Blaze

Ever since a fateful concert she attended as a teenager, Leah Dwyer has dreamed of one day becoming a singer just like her hero Luna Dark! And as luck would have it, she'd not only achieve that dream but she'd also get to be the lead singer for her favorite band The Misfits under the stage name Blaze! Having only gotten the job due to Pizzazz suffering an injury that damaged her voice, Blaze was put onto lead guitar after Pizzazz made her return but she still keeps her singing voice in practice with another band all her own.

A more sensitive, caring soul, Blaze is prone to worrying and placing the blame for things going wrong on herself. This habit especially tends to crop up now that she's a Misfit, the pressure and expectations of being a newcomer to the band weighing heavy on her. Thankfully, her girlfriend Clash is often there to help talk her through these anxiety attacks.

Fiction

Jem Universe

Leah Dwyer was transgender and had evidently come out to some extent by the time she was 15. Around this time, she attended a Luna Dark concert with her sister Courtney, her desire to get her make-up perfect almost making the two late. As she watched the Country superstar perform, Leah decided that she one day wanted to be a singer just like Luna Dark.

Two years later, Leah had become close friends with Constance "Clash" Montgomery, who broadened Leah's musical horizons considerably. One day as they listened to music up in Leah's room, Courtney stuck her head in and asked the two girls to keep it down. Chasing her annoyed sister out into the hall, Leah implored Courtney to listen to the newest band Clash had introduced her to, but Courtney was far too worn out by her sister's constant music recommendations. Though Courtney didn't share Leah's enthusiasm for music, she still shared with her the stage name she'd adopt if she ever did get around to starting a band of her own: Blaze. Our Songs Are Better: Part 3

By the time Blaze was 22, Clash's behavior had caused a rift to grow between her and Blaze. Among the things that led to this were two separate incidents where Blaze had gotten fired because of Clash. Showtime: Part Four While meditating one day, Blaze received an unexpected phone call from her old friend asking that she do her a favor. With Blaze being employed by the catering company that would be working the upcoming Starlight Foundation benefit concert where Jem and the Holograms would be playing, Clash asked that she get her a position on the wait staff for the event. Showtime: Part Three Meeting each other behind the caterer as they loaded up their trucks, Blaze already began to regret giving Clash another chance at the sight of her thoroughly unprofessional looking friend. Despite this, there didn't seem to be too much lingering resentment on Blaze's part, though she warned Clash not to embarrass her again. Showtime: Part Four After light rigging fell onto the stage as the Holograms played, Blaze confronted Clash in the audience in the chaos that followed. However, she lost track of her friend in the crowd and attempted to call her but Clash wouldn't pick up. Showtime: Part Five

When the Misfits VS! Battle of the Bands and associated festival rolled around, Blaze was promised by the band's assistant/groupie Clash that she could meet The Misfits but the first opportunity that presented itself proved to be a bad time. Clash's groupie status did manage to get Blaze backstage at The Misfits' concert following the Battle of the Bands though, during which time she was introduced to music journalist Rio Pacheco. As they watched The Misfits perform, Blaze and Clash held hands. Showtime: Part Six At some point, Blaze and Clash's relationship was repaired enough that the two began dating. Catnap

After Pizzazz was injured in a car accident, The Misfits were forced to hold auditions for a new lead singer that would take her place on their upcoming tour. After a long day of thoroughly unqualified hopefuls, including Clash, Blaze was the last one to audition. Dark Jem: Part One Thoroughly impressing the other Misfits, Blaze moved past the auditions into a practice session with the other band members and was offered the job. Though she was overjoyed when Stormer gave her the news, a moment later she hesitated to answer when asked if she could handle this. Excusing herself from the room for a moment, Blaze began to break down and was approached by Clash. Though her friend at first scoffed at Blaze's emotional state, blinded by her jealousy for not being picked instead, once Clash saw Blaze was genuinely upset she began dealing with her a bit more sensitively. Now that she had Clash's support, Blaze confided in her friend that she was scared of coming out to them as trans and that she worried they might react negatively to the news. Holding her close, Clash promised Blaze that they'd be fine with it and that she'd help her come out to them right then and there, even promising that they'd burn all their Misifts merch together on the off chance they did have a problem. Going back into the studio, Blaze outed herself and, true to Clash's prediction, none of them had any problems with her and were in fact more concerned with whether or not they could count on her being punctual instead. With that out of the way, Blaze officially became the Misfits' new lead singer.

As the tour began, Blaze and her bandmates were shocked to see the new, much edgier look and behavior Jem and the Holograms had adopted seemingly out of nowhere, so off put by their behavior they didn't even go out to watch their opening act perform on the first concert of the tour. Dark Jem: Part Two Following the Holograms out, Blaze assured Stormer that she was ready for this and headed out on stage. Despite her and the other Misfits putting their all into the performance, the deadeyed crowd barely reacted to them, something Blaze worried was because of her singing. Dark Jem: Part Three As she stressed out backstage following the concert, she was again approached and reassured by Clash that she had nothing to worry about. Dark Jem: Part Four Later that night, she and Clash listened to a recording of the Holograms' opening act from earlier and fell under Silica's thrall, undergoing a similar transformation in terms of appearance and attitude as the band that infected them. With Jetta and Roxy protected from Silica's mind control due to their bandmates wearing headphones, they caught Blaze and Clash and restrained them until Misfits manager Eric Raymond returned the next morning. Shortly after Eric arrived, Stormer did as well with the now-back-to-normal Holograms in tow. Estimating that the two still probably had about six hours left until they were back to normal, Jerrica had Blaze and Clash tied up and assigned Kimber to keep an eye on them while the others talked things out. While restrained, Blaze and Clash attempted to talk Kimber into freeing them by promising that they and Silica could help give her a solo career that would far surpass anything she'd achieve with her sisters weighing her down. Later, knowing what the two of them were afraid of, Roxy and Jetta went back to snap Blaze and Clash out of their mind control just in time for them to be present when the healed Pizzazz returned with a plan to snap the brainwashed masses back to reality. Dark Jem: Part Five

While the Holograms were away to "find" Jem, Pizzazz gathered her bandmates and addressed the fact that she'd been replaced. To Blaze's surprise, Pizzazz told her that even though she was taking her place back as frontwoman, she planned to keep Blaze on, admiring her musical talents far too much to simply let her go. Later that night, as the Misfits and Holograms played together to break Silica's hold over the audience, Blaze played her first show as the Misfits' lead guitarist. Dark Jem: Part Six

The Starlights' Fan Fiction

Blaze was one of Majestrix Pizzazz's four henchwomen. After the Holograms and Stormer managed to restore Pizzazz's missing heart which in turn led to her softening her iron grip on the universe, Blaze was expressed relief that things would finally start getting better. Outrageous Annual 2017

Jemcorp Universe

Blaze joined her fellow Misfits in protesting Hologram technology, something that eventually got her and her bandmates killed by Jemcorp. Infinite: Part Four

Notes

• Blaze is a character original to IDW's comics with no equivalent in the original Jem toyline or cartoon, a first for the franchise.
• According to an answer given by Blaze's co-creator Kelly Thompson on Tumblr, Blaze was born on April 19. Additionally, Blaze's bio states that she's 22 years old.