Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld is a sword and sorcery superheroine published in American comic books created by DC Comics. Created by writers Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn and artist Ernie Colón, she debuted in Legion of Super-Heroes #298 in April 1983. While considered one of DC Comics' "under-rated classics" for its female representation and strong fantasy themes, the character's eponymous series struggled to engage the broader contemporary DC readership.
While subjected to various revisions in her history, the character is often cast as young Amy Winston who discovered on her 13th birthday she originates from the extradimensional realm known as Gemworld, a magical realm in which its twelve ruling families are themed after gemstones, has strong ties to the Lords of Chaos and Order, and grants her the body of a twenty year old. Born Princess Amethyst, she originates from the eponymous House of Amethyst, considered the most powerful of the ruling families, and is destined to be its ruler and protector. She also discovered her heritage makes her among the Lords of Order albeit born with a human form. Embracing her role, she learns to become Gemworld's chief protector and leader while battling foes including: Dark Opal, Child and Flaw, and Mordru.
Following the New 52, the character was temporarily revised as seventeen year old Amaya, princess of Nilia raised by her mother, Queen Graciel to help eventually liberate Gemworld from a tyrannical ruler and reclaim their throne. From DC Rebirth onward, much of the character's history was reverted with some aspects kept, such as her Amaya birthname. This version also instead seeks to balance her ordinary life on Earth with her role as princess.
The character has received several media adaptations, having been featured in a short animation series featured on the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network.

Publication history

Concept and creation

Amethyst's premise was initially pitched to DC Comics under the title "Changeling", wherein its main character had been left on Earth as an infant. However, because another DC superhero formerly named Beast Boy was currently using that name at the time, Dan Mishkin decided on the alternative "Amethyst" as a replacement. This in turn inspired the jewel-themed renaming of the other characters in the series and the concept being reworked into Gemworld.

''Amethyst'' volumes

Amethyst first appeared as a special insert preview in Legion of Super-Heroes #298. Her original story 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 Colón as the artist. The initial 12-issue limited series establishes Gemworld, Amethyst's identity, and several of her recurring villains. The limited series was followed by a 1984 annual 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. There was also a one-shot with Superman in DC Comics Presents #63.
The character re-emerged in 2005 after 18 years of sporadic appearances, in the Infinite Crisis mini-series. In 2012, Amethyst appeared as the main character of the new Sword of Sorcery as part of The New 52 line. This lasted until May 2013, when Sword of Sorcery was cancelled.
In 2019, DC relaunched the Young Justice title, with Amethyst as one of the members. A six-issue miniseries Amethyst by Amy Reeder was published the following year.

Date	Name	Editor	Script and story	Penciling
April 1983	Legion of Super-Heroes #298	Karen Berger Dave Manak	Dan Mishkin; Gary Cohn	Ernie Colon

Date	Name	Editor	Script and story	Penciling
January 1985	Amethyst #1	Karen Berger	Dan Mishkin; Gary Cohn	Ric Estrada
February 1985	Amethyst #2	Berger	Mishkin; Cohn	Estrada
March 1985	Amethyst #3	Berger	Mishkin; Cohn	Estrada
April 1985	Amethyst #4	Berger	Mishkin; Cohn	Kurt Schaffenberger
May 1985	Amethyst #5	Berger	Mishkin; Cohn	Estrada
June 1985	Amethyst #6	Berger	Mishkin; Cohn	Estrada
July 1985	Amethyst #7	Berger	Mishkin; Cohn	Estrada
August 1985	Amethyst #8	Berger	Mishkin; Cohn	Dan Jurgens
September 1985	Amethyst #9	Berger	Cohn	Ernie Colon
October 1985	Amethyst #10	Berger	Cohn	Colon
November 1985	Amethyst #11	Berger	Cohn	Colon
December 1985	Amethyst #12	Berger Julius Schwartz	Mindy Newell	Colleen Doran
February 1986	Amethyst #13	Berger	Robert L. Fleming; Keith Giffen	Colon
April 1986	Amethyst #14	Berger	Fleming; Giffen	Colon
June 1986	Amethyst #15	Berger	Giffen; Newell	Colon
August 1986	Amethyst #16	Berger	Giffen; Newell	Colon

Date	Name	Editor	Script and story	Penciling
November 1987	Amethyst #1	Karen Berger	Keith Giffen; Mindy Newell	Esteban Maroto
December 1987	Amethyst #2	Berger	Giffen; Newell	Maroto
January 1988	Amethyst #3	Berger	Giffen; Newell	Maroto
February 1988	Amethyst #4	Berger	Giffen; Newell	Maroto

Date	Name	ISBN	Publisher	Script and story	Art
November 9, 2021	Amethyst Princess of Gemworld		DC Comics	Shannon Hale and Dean Hale	Asiah Fulmore

Collected edition

In 2012, DC published an Amethyst volume of the Showcase Presents series. It reprinted the character's appearances in The Legion of Super-Heroes #298, the original Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld 12-issue limited series, Amethyst Annual #1, DC Comics Presents #63, and the first 11 issues of the 16-issue ongoing Amethyst series.

Date	Name	ISBN	Publisher
October 2, 2012	Showcase Presents: Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld Vol. 1		DC Comics

Crossover appearances

Amethyst appeared in the 1997 "Convergence" crossover that ran through Book of Fate, Night Force, Challengers of the Unknown and Scare Tactics. This story depicts an alternate Gemworld experiencing a civil war. Here, Amethyst is portrayed as a villain who wants to unify the houses in Gemworld by any means.

Characterization

Amy Winston / Amethyst

In physical appearance, Amy appears as a 5'1" and 90lbs child with blond hair and violent eyes. While she retains the same physical features in a adult form within Gemworld, her height is instead stated to be 5'8" and 112lbs. Following her appearances after New 52, the character is consistently 5'8" and 122 lbs as she was previously although she is depicted more teenaged in appearance. While she is a natural blonde, the character is designed to have dyed her hair lavender.
During the character's publication in the first and second Amethyst series, she is described as having evolved in personality; beginning as a ordinary and spirited American child whose life revolved around her friends and family, this changed following her 13th birthday and discovery of Gemworld, where she learned of her potential as a sorceress and princess status. She would acclimate quickly into the role, eventually prioritizing it over her former life on Earth. Amethyst is also characterized as being a potentially powerful sorceress due to her heritage as a Lord of Order; A crossover with Doctor Fate implies she is among the most powerful beings in the DC Universe.
In more recent publications, she retains a similar characterization but is more rebellious in personality and attempts to balance between the role and a normal human life on Earth. She also retains her status as a Lord of Order in human form. In the 2021 Amethyst limited series, the character is sixteen and is temporarily branded a rogue and while House Amethyst was officially dissolved, she is instead made princess of the Banned.

Gemworld

The primary setting in which the character's stories takes place is the extradimensional realm known as Gemworld ; a magical dimension once under dominion of the Lord of Chaos, In the realm, Gemworld simulates but is not bound by the laws of physics, with concepts such as gravity being dependent on the magical inhabitants' whims, and consists of one great land mass surrounded by a sea with several clusters of islands and is circular and around in a never ending falls, with what's below remaining unknown. Gemworld also features a sun as a living entity that that blazes its energy throughout the day in its orbit but becomes a moon when its energies wane, simulating day and night. The dimension came to house countless magical creatures, beings, humans, and homo magi following a exodus to the dimension led by a young witch known as Citrina to preserve magic and creatures of magical origin when magic begin waning following a major supernova in space and its violent explosions affecting the physical and mystically plain, disrupting "zodiac alignments" and had major repercussions in which included the gradual waning of mystical energies.
The ruling community, the twelve houses modelling and themed after gemstones, each rule a portion of Gemworld in which aligns with the properties of their respective gemstone, also form a Council of Houses that governs Gemworld. Throughout its history, several of the houses has assumed supreme rule; the first being the House of Ruby. Much later, the House of Amethyst became the supreme rulers of Gemworld, credited as had the longest and beneficial reign until the House of Opal, led by the villain Dark Opal and with assistance of Lords of Chaos Vandaemon, overthrew the House of Amethyst and its supporter from the Lords of Order, Pantagones, using underhanded tactics. An infant Princess Amethyst is hidden away by Witch-Mother Citrina in an effort to preserve the House of Amethyst.
Later stories revise some of Gemworld's history, omitting the historically recent involvement of the Lords of Chaos and Order, and cast the House of Amethyst's prior rulers to Amethyst as morally corrupt. House Diamond is also stated to be responsible for Gemworld's legislative duties and includes the Banned, historical Gemworld outcasts whom previously opposed the unification of the twelve houses and were nearly wiped out, with a remnant surviving and becoming a travelling band of mercenaries and criminals. Overtime, they became less dangerous.