One Jem of a revival

Let me tell you exactly how many people are more excited than I am about the current Jem revival we're all enjoying at the moment. It's no people.

It's true that *right now*, Jem is experiencing fame and fortune the likes of which we haven't witnessed since, er... 1985. To be honest, life is beginning to imitate art. Current events are a bit like the Glitter and Gold episode, where Jem went on hiatus for an eternity, only for the pop charts to turn to complete shit, only for her to suddenly return and triumphantly reclaim her crown as the rightful ruler of everything which glitters and all that is golden.

A whopping 26 years after her original debut, Jem could very well be on her way back to superstardom and, wait for it... toy shop shelves the world over. Rumours of a Jem comeback have been circulating for years, but the rumour mill really cranked into overdrive this summer when two amazing things happened.

The first was that the US cable network The Hub announced it would start showing the Jem cartoon show all over again. It's no surprise that Jem would find a new home on The Hub, since the channel is a joint venture between Discovery Communications and yes, you guessed it... Hasbro. What's really interesting is how this means they've been able to throw bucketfulls of cash at promoting the show, resulting in this quite frankly astounding billboard being erected in downtown Los Angeles over the summer and Jem and The Holograms (as they're calling it) becoming one of their most highly watched shows.

The second amazing thing that happened is that Shout Factory announced it would be releasing the entire series of Jem on DVD in October. (It gets a release in about 12 days, in actual fact). This marks the first time EVER that all 65 episodes have been released for us to purchase (after Rhino thoroughly botched their releases a few years back, meaning only two thirds of the show's run found its way to DVD). This is a huge deal and fans are positively wetting themselves in anticipation of the "lost" Stingers episodes finally being made available to own at last.

On top of this, the annual Jem convention is going from strength to strength. The 2011 "Jemcon" even had the nerve to take flight from the USA to the Netherlands. That didn't stop it being visited by show creator Christy Marx and being a huge success. I haven't yet been able to attend one of these events but I'd surely love to, especially with the promise of meeting any number of the names who contributed to making the show really great. All in all, interest in the Jem franchise really hasn't been so high for at least two decades. It is properly brilliant, so it is.

The icing on the cake came only very recently when, allegedly, Hasbro announced its presence at this year's New York Comic Con and would be showcasing its latest projects including, yep... Jem and The Holograms. This caused doll collectors all over the States to rush to their nearby ER with suspected coronaries, whilst speculating en route to hospital whether this meant a brand new doll line was/is in the works. Even I, who has had literally ZERO interest in the dolls over the years got all excitable at the prospect. Especially if it means there'll be a new Jem show to promote it.

Christy Marx said recently that she knows exactly how she would remake Jem should she ever be approached to do so. Her method would satisfy existing fans of the show (and boy, does this woman know her show's fan base) whilst opening up the Truly Outrageous world of Jem to a legion of new fans. However, she's swift to add that she's yet to be approached about a potential project in the works and that any current rumours amount to nothing more than that.

Even if you have just a passing interest in the Jem franchise. Keep your fingers crossed for a HUGE announcement at NY Comic Con, which kicks off in New York City on October 13th.