Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld
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| Amethyst | |
 Cover to Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (vol. 1) #6 (October 1983) |
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| Publication information | |
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| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 1) #298 (April 1983) |
| Created by | Dan Mishkin (writer) Gary Cohn (writer) Ernie Colon (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Princess Amethyst |
| Species | Homo Magi |
| Place of origin | Gemworld |
| Team affiliations | House of Amethyst Lords of Order |
| Notable aliases | Princess of Gemworld, Amy Winston, Lord of Order |
| Abilities | Magic |
Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld is the name of three comic book series published by DC Comics in the 1980s. They followed the adventures of a young girl named Amy Winston who discovers on her 13th birthday that she is in fact the princess from a magical world. Amy also learns that the parents that she has known are not her real parents; that her real parents are dead, and a dark figure from Gemworld is out to destroy her. Now Amy must travel to Gemworld, becoming older through the voyage (since time moves differently in Gemworld, Amy ages into a woman in her early twenties while there), and fight the evil that is attacking her.[1]
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[edit] Publication history
Amethyst first appeared in a teaser story in Legion of Super-Heroes (vol. 2) #298 (April 1983). Her origin began shortly afterward in the twelve-issue Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld limited series in 1983, written and created by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn with Ernie Colon as the artist, the initial 12-issue limited series (identified by DC Comics as a "maxi-series") establishes Gemworld, who Amethyst is and introduces several of her villains that she will face again later. The limited series was followed by a 1984 annual issue and a sixteen-issue ongoing series. The ongoing series was followed by the 1986 Amethyst Special one-shot and a four-issue limited series that ended the character's adventures. The series was oriented initially for younger female readers, but took on a more aggressive and darker tone over time.
[edit] Fictional character biography
Thirteen years before the start of the series, Amethyst's eventual nemesis, the evil Dark Opal, ruler of the House of Opal, murdered her parents the King and Queen of the House of Amethyst (which was the rightful ruling House at the time) and set himself up as permanent ruler. However, the infant Princess Amethyst was taken to Earth by Citrina, to be raised there. Thirteen years later, Amethyst returned (transformed into a 20-year-old woman by Gemworld's magical nature) and led a rebellion that eventually killed Dark Opal and restored freedom to Gemworld.
According to the series, the Amethyst family are the most powerful magic users in all of Gemworld. They were the natural rulers until Dark Opal arose and slew Amethyst's parents. After that, the family's friend and a rather powerful witch herself, Citrina, whisked Amethyst off to Earth to be raised by the Winstons. The problem is that Amethyst was discovered by Opal's henchmen, dragged back to Gemworld, and there discovered her magical powers. Amethyst, while looking like a full-grown woman, still has the mind of a 13-year-old girl; she decides that Gemworld deserves to be free of Dark Opal's oppression. She tries to gather allies from each of the 12 kingdoms, each named after stones, but some have chosen to ally themselves with Dark Opal.
However, some time later, during the war between Order and Chaos, the Lords of Chaos decided to reclaim Gemworld, and sent the Lord of Chaos called The Child to do so. Amethyst was only able to stop him by merging with him, and then merging both of them with the Gemworld itself, effectively trapping them both.
Recently, Amethyst has re-appeared in the DC Universe during the Infinite Crisis storyline. She was first seen battling the Spectre on Gemworld in Infinite Crisis #2 and was apparently either powerful enough to repel his assault on the planet or simply clever enough to escape him. She appeared later on as one of many magical beings summoned to aid in the reconstruction of the shattered Rock of Eternity in the Day of Vengeance Special. Amethyst departed from the Rock of Eternity in the aftermath of her battle with Doctor Fate, and was seen once again in Infinite Crisis #6, where she and the other sorcerers of the DC Universe pooled their powers to summon the restored Spectre to Stonehenge.
Amethyst is currently the only known surviving Lord of Order in the Tenth Age of Magic. What this will mean for her future remains unclear.
[edit] Other versions
An apparently alternate history depicted Gemworld experiencing a civil war of sorts in the 1997 "Convergence" crossover that ran through Book of Fate, Night Force, Challengers of the Unknown and Scare Tactics. In this story, Amethyst was portrayed as the villain, wanting to unify all the houses in Gemworld by any means.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Wallace, Dan (2008), "Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld", in Dougall, Alastair, The DC Comics Encyclopedia, London: Dorling Kindersley, pp. 14, ISBN 0-7566-4119-5
