Our story begins back in the days of yore, when the Empire was striking back, E.T. was phoning home, and the epic battles of the 8-bit era were just beginning. Deep inside a hidden subterranean complex, a quixotic young Trode starts his day, unaware that he is about to become the clueless instigator of a cataclysm bound to forever alter the nature of music reality…
Four decades into the future, teenage rockstar wannabe Jonny McMann wins a very special guitar and meets his idol, Joe A.M., legendary guitarist of the 80’s rock band The Dreamz, and Joe’s famous guitar, Loretta.
Practice makes perfect, but what about transmogrification? We find out.
Jonny gets to work, the Lab Rats form a garage band, and Chaz bugs out in a huff when a bossy band tyrant is born!
Jonny’s guitar, Riff, desperately wants to learn Loretta’s flash move, but is it even a real thing?
A friendly detour to the home of Joe A.M, our resident rock legend.
Three months after his angry departure from the Lab Rats, Chaz is back at the garage, this time with a new look, two new personality-challenged bandmates Milo and Zonker, and a flyer for a big guitar solo contest. The question is, are Jonny and Riff ready to compete?
Jonny signs up for the guitar solo contest at the offices of Starstruck Jones Entertainment and gets a little starstruck himself with the cute receptionist Liz. Later, Jonny suffers a crisis of confidence, Riff blows a string when a strange happening sparks some adolescent rule-breaking, and then—Damn the Reality, full speed ahead!—super-excited about the contest, Riff is determined to learn Loretta’s flash move.
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ISSUE 2 EPISODE 1 Jonny, Chaz, and other teen guitarists compete for the title of Riverside’s Guitar Hero. Jonny feels like his weeks of practice have paid off and is confident he’ll win. But, alas, we don’t always get what we want, do we? Jonny bombs out BIG TIME and in a fit of anger blames Riff.
It’s a disaster of teenaged proportions, and Jonny’s Aunt Lucille ain’t making it better when Jonny learns that Liz Lizard won the contest—and Chaz took second place!! Riff reveals to Ernest (resident plastic guitar) that Milo purposely sabotaged Jonny at the guitar contest, but only Riff saw him do it.
The Lab Rats convince Jonny not to quit the band. Jonny locks Riff in his case in the bedroom.
Days later, Jonny sells Riff to Chaz.
Chaz, Milo, and Zonker vandalize Riff to punkify his look with neon green spray paint and STE stickers, and change his name to “Iftone”. They name their band IF.
Issue 3
The IF headline at Rosario’s Rocket Room. On his way to work at the Atomic Coffee Bar that night, Jonny stops in to tell Chaz that he wants his guitar back. Out of view, Riff hears this. Chaz refuses (mostly out of spite). Jonny leaves.
An IF ruckus erupts inside the club. Walking by on his way to an open mic at the Atomic, Joe A.M. chats briefly with Rosario’s burly bouncer Melvin.
Jonny is stunned when Joe shows up at the Atomic. Seeing his guitar idol with Loretta makes his mistake in selling Riff sting all the more. Joe is a hit with the small crowd. Jonny, taking out the trash in the alley, hears Riff blasting the Star Spangled Banner (Milo’s most hated tune) from Rosario’s.
Back at Rosario’s, Riff decides he’s had enough of the IF. He starts to play what HE wants to hear:Hendrix’s version of the Star Spangled Banner, because he knows it drives Milo nuts. Chaz can’t control him. Milo goes psychotic, the rowdy crowd objects to the song, and a full-on melee ensues. Rosario call the cops.
Jonny catches up to Joe as he is walking to his car. He tells him about selling Riff. Joe can only advise him to suck it up and move on. He remarks on the JAM initials on Jonny’s work polo, that they share the same initials. They see the police racing from Rosario’s, sirens blaring. Joe puts Loretta in the trunk of his car, not noticing that it didnt fully latch, says goodbye to Jonny and drives off.
Jonny steps over to Rosario’s, see the wreckage of the club, but misses Riff, who wound up under an overturned table, his strings broken. Rosario shoos Jonny out.
Issue 4
Chased by the cops, the IF in their band van run a red light just as Joe enters the intersection from the cross street. Joe swerves to avoid the van, the trunk pops open, and Loretta flies out. Her case hits the pavement, and is inches from being run over by the following vehicle. Joe scrapes her up and goes home.
Later. At the Riverside Police Station, Milo and Zonker sit handcuffed to a bench, looking angry and forlorn. Mr. Rosario agrees to drop the charges in exchange for the IF’s equipment. Chaz’s father Byron, a wily insurance agent, agrees. And so ends the short punk careers of Chaz and Riff. Chaz will fix his hair and go to work at Dad’s office, while Riff is now the property of Mr. Rosario.
Unaware of Chaz and Riff’s fate, the next day Jonny calls Chaz to convince him to sell Riff back to him. But Chaz has gone out of town, taking a little vacay with his dad.
Rosario sells Riff to Cosmo O’Shane, proprietor of the Pawn Palace. Riff is put for sale. Angry, in denial, Riff meets the other resident instruments of the shop. He get his first shocking glimpse of his punked-out appearance. Stella, a charismatic Flash guitar with volume control syndrome, returns to the shop. She coaxes Riff out of his shell, and they become friends.
From Chaz and Rosario, Jonny finds out what happened to Riff and he sets out to get him back.
Issue 5Two teens buy Stella, and they snigger at Riff’s shabby appearance, furthering his sense of hopelessness.
The DREAMZ band manager, Penny Pittwhistle, gives Joe no option but to agree to a comeback tour. With Loretta out of commission, they head out to buy a new guitar from the Rifftone Guitar Factory.
Jonny finds Riff in the pawn shop, but doesnt have the cash to buy him. He gives Cosmo the cash in his pocket to hold Riff until he can return with the rest of the money.
Thrilled at his reunion with Jonny, Riff unwittingly produces an awesome Flash!, just seconds after Jonny leaves the shop.
The flash beams into the street like a laser shot, just as Joe and Penny drive by. The car screeches to a halt–Joe feels compelled to go into the pawn shop. Over Penny’s objections he buys Riff. As an afterthought, he also buys Carlos, a well-played cigarbox guitar. On the drive home, Riff learns that Joe intends for him to be Loretta’s replacement on a tour.
Jonny returns to the pawn shop, only to discover that O’Shane sold Riff. Cosmo gives him his money back, plus a tamborine as consolation.
Jonny sulks in his room. Aunt Lucille teaches him a lesson, then is distracted by the tamborine laying on the bed.
Joe and Penny arrive at Casa Morning to find a party in progress. Penny joins the party while Joe takes Riff to his studio. Carlos, forgotten, remains in the car.
In the studio, the band’s instruments, many who have not seen each other in years, are talking together in their humanized forms. They talk about the upcoming tour. They transmogrify when Joe and Riff come in. Ivory, a keyboard, talks to Riff in the alt-world while Joe talks to him in the real world. Tipsy Penny barges in to drag Joe and the “Green Weenie” to the party. When they leave, the studio instruments discuss the new guitar and his prospects as Loretta’s replacement. She is not pleased, to say the least.
Issue 6
At the first rehearsal, Riff shows off and shines like a star–until it comes time to play Lover’s Triangle–the song he bombed out on at the guitar solo contest.
While repainting Riff, Joe discovers the JAM initials under one of Chaz’s STE stickers. He realizes who the guitar once belonged to. Meanwhile, the studio instruments confer among themselves in the alt-world. Loretta insists that to save the tour from disaster they must play badly in rehearsal, to convince the band that the new guitar, whom they call “G-dub”, has got to go.
At the second rehearsal, strange happenings of an electrical nature foul everything up. As Loretta knew they would, band members Darryl and Steve, both highly superstitious, blame Riff’s presence for the problems. They lobby to jettison the newcomer, but Joe is having none of it.
Later, Joe’s baby grand Big Stan gives Riff encouragement. Meanwhile, Loretta secretly admits to Michelle, the lead singer’s microphone, that she schemed to test everyone’s loyalty by asking them to sabotage Riff. Yet unknown to anyone, Loretta has been secretly in cahoots with Waldo the mixer board.
Everyone looks gullty when Riff admits his anxiety about playing Lovers Triangle
Joe apologizes to Loretta and tells her he loves her. Loretta regrets her jealous behavior towards her replacement, but too late to stop Waldo’s attack on Riff.
Issue 7
Loretta sacrifices herself to help defend Riff against Waldo’s deadly attack. Riff must break the rules and risk having Joe see him in his human form. Riff risks it and is able to stop Waldo. Joe sees the shadowed figure of a boy, but keeps it to himself. Almost since the beginning, he’s known about the special nature of musical instruments.
Later, the instruments visit Loretta in the workroom, after Joe patched her up. She confesses her part in the attack and asks Riff to forgive her. She offers to teach Riff how to play his nemesis song just like she does, maybe he’ll make it even better! Everyone is happy.
The Dreamz open their concert tour,”Dreamz Come True”, in their hometown. With front row seats sent from an anonymous source, Jonny, Chaz, Liz, and Aunt Lucille, watch Riff play every song–including Lovers Triangle finale–perfectly. He beams a brilliant flash at Jonny, putting him in the spotlight–and Joe then invites up on stage. Jonny reunites with Riff–not exactly as he’d planned–but back together again, sharing a stage in front of thousands of cheering fans.
THE END
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