the Misfits, and the
ruthless Eric Raymond - who'll do anything to hurt
your reputation blame the crime on you! Now you and
the Holograms must find the real thieves! The future
of the greatest rock band of all time is at stake,
JEM. Your enemies are very clever, so make the right
moves as you FIND YOUR FATE".
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric, Richard Gilley (New York's top fashion photographer),
Amanda (assistant), Gabriella Langley, Charles Langley, Margaret Draper, Gordon Walsh, Mrs. Hotchkiss, Dr. Mason,
Lt. Henderson, David Michael Springer, Bruno, Lance Pistol, Joe Frankel, Harry Knox, and Mr. Paxton.
Funny notes:
Jem and the Holograms write a new song called "It's Not Fair", and the single goes platinum
in two days and the music video wins five awards.
Nachos is Jerrica's favorite snack, and eating pizza in a bubble bath helps her think.
Stormer is a vegetarian and says she doesn't believe in killing animals.
The Misfits have a new song called "Hit Me With A Cheap Shot".
- The Video Caper #2
Written by Jean Waricha, with the dedication "To my
mother, Helen, and to the memory of my father, John."
Story:
Description on the back says "YOU are JEM, the
fabulous and famous rock star. In London to shoot a
new video, you're thrilled with your sensational
wardrobe - and with the guest appearance in your video
of a pretty young English princess. You and Princess
Sarah become friends. She is excited about riding
with you in the Rocking Roadster to the English
countryside for the weekend. But when you stop to
change a flat tire, the princess is kidnapped! You're
sure the Misfits are behind this caper but everyone
will think it's your fault. In your quest to find the
princess - and save your career - you must make the
right choices as you FIND YOUR FATE."
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric, Danielle, Zipper,
Princess Sarah Anne Paiget-Smith, and Candy Lane.
Funny notes:
Danielle has a home in London, England.
Aja says that she wish she knew more about cars, while in the cartoon she certainly does.
Kimber took an auto mechanics class in high school.
Eric has a plane marked Eric Raymond Enterprises.
Pizzazz hates snakes.
- The Secret Of Rainbow Island #3
Written by Judith Bauer Stamper
Story:
Description on the back says "YOU are JEM,
everyone's favorite rock star. An unscrupulous
developer wants to turn beautiful Rainbow Island into
a tourist trap and your friend Samantha, whose father
owned the island, needs five million dollars to save
it. You and the Holograms are eager to help - and
everyone has ideas. Should you throw a big benefit
concert called Rainbow Aid? Should you write a song
about the island and give the money it earns to Sam?
Or should you rush down to Rainbow Island and try to
thwart the developer's plans yourself? The future of a
little piece of paradise is in your hands, JEM, so do
your best as you FIND YOUR FATE."
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric, Howard Sands, Zipper, Starlight Girls
(Ashley, Ba Nee, Joellen), Samantha Walker, Brad Turner, and Edwin LaRue.
Funny notes:
One of Jerrica's favorite songs is "Like A Dream".
Jerrica and Kimber's father took them to Rainbow
Island every year when they were kids.
Jerrica is mentioned to have violet eyes.
Synergy projects a hologram of a ghost ship, which is the one
seen on the cover art.
Aja wants to design costumes for a show, and Shana takes charge of the
choreography. In the cartoon, Shana is the designer, and Danse takes care
of the choreography.
Kimber has written a new song that is
a fast-tempo upbeat number titled "Rainbow Runner" and
gets nominated for Best Video of the Year, the
first line is "I'm always chasing rainbows", and
the rest of the lyrics goes "I want the rainbows to
shine, and the seabirds to soar, and my song to sing
over, the blue ocean's roar, I'm a rainbow runner a
rainbow runner, Rainbow's Island is my heart's true
home, I'm a rainbow runner a rainbow runner, its
beauty is with me wherever I roam".
Jem and the Holograms have a song called "Just You And
Me, Under The Sea" (yeah this was long before Disney's "The Little Mermaid" of course).
By the help of holograms, Jem makes the stage an underwater wonderland with tropical fish
swimming around them and beautiful sea plants swaying
back and forth to the beat of the music, which makes
you wonder what Rio and the other people behind the
scenes would think about the special effects.
Jerrica neatly tucks her pink hair
under a fashionable red beret and changes her concert
clothes to a sleek black dress, so apparently sometimes
Jem does litterary change into Jerrica like the doll.
Rio has a friend called Brad Turner with blonde hair
and green eyes, who is the best video producer in the
business and offers to make a video of Kimber's song.
Aja thinks he is quite a hunk and Jem agrees.
Aja says that maybe she can spray her hair all the
colors of the rainbow. So maybe that means they actually spray
their hair to get those colors, while in the cartoon they seem to be their natural
colors.
Ba Nee is called "Bonnie" and Joellen "Joelle".
Stormer heaves a big rock at Rio's head and he drops face down in the sand. Not
the Stormer we are used to in the cartoon.
The Misfits' music is refered to as Rock/Pop/Punk. The Misfits have a new
song called "Road Rocker".
- Double Trouble #4
Written by Rusty Hallock
- Haunted Video #5
Written by Judith Bauer Stamper
- Dynamite Date #6
Written by Jean Waricha
Mini World, 1986 by World (UK):
Small storybooks, sold with a cassette where the story is read by different actors. Eric still owns half of
Starlight Music in these stories.
The instruments of the Holograms and the Misfits look like the doll versions, except for in
Keyboard Crisis where Kimber has a pink keyboard on a stand similar to the cartoon.
- A Cat Called Lucky
Story:
Eric plans to "borrow" the tapes of Jem and the Holograms' new single, to record the song
with the Misfits and released it first, so that the media will think of Jem and the Holograms as
copycats when they release theirs. But Jem and the Holograms stumble upon a cat which turns the luck
around for them.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric, and Rio.
Funny notes:
The Misfits are described as lousy music-wise.
This story is a bit like the cartoon episode "In Search Of The Stolen Album".
Jerrica is wearing the hat from the doll outfit, and blue and white striped dress.
There's a TV-show called "the Jerry Carson Show".
Eric can't stand cats, he's terrified of them.
The roadster is included in this book.
- Hide and Sneak
Story:
The Misfits offer Jerrica to join the Misfits, hoping to keep her from spending time
supporting Jem and the Holograms. When the Misfits get a hold of the Jemstar earrings,
Jerrica decides to accept the offer.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric, and Rio.
Funny notes:
Jerrica is offered to join the Misfits as part of the group.
She accepts, and they give her a Misfits make-over.
There's a presentation ceremony for rock and pop awards.
Jerrica calls the Misfits the worst band of the year.
The Misfits finally recognize that Jerrica is wearing the same earrings as Jem. Which they never seem
to realize in the cartoon.
Jerrica can't play any musical instrument, and according to Pizzazz,
neither can any of the Misfits.
Rio suggests that Kimber takes over the vocals when Jem is gone, but
Jem makes fun of Kimber's vocal ability.
King Kong is mentioned.
- Keyboard Crisis
Story:
Kimber hasn't been herself recently, the others
find her playing guitar and singing some unknown songs
in the early hours of the morning, booking a
recordning studio for herself, and sneaking away for a
meeting with another record company. Rio sprained his
ankle and won't be able to set up for the evening
concert, and Eric pays the replacing road manager to
make sure that the concert doesn't happen.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Synergy, Rio, Chris Andrews, Eric Raymond, Alan, and Pete.
Funny notes:
The audio speaker playset Rock Backstager is seen in this book used as an actual audio speaker.
The head of the Starlight recording studios is someone called Alan, and Aja likes him.
Tarzan is mentioned.
Kimber plays on Shana's guitar.
We get to see Starlight House.
- Super Scoop Snoop
Story:
Pizzazz makes Eric give her cousin, who is a
reporter, a job in the Starlight offices to pretend to
be a secretary while she is really trying to find out
who Jem really is.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, and Patti Paine.
Funny notes:
While not mentioned in the cartoon,
Pizzazz has a cousin called Patti Paine who works as a
reporter.
Pizzazz is called a blonde.
The roadster is included in this book.
Little Owl Superstars, 1986 by World (UK):
Hardback books that are larger than the Mini World books.
World also released books for My Little Pony, Ghostbusters, Enid Blyton, Wuzzles,
and Fireman Sam.
A funny note, in these books Shana has a bow in her hair, like the doll does.
- Jem and the Brat
Story:
Description inside says "Donna Maddon is a
bad mannered brat. Somehow, she wins a kids' talent
contest and gets to meet Jem and The Holograms".
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Eric Raymond, and Donna Maddon.
Funny notes:
One at the time Jerrica wears both versions of
her regular outfit, pink/blue striped and white/blue striped.
The Holograms and the Misfits' instruments are the doll versions.
- Soap Opera Rockers
Story:
Description inside says "Millionaires....mansions....fast cars....family feuds. Jem
joins the jet-set dream world when she is asked to take part in a top rating TV soap opera.".
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, E T Earwig, B B Badd.
Funny notes:
Jem says she can't act. While in the cartoon, she does in the cartoon
episodes "Starbright" trilogy aswell as "Hollywood Jem" two parter.
- The Disco-kids
Story:
Description inside says "Eric Raymond wants
to turn some kids out of the building used for a youth
club disco. How can Jerrica Benton and Jem stop him?"
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Eric Raymond, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Peter Payne,
Eric Raymond's secretary, Tim Markham,
Funny notes:
We get to see Rio's van. The Holograms and the Misfits' instruments are the doll versions.
- The Stolen Jewels
Story:
Description inside says: "A dream cruise turns into a nightmare when the world famous
Van Diore diamonds are stolen and Jem is the chief suspect!".
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Captain, Gloria Van Diore, Henrich Voltmann,
and Walter Kramner.
Funny notes:
Jerrica and Rio are wearing the cartoon version
of their original outfits, and at the same time Jerrica has the longer hair which
she, in the cartoon, never had in combination with that outfit.
Jem calls Pizzazz a "clown", which I guess might be a expression used in the UK instead of
"silly".
Jem is wearing the fashion "Permanent Wave" which is Kimber's outfit in the cartoon.
Instead of "Show's over Synergy", Jerrica says "Holograms off".
Annuals, by World (UK):
Books released annually, but only in 1987 and 1988, and a built up like a magazine, with
more fun features than just stories. Some of the stories inside atleast the first annual,
were also released on cassettes. The second of
these books is especially interesting since it features second year characters like Raya,
which means it was one of the books that were last released of all Jem books.
Some of the stories in these, were released in magazine shape in Germany.
- Annual 1987
64 pages. With character descriptions of Jerrica,
Jem, the Holograms, Eric Raymond, and the
Misfits. The stories "Stage Management", "Marbo The
Rock Movie", "Two-Timing", "Rockin' Roadsters". The
comic book style stories "In the Beginning" and
"Desperately Seeking Synergy".
Also pages that aren't directly about Jem, the
Horoscopes page "Starry-Eyed!", "Jem's Exercise
Routine", "Here's Looking at you" about your looks,
"Jewellery Gems" shows how you can make your own
jewellery cheap.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Rio, Eric, Synergy, Howard, and the Limp Lizards.
Funny notes:
Rio has brown hair, Mrs. Bailey has red hair, Eric's
secretary has purple hair, Eric has a bit of white
hair on the sides, and Howard has a moustache.
In one story Jem is completely out of character and
acts very mean, without explanation.
The Misfits have a dark, sleek cadillac called "Dark
Demon", with a ornate design on the bonnet on the
motor, making it resemble an unpleasant grinning face.
- Annual 1988
64 pages. Contains mostly stories and character
descriptions. Starting with the page "The Beat Goes On"
there are character descriptions of Jerrica and Synergy,
Jem, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Raya, Danse, Video, and Rio.
Then there's "A Message From Mr. Raymond..."
introducing the Misfits including Clash.
The stories "Night Of The Dolphins", "Queen For a Day",
"Prince Rat", "Playing with Fire", "Gold Gets Going".
The comicbook style stories "Higher And Higher!",
"Two Kinds Of Courage". And a page about how Jerrica
keeps her hair and face in shape "She's A Natural".
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Raya,
Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Clash, Rio, Eric, Synergy,
Danse, Video, the Starlight Girls, and Zipper.
Funny notes:
Appears to be the only book that includes
Raya, strangely it doesn't mention Jetta aswell.
It says that as a dancer, Shana is great.
Danse is introduced as a member of the group, and
Clash as one of the Misfits.
Clash has purple hair, like she did after the change in the cartoon.
In some of the stories Eric has a bit of white in his
hair on the sides.
When asked about his swimming, Zipper answers
that his daddy was an electric eel and mommy was a
great white.
Zipper has noticably longer and red hair, instead of blonde
or dark brown as in the cartoon.
The song "Only The Beginning" is called "In The Beginning".
There's a brunette Starlight Girl named Jacqueline Houghton
called "Jack", a blonde called Dizzy, a Mary, Janet,
Clare, and a Sue.
After being asked by a Starlight
Girl, Rio replies that he never really thought about
that Jem and Jerrica look alike, contrary to the
episode "Broadway Magic" of the cartoon which takes
place before this story, and was released on video in the UK where these books were made.
It's mentioned that not long after
Jerrica's father's funeral, Rio swore that he would
love Jerrica forever, although that was never seen in
the cartoon.
The Holograms, including Raya, still live in Starlight House. Raya never
even saw that house in the cartoon.
Starlight House is accidentaly set on fire by Zipper in the middle of the night after
Eric asked him to steal some backing tapes, but the house is saved.
Stormer gives the Holograms the new nickname "Horrorgrams".
The song "It Depends On The Mood I'm In" gets a slightly
different title "Depends On The Mood I'm In".
Jerrica and Jem and the Holograms get another nickname by
Pizzazz, "Miss High and Mighty Jam and her precious little Marshmallowgrams".
Coloring / Activity books
Coloring pages, and other activites such as mazes, dot to dot, paper dolls,
spot the difference, word games. Some of them even contain simple stories.
Some features like these appear in the comics and other books aswell.
Coloring / Activitybooks, by Golden:
- A Colouring Book
- A Colour/Activity Book
- A Big Coloring Book
60 pages with mostly stories to color.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Krissie, Ashley, Ba Nee,
Joellen, Delaree, Deidree, and Marianne.
Funny notes:
Shares some pages with both the "Deluxe Color/Activity Book".
Misfits' House, Rockin' Roadster, Starlight Express and Misfits van is featured.
Shana plays guitar instead of drums.
Rio drives the Rockin' Roadster, which never happened in the cartoon.
- A Big Color/Activity Book
60 pages. Contains coloring pages, paper dolls, dot ot dot, mazes and other games.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric Raymond,
Funny notes:
The Rockin' Roadster, and Stormer's guitar-shaped motorcycle is featured.
Shana is playing guitar instead of drums.
The Holograms are very clearly featured with their main interests, Kimber = writing songs,
Aja, Working out, Shana designing clothes.
- A Deluxe Color/Acivity Book (Blue Cover)
140 pages. Contains stories, paper dolls, and other games.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer,
Lela, Terri, Krissie, Becky, Delaree, Ba Nee, Ashley, Deidre, Joellen, and Marianne.
Funny notes:
Shana plays guitar instead of drums.
There are some song lyrics of a new Jem and the Holograms song "I live life in the fast lane,
and gaze through windowpanes, there's little time in a day, ...we may, we'll stroll down
dream street, and start kickin' the upbeat, I love the glitter and lights, but sometimes it's
a lonely night, I can see you in the rain, ... train, we'll stroll down dream street, and
start kickin' the upbeat".
Starlight House, Starlight Drive-in, Misfits' House, Rockin' Roadster, Starlight Express,
and the Misfits van are featured.
The Misfits sneak into Starlight House.
Roxy can touch a hologram of Jem, which is not over Jerrica's body.
Stormer finds Synergy at Starlight Drive-in.
- A Deluxe Color/Acivity Book (Rainbow Cover)
140 pages with stories to color, a calendar, paper dolls, dot to dot, mazes and more games.
Candadian version and
back. [Canadian pictures by britathart]
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric Raymond, Terri,
Joellen, Ba Nee, Mrs. Bailey, and Danielle.
Funny notes:
Shares several pages with "A Big Color/Activity Book".
The Holograms are very clearly featured with their main interests, Kimber = writing songs,
Aja, Working out, Shana designing clothes.
The Starlight Drive-in, School, Rockin' Roadster (mentioned as Jerrica's car), and
Stormer's guitar-shaped motorcycle is featured.
Terri has a friend called "Amy Nelson".
Has a story similar to the episode "In Stitches".
The new line of Jem and the Holograms fashions by Danielle and Shana takes the world by storm.
- A Giant Coloring Book
112 pages with stories to color. The art seems to have been drawn by someone else than
all the rest of the coloring and activity books.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric Raymond,
Ba Nee, Delaree, Anne, Terri, and Joellen.
Funny notes:
Shana plays a guitar instead of drums.
Rio has booked a gig for Jem and the Holograms.
The Misfits van, the Rockin' Roadster and Rio's van are featured.
Eric is surfing at the beach.
When Pizzazz steals Rio away on the dancefloor, Jerrica projects a hologram of an old man's
face over Rio's face.
Rio calls himself good looking.
Roxy reads a magazine called "Bizarre".
Jerrica projects seaweed all over Pizzazz when she gets out of a pool.
Synergy projects a hologram of Jem over Pizzazz's body.
Synergy has some kind of effect that is able to blow air, and not out of the computer but
out of her hologram shape.
- A Jumbo Colour/Activity Book
- Paper Doll, 1986
Pre-cut paperdolls and 19 fashions: Jerrica's original outfit, Rock Country Jerrica, Jem's original outfit,
Only The Beginning Jem,
Music In The Air (Jerrica's half) for Jerrica, City Lights (Jem's half) for Aja, Music Is Magic
for Shana, Twiligt In Paris for shana, Award Night for Jem, Command Performance for Kimber,
Encore for Aja, Shana's original outfit, Kimber's original outfit, Aja's original outfit,
Dancin' The Night Away for Kimber, Rio's doll outfit, Truly Outrageous for Rio,
On The Road With Jem (with white pants though) for Rio, Hawaiian shirt for Rio. And three
sets of earrings for yourself, including the Jemstar earrings.
Back. Also released in France.
Samples:
- Paint with Water, 1986
22 easy tear-out pages. Seems like you're just supposed to wet the pages with a
paintbrush to make the "nontoxic colors appear like magic".
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, and Danielle.
Funny notes:
Pizzazz and Roxy wear big hoop earrings.
Very good at portraying the characters after their personalities: Rio dreams about both Jerrica and
Jem, Kimber writes the songs, Aja likes exercise, Shana designs the fashions with Danielle.
Color & Activity books, 1986 by Budget Books Pty. Ltd. (Australia):
Color / Activity books, by World (UK):
The story takes place while the Jem and the Holograms still live in
Starlight House, Eric still owns half of Starlight Music and has the Misfits signed.
- Puzzle And Dot To Dot Book, 1986
48 pages to be colored and include mazes, dot to dot, spot the difference, word games,
puzzles and other games.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric Raymond.
Funny notes:
Rockin' Roadster and Starlight Music are featured.
- Colouring and Activity book, 1986
48 pages to be colored and include mazes, dot to dot, spot the difference, word games and other games.
In stead of the World logo, this book says Cliveden Press, and inside "Exclusive to Marylebone books".
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric Raymond.
Funny notes:
Contains the real full name of Aja Leith, correctly spelt, and even the full name of Emmett Benton.
The Misfits are called dreaful and said to look like demons.
It says Kimber loves to play different instruments from time to time.
- Mini Activity Storybook: Double Trouble, 1986 by World International Publishing Ltd.
48 pages with a story, pages to be colored and games.
Story:
Pizzazz is tired of the fact that the press only wants to
talk to Jem, and at a hamburgerbar Pizzazz finds a girl who reminds her of Jem, and has
her disguise herself as Jem so that the press will have to speak to Pizzazz to get to speak to
Jem, and the Misfits will get free publicity.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric, Sharon Small.
Funny notes:
It's mentioned that Jerrica has an office in the Starlight House.
- Mini Activity Storybook: Making Mischief, 1986 by World International Publishing Ltd.
57 pages, 31 of the story, 7 to be colored and 9 of games.
Story:
Pizzazz tries to break up Jerrica and Rio by having it look like
Pizzazz and Rio is a couple on TV and in newspapers.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Joey Bronx.
Funny notes:
Stormer says that she
likes Rio and calls him cute, when talking to the other Misfits.
While never brought up in the cartoon, it's mentioned that Rio lives in an
apartment and has a porter (so not in the Starlight Mansion).
- Mini Colouring Book, 1986 by World International Publishing Ltd.
48 colorable pages featuring Jem and the Holograms, the Misfits, Rio and Eric.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric.
Books: Äventyr och Pyssel, 1987 by Richters (Sweden):
Printed in Finland. The same as the ones released in the UK, but translated to Swedish and
released by a Swedish company.
- Räkna med bråk
Same book as the UK book Mini Activity Storybook: Double Trouble.
The title translates to "Count on trouble". 48 pages with a story, pages to be colored and
games.
Funny notes:
Starlight House gets Swedish names "Starlight-huset"
and "Starlight-hemmet" (which translates to the "Starlight home").
It's mentioned that Jerrica has an office in the Starlight House.
A Swedish version of the phrase "Truly Outrageous" is used,
"Jem är helt fantastisk" ("Jem is completely fantastic"), different
from the one in the cartoon.
- Rivalerna
The title translates to "Rivals", same as the UK Mini Activity Storybook: Making Mischief.
Funny notes:
Contrary to the Swedish dubbing of the cartoon,
Jerrica actually says a Swedish version of "Showtime Synergy", "Showdags Synergy" and
instead of "Show's Over Synergy" she says "Showen är över Synergy".
Rio's last name is spelt "Pachecho".
- Målarbok för färgkritor
The title translates to "colorbook for crayons". Same as the UK Mini Colouring book.
- Coloring book
One of the US coloring books with a blue background was also available in Sweden, perhaps with
Swedish text by Richters like the activity books, probably "A Giant Coloring Book",
or "A Deluxe Color/Acivity Book".
Other (Italy):
- Paper doll
Jem with a dress, Italian drawing.
- Coloring book
Cartoon TV-stars, including three pages of Jem.
- School Diary
Stickers
There were three real Jem sticker albums released, and also other kind of stickers.
Stickers, 1986 by Diamond:
- Sticker Collector's Albums
32 pages to place 225 stickers.
The book contains art from the doll line boxes, re-drawn art from the cartoon, and lots of
unique artworks. You can actually see what most of the images will look like by looking through
the red plastic "magic decoder". The stickers feature the Starbright three parter episodes
(last retakes versions).
In case. Case back. [Pictures by gljacobsct]
- 7 Full Color Stickers
Back, Box.
Stickers, 1987 by Introduct (Holland):
- Stickers
- Stickers
The stickers were square sheets, that were made by a
dutch company so they were probably only sold in
Holland. The pictures are those airbrushed ones from
the first edition doll boxes.
The text at the bottom reads:
1987 Hasbro , Inc. All rights res. Francis Schenk
promotions 1987 introduct ®/ ijsselstein (utr.) holland.
The little stickersheet is nummered 832, the
labelsheet 831.
[Information and pictures by Maaike]
Stickers, by Panini:
- Sticker album, 1987 (France, Italy)
Made by an Italian company, and available also in Canada, Switzerland and Belgium
(if anyone can confirm these countries, let me know). 32 pages to place 243 numbered stickers,
plus 12 lettered golden chrome stickers with re-drawn art from the doll line boxes that are to be
attached to the poster included. Stickers with silver
background feature scenes from music videos: 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 94,
95, 96, 97, 146, 147, 148, 149, 198, 199, 200, 201 and
202 (except for number 44 which shows a scene with
Pizzazz and Nick kissing, and number 40 which is from
a commercial bumper). Some stickers are to be attached
as two or four: 3-4-5-6, 24-25, 33-34-35-36, 49-50, 53-54,
66-67, 69-70, 85-86-87-88, 92-93, 98-99,
102-103-104-105, 118-119-120-121, 126-127, 128-129,
133-134-135-136, 138-139-140-141, 153-154, 162-163,
175-176, 182-183, 185-186-187-188, 189-190, 206-207,
208-209, 221-222-223-224, 225-226-227-228, 231-232 and
236-237. The stickers feature the first 8 episodes (last retakes
versions, which weren't even aired in
France and Italy). The album contains art from the doll line boxes and re-drawn art from the cartoon,
and even from later episodes like "The World Hunger Shindig" and "Island Of Deception".
Page 26 (italy)
[Picture by Luciano Canova and Marco Valli].
Page 27 (italy)
[Picture by Luciano Canova and Marco Valli].
Stickers:
1-15,
16-30,
31-45,
46-60,
61-75,
76-90,
91-105,
106-120,
121-135,
136-150,
151-165,
166-180,
181-195,
196-210,
211-225,
226-240,
241-243 and golden chrome stickers.
- Billy (Italy)
A juice available in apple, orange or grapefruit flavours. Which multipack, composed by
3 little bricks, contained one pack of Panini stickers. The back of the Panini Album shows this
promotion. Further, in the stickers album there was a special coupon you could send to
"Billy" to get missing stickers for free, to complete your collection. You had to attach some of
the points you find on Billy's bricks.
[Information by Enzo Gervasio]
Other:
- Sticker Fun, 1986 by Golden
16 pages with stories, to fill in with 4 pages of stickers that you have to lick on.
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Eric Raymond, Ashley, and Terri.
Funny notes:
Starlight House and the Rockin' Roadster is featured.
Synergy first appears in a mirror.
The Rockin' Roadster is mentioned to be a gift from Synergy.
Samples:
- Sticker Fun, by Golden
10 pages with stories, to fill in with 3 pages of stickers that you have to lick on. This
books was never released, but showed up on ebay.
Back.
[Pictures by Jem's Space]
Characters:
Jem/Jerrica, Kimber, Aja, Shana, Rio, Synergy, Pizzazz, Roxy, Stormer, Clash, Eric Raymond, Video.
Funny notes:
Pizzazz gets to hostess an award presentaion, and she gets to present the award for Jem and the
Holograms.
Clash actually uses her distortion modulator. But Jerrica puts on some
special micro-chips to her earrings to deflect Clash's signals.
Samples:
- Album de Figuritas, by Cromy (Argentina) [Information and picture by Nathalie Levert]
Room for over 160 stickers.
The stickers feature the Starbright three parter episodes (last retakes versions).
Pages, pages.
- Poster (Italy)
Blue with Jem singing, and golden stickers of all characters from the first season, to stick
on the poster.
[Information by Enzo Gervasio]
- Stickers (Italy)
10 subjects, gift from Snack Cheese.
[Information by Enzo Gervasio]
- Stickers (Finland) [Information by Sanni Sirén]
- Stickers, 1986 by Artena (Italy)
Self-adhesive labels.
- Stickers 1987 by Invernizzi (Italy)
You were supposed to collect 5 of these in Italy and take the little star sticker (which is missing in this picture, but says "1 prova")
and put on the backside
to receive a free briefcase (Jem briefcase I assume). Assuming you got these when purchasing something,
like the dolls. The ending date for this offer was 28/02/1989. Back.
Other books
Books (Italy):
- Portfolio (Italy)
Seven images, Italian drawings.
[Information by Enzo Gervasio]
- Album (Venezuela)
The poster of the album is the artwork of the
first Jem/Jerrica doll box, with the description of
the prizes of the album.
[Information by Alicia López]
- Notebook (Italy), 1986 by Artena
- Notebook (Italy), 1986 by Artena
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