(Eric Raymond!?!)
JEM: THE ANNUAL 1987
Well, this is the first of two Jem annuals sold in the UK. Personally, I find the stories either ridiculous or hilariously funny...but they have a purpose beyond that. They, like the episodes, are one of Hasbro's many ways of promoting their new line of fashions and dolls. As you're about to see....
JEM AND THE HOLOGRAMS
As can probably be imagined, Jem and
the Holograms appear in the annual with their original outfits
on. (Hasbro ain't stupid!). It's interesting to note that
Kimber, Aja and Shana have their correct colour and style
instruments (Unlike on the cartoon) which proves in my mind that
the illustrations were done from dolls or pictures of dolls
which were closer to the issue design than the pictures given to
animators. Most likely, since Jem in the UK was a year behind
America, they were drawn from the actual issue doll.
The outfits are pretty clearly correct...Aja is missing her
belt, but that's it. Jem's belt is also missing it's logo
(Ignore what's in the picture, that was from a kid with a felt
pen :P) but Shana;s shoes and jem's mic colour are correct.
Jerrica is also shown fairly liberally in her correct outfit,
down to belt and beret :)
ON STAGE FASHIONS
Unlike the later '88 annual, the '87 annual is
riddled with fashions. Hardly surprising, since '87 was Jem's
first year in the UK. However, it's not necessarily true to say
that the same fashions appear on dolls that they do in the
series.
Also, it's easy to spot a few little variations which match up
with the advertising pictures better than they do the actual
sold fashion. Award Night (picture from annual to the left)
is one such fashion. It's missing it's boa, but
otherwise looks identical to the picture from the advertising
leaflet that came in doll packages. (These leaflets appear to be
universal, regardless of country) which is shown to the right.
If you look carefully you can see the belt is purple with a
silver J on it (I'm sorry, the picture itself on the leaflet is
minute :/) This is also carried over onto the cover of one of
the Superstar books..and the design is used throughout the 1987
annual.
Award Night is not the only On Stage fashion that's worn in the
annual, however. Encore, Permanent Wave, Dancin' The Night Away,
Twilight in Paris and Only The Beginning all make guest
appearances too :)
The picture to the left shows Jem in
Encore and Aja in Dancin' the Night Away. Encore is missing it's
tights, and has the wrong shoes, but is still clearly
recognisable.
Dancin' The Night Away has the correct colour
dress, sash and shoes, though it misses it's tights also.
Aja seems to have adopted Dancin' The Night Away as her own, since she wears it at several points through the annual. Here's another example of it, to the right. Also, though, you can clearly see that in the picture Kimber is wearing Only The Beginning, and Shana is wearing Twilight in Paris (Okay, that one is less clear, but trust me...she is :) Sadly you can't see the colour of Kimber's belt or shoes, since on the advertising leaflet Only The Beginning is shown with a black belt and dark pink shoes, with the rest of the fashion being as it was sold. Again Aja seems to have misplaced her tights :/
Jem has also been raiding her sister's 
wardrobe in the annual, too. But then, I think this can be
explained. Jem;s frequent appearance in Permanent Wave, with a
splodged not striped jacket probably comes from the fact that on
the advertising material it;s Jem that's shown wearing it
(see pic). Note however that the graphic of Jem from the annual
is missing the belt.
Oddly enough, there does not seem to be any image of Command
Performance or Music is Magic in the Annual. At least, if there
is...I haven't found them yet :)
FLIPSIDE FASHIONS
I
think it's fairly safe to say that the annual illustrators did
not understand the concept of Flipside Fashion :P I've only
found 2 shown in the annual...
and
neither of them are shown as Jem/Jerrica switch outfits...ah
well.
The two fashions are: Getting Down To Business (both versions
worn by Jerrica) and Music In The Air (Worn by Jem
an...um...Shana :P) I can't help feeling too that Jem's
portrayal of Music in the Air is a leetle bit mix and match
between the Jem and the Jerrica forms. 
<shrugs> Does suit her, mind you...I think she's wearing
the Jerrica version of the fashion only without the
overshirt...which as you can see, Shana has :/ Perhaps the
Holograms share too much!
The tights shown with Getting Down To Business are white lacy
tights, which is not correct to the actual fashion. However, it
is correct to the advertising photograph...:)
THE MISFITS
Well, there they are...the stars of the piece. I'm not quite
sure what the illustrators thought the Misfits should look
like...to me this picture makes Stormer look more evil than
Pizzazz, and Roxy looks kinda like she's pressing her face up
against a window, pulling faces. but never mind...in terms of
fashions and accessories, the girls are pretty accurate. Though
you can't see it so clearly, Pizzazz's guitar is correctly
portrayed throughout the annual, and Stormer has her odd shaped
guitar as opposed to the synth she had in the series. It does
seem however to be reversed, because the actual guitar is
left-handed :P. Roxy's guitar is same as it should be. The
fashions are also very accurate...though Stormer's flower is the
wrong colour (see the Germany 1986 page
for a clue to this) and they even have gold Misfit bracelets!
It's perhaps important to note that no disparity in character
exists in the annual for the Misfits - they're all 2 dimensional
villains, even Stormer. Shame, that...
SMASHIN' FASHIONS (THE MISFITS)
Blink and you miss them. This is the only picture I can find
anywhere in the book where the Misfits wear Smashin' Fashions
and not their original garb. Nice really how they've all
switched around fashions from the show :-D. Let The Music Play
and Just Misbehavin' seem, from what's visible, to be pretty
accurately drawn. Outta My Way has gone oddly white...but I
believe this is not just an illustrative blip..check out the Germany 1986 page
to see what I mean!!
Makin' Mischief does not make an appearance, and nor does
Winnin' Is Everything.
RIO (AND FASHIONS FOR RIO)
Well, I know technically Rio's fashions are for the first year
Smashin' Fashions, but let's face facts here. Firstly, there is
nothing Smashin' about Rio or his outfits. And secondly, the
card for the fashions does state that it's a line of fashions
for the Misfits, further backed up by the fact that in Second
Year only Misfit fashions came under the header of Smashin'
Fashions. So, with that little explanation out of the way, on to
Rio's portrayal in the book...:)
Oddly enough, you never see Rio in the wear he was sold
with...(though he wears it liberally through the '88 annual).
Instead you see him in Truly Outrageous and On The Road With Jem
(though the jacket is missing the logo)
Oddly Rio is always shown as having brown hair...^_^