During the 1980s, Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn and Ernie Colón introduced comic readers to the magical wonderland of Gemworld and its teenage Princess, Amethyst. She initially made her debut within the pages of The Legion of Super-Heroes #298 in 1983, before launching the 12-part limited series Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld. This latter series established Amethyst’s true identity as the orphaned princess of Gemworld and also served to introduce several of her recurring villains, particularly an evil ruler called Dark Opal.
When Amethyst was a child, she was left orphaned after Dark Opal of the House of Opal murdered her parents. Following their death, a witch named Citrina sent her to be raised safely with a family on Earth. Growing up on Earth, Amethyst was unaware of her true identity and thought she was just a normal teenage girl named Amy Wilson. At 13, Dark Opal discover her whereabouts and attacked her. Once returned to Gemworld, Amy is transformed into her true self, an adult woman with magical powers. Using her newfound powers, Amethyst plans to rebel against Dark Opal’s oppression over Gemworld. While searching for allies across The Twelve Kingdoms, Amethyst befriends the winged unicorn, Max. Together they rally support from other houses that oppose Dark Opal, and form friendships with Lord Topaz, Lady Turquoise, and Princess Emerald (Emmy). By the end of her first series, Amethyst had defeated Dark Opal, liberated Gemworld and returned back to Earth.
This happy ending was short-lived as subsequent series saw The Lords of Chaos threatening to overtake Gemworld, as well as the introduction of one of Amethyst and the Legion of Super-Heroes’ greatest enemies – the powerful sorcerer Mordru. During the New 52 reboot, DC relaunched the long defunct Sword of Sorcery title with Amethyst as the lead story. In this version, written by Christy Marx with art by Aaron Lopresti, Amethyst was Princess Amaya of House Amethyst. After her Aunt Mordiel usurped control of their house, she was taken to Earth and raised as Amy Winston by her mother Lady Graciel. She later joins the Justice League Dark and helps recover the portal stone stolen by John Constantine.
But did you know the Princess of Gemworld has recently joined another prominent superhero team within the DC Universe? Amethyst made her debut as part of the Young Justice team in Young Justice #1 on January 9, 2019. Not only has the hero lended her magical personality to the teen heroes, but she will also be starring in her own spinoff series from an undisclosed “major female creator.” No release date for the series has been announced as of yet.
