{"id":2411,"date":"2025-01-30T09:51:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-30T14:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.opendoor-comics.com\/unbagged\/?p=2411"},"modified":"2025-07-19T23:03:44","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T03:03:44","slug":"reread-amethyst-princess-of-gemworld-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.opendoor-comics.com\/unbagged\/2025\/01\/30\/reread-amethyst-princess-of-gemworld-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Reread: Amethyst, Princess Of Gemworld 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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(Originally published March 16, 2013)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Today\u2019s trip to the comic shop cost me a little over $100, due in large part to my purchase of Volume 1 and 2 of the Archive Editions of Jack Kirby\u2019s<\/strong> Kamandi, Last Boy on Earth<\/a>, a purchase that the (far too young) girl who works there and is cute in an androgynous sort of way evidently approved of, given her muttered, \u201cOh, cool,\u201d as she rung them up.
In any case, even without today\u2019s extra expense \u2013 which also included a trade paperback collection of Grant Morrison\u2019s<\/strong> Joe the Barbarian<\/a>, because why not \u2013 I routinely drop a fair amount of money at the comic shop because comics are expensive<\/em>.
That wasn\u2019t always the case.  While I don\u2019t remember it, apart from having owned some of the comics with such a price tag on them, within my lifetime comics cost a mere 35 cents.
The lowest cover price I can actually recall when buying new comics is 50 cents, but they didn\u2019t stay at that price point for long, and by the time I started reading comics on a regular basis the typical price was 60 cents, with the occasional $1.00 \u201c80 Page Giant.\u201d
That changed one day when comics made a 15 cent leap in price, and that increase was nearly the end of my comic habit.
I distinctly recall the first comic I ever encountered with that new price \u2013 the very comic that I\u2019ll be recapping and reviewing in just a few paragraphs \u2013 and I also remember that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach, a feeling that was justified when I presented the comic to my mom to be purchased along with the week\u2019s groceries and I saw the look on her face.
\u201dYou might have to give these up,\u201d she said, as she contemplated the additional expense.  After all, it was 1983, and an extra 15 cents a pop would add up rather quickly given the demands of my comic book addiction.
It was a horrifying thought, particularly given how close I was to having the complete run of the Amethyst<\/em> maxi-series
I\u2019m reasonably certain that I outright begged her to at least let me keep getting this one<\/em> comic book, and after considering it, she relented with the admonition that I must not tell dad<\/em>.
And so it was that I was able to pick up this issue \u2013 though not this specific copy, as I actually replaced my entire run of Amethyst<\/em> several years ago, given that the originals had fallen into disrepair over the years \u2013 which has a cover date of December, 1983, and that horrible, traumatizing 75 cent cover price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I know that feel, Amethyst; that price shattered my world, too.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld, \u201cFirst Light\u201d
Written by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn
Art by Ernie Col\u00f3n
Cover by George P\u00e9rez and Ernie Col\u00f3n
Edited by Karen Berger<\/em>

<\/em>Our story opens with the mysterious Emissaries of Varn approaching the Diamond Sanctuary.
Unfortunately for the Priests of Diamond, this is not a social call \u2013 though maybe this is what social calls are like in Varn \u2013 but rather an attack.
The white-robbed priests are unprepared for the assault, and while they talk a good game about moving on to a higher plane and living on through the magic of their souls, on this plane their bodies don\u2019t fare so well, and neither does their Sanctuary, which is reduced to rubble and sucked into the open hood of one of the Emissaries, and then spewed back out the hood of one of the others.
Amethyst, meanwhile, is busy comforting Prince Topaz, relaying some platitude that Herb once read to her after her grandfather died.  She manages to make him feel better, but makes herself sad thinking about how much she misses Herb, Marion, and Taffy.
Topaz decides to return the favor and cheer Amethyst up by taking her up to a promontory overlooking the ocean so that they can watch the sunrise.
The sunrise on Gemworld is rather different from the phenomenon on Earth, as Gemworld\u2019s sun is not a large ball of gas floating millions of miles away in space, but rather a much smaller sentient entity that lives in the ocean.  It rises up from the depths, then makes its way across the sky, brightening the land in its course, until it reaches the Realm of Opal, where its light is considerably dimmed.
Speaking of Opal, like the Priests of Diamond, he\u2019s receiving visitors in the form of the Emissaries of Varn, though, once again, it\u2019s not a social call.  This is all business \u2013 the Emissaries bring a fragment of Diamond and present it to Opal, who has now nearly completed his collection.
Sardonyx is concerned that Opal has acted rashly in sending the Emissaries to dispatch the Priests, as the power of Diamond is sufficient to challenge that of Opal if, by chance, any of the Priests survived the attack.  Dark Opal, doesn\u2019t have time for ifs, however, and while the two of them bicker like an old married couple, something out the window catches Carnelian\u2019s eye.
Remember the little lizard creature that stole the fragment of Amethyst that served as Granch\u2019s (*Sniff*) link to Gemworld when he went off to rescue his siblings?  No?  Well, you should have, because he\u2019s back, and he still has the fragment\u2026which is the final piece that Dark Opal needs to complete his collection.
Seeing this, Carnelian heads off in pursuit of the harmless little creature.  Unfortunately for him, thanks to the magic of the stone, Carnelian has bitten off more than he can chew, and the lizard is transformed into a dragon that can easily bite and<\/em> chew the Red Prince:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Wooga Wooga,” indeed!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Amethyst and Topaz wing their way back to Castle Amethyst, where the Princess gets to oversee the first official meeting of the We Hate Dark Opal Club.  Being, at heart, a suburban teenage girl, Amethyst is a bit overwhelmed by the embarrassing displays of respect, but Lady Turquoise points out that the bowing and scraping is as much for their own benefit as it is for Amethyst\u2019s.  \u201cDo not deny us our fervor!\u201d she enthuses.  (I increasingly begin to wonder if there was some subtext going on with Turquoise.)
Garnet points out that Turquoise is correct, and that Amethyst has to get used to being in charge, and the allies get down to business, weighing their options and speculating as to which side the other Houses not assembled there will take in the coming conflict.
In the process, Lord Garnet refers to Lord Aquamarine as a \u201cPiscean,\u201d which gets Amethyst to wondering, and so she asks Citrina if there is some kind of connection between Gemworld and Earth.
Citrina tells her to look into the \u201cWell of Vision,\u201d and tells Amethyst \u2013 and us \u2013 the Origin of Gemworld.
Centuries ago, the people of Gemworld all lived on Earth, but some cataclysm \u2013 Citrina notes that modern humans would call it a supernova \u2013 created a magical imbalance.  The wizards, witches, faeries, and other magical creatures then living on Earth decided that they needed to find somewhere more hospitable, and so they turned to one who had the power to lead them to safety:  Citrina.
Using her power, which only comes into its fullness when all of the Houses are imperiled, Citrina searched throughout creation for a new home, ultimately finding Gemworld and opening a portal to allow the refugees to flee to safety.
Amethyst, lacking tact, says, \u201cI didn\u2019t realize you were that old<\/strong>, Citrina,\u201d but softens the blow by adding, \u201cor had that much magic power!\u201d
Citrina states that she has very little of that power remaining, but that her greatest gift is to be able to detect magical disturbances\u2026like the one she\u2019s detecting now at the Diamond Sanctuary.
Amethyst and company fly off to the Diamond Sanctuary, finding only ruins, and then fly off, not noticing that the place isn\u2019t quite as devoid of life as they\u2019d thought.
We briefly check in on the House of Emerald, where Lady Emerald\u2019s mourning has taken a turn for the worse and she can\u2019t be roused enough to take action and join Amethyst, leaving her two remaining daughters deciding that they\u2019re going to have to take matters into their own hands.
After leaving the Diamond ruins behind, Amethyst and company head to the House of Ruby, to appeal to its Lord to join them in their war against Dark Opal.  Lord Ruby, it seems, had been the ruler of Gemworld before Amethyst\u2019s parents, and he had been loyal to them during Dark Opal\u2019s attack against the House of Amethyst.
Unfortunately, he paid dearly for that loyalty, and is reluctant to make war against Dark Opal.  However, before he can decide one way or the other, the Emissaries of Varn pop in for a surprise visit \u2013 again, not a social call \u2013 and they seem able to take anything Amethyst and her compatriots can throw at them, proving able to dish it out as well as take it.
The one I\u2019ll call Vacuum Face slurps up Lord Moonstone, before turning his \u2013 or \u201cits,\u201d I suppose \u2013 attention to Prince Topaz.  Even though its fitting that this is how Topaz should check out \u2013 after all, he sucks<\/em> \u2013 Amethyst tries her best to save him, but it\u2019s to no avail until a mysterious bolt from the blue saves them.
Once the smoke clears, they learn that one Diamond Priest survived, and is pissed<\/em>.
Up next:  Diamond vs. The Emissaries of Varn, round two.  This time, it\u2019s personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some Thoughts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond the increase in price that so traumatized me and made those few minutes of waiting for my mom to make her decision about my future as a reader of comics feel like an eternity, this proved to be a rather important issue.
After all, we had Dark Opal starting to get bold as he moves to cement his power, and we see the payoff to some of the minor events that occurred in the background in earlier issues, such as the lizard with the Amethyst fragment.
Besides that, we learn the origin of Gemworld.  There are a couple of things of note about Gemworld\u2019s origin.  For one thing, if I recall correctly, it was later revealed that Citrina didn\u2019t find it, she created<\/em> it.
For another, somewhere over the course of the next ten centuries, conditions back in the dimension that contains the Earth, things stabilized enough that the inhabitants of Gemworld were able to return, bringing their home with them, and in the time of the Legion of Super-Heroes \u2013 the comic in which Amethyst had her debut as a preview insert \u2013 Gemworld came to be known as Wizard World, and it was where the Legionnaire the White Witch<\/a> honed her craft.
There was also something or other about Mordru<\/a>, one of the Legion\u2019s deadliest enemies, being trapped in the center of Gemworld.  If I recall correctly, Citrina deliberately imprisoned him there by using his own power against him to kill two birds with one stone, trapping him inside and giving the magical refugees a home.
I\u2019m also struck by just how much story has been crammed into these 8 issues (plus the Preview and the team-up with Superman<\/strong>).  If this were a modern comic written by someone like, say, Bendis, by the eighth issue the Winstons would still be sitting in the restaurant ordering Amy\u2019s birthday dinner.  (And engaging in unlikely \u201cping-pong\u201d dialogue in which everyone talks in exactly the same fashion as everyone else.)
As I\u2019ve noted before, there\u2019s something to be said for compression.
The other thing that strikes me as I look back on it now is how Dark Opal\u2019s quest to get a complete set of all twelve gemstones mirrors my own quest to get the complete set of all twelve issues of Amethyst.  All things considered, if my mom had decided not to let me get that comic, I probably would have been perfectly willing to sign a contract with the Emissaries of Varn in order to ensure that my collection would be complete\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Art:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As always, the art is solid, and I have to say that the Emissaries of Varn are creepy as fuck:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“So guys…anything you can do to help make sure I don’t have to give up comics?”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As is their destruction of the Diamond Sanctuary and slaughter of the Diamond Priests:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Would have been worth it to be able to keep reading comics.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Additional Notes:<\/strong>

<\/strong>20 years ago<\/a>, DC launched their Vertigo<\/strong> line of comics, featuring a handful of new titles and the migration of several existing comics such as The Sandman<\/em> and Hellblazer<\/em> which had previously been published under the DC logo.
After two decades, Vertigo is still going strong, and it owes much of its success to its founder Karen Berger<\/strong>, who, after this time, is, regrettably, stepping down as Executive Editor.
The comic-reading world owes a debt of gratitude to Karen Berger for her part in filling the stands with a lot of great comics\u2026including Amethyst<\/em>!
So\u2026thanks, Karen, and best of luck in whatever new ventures you pursue.
Also, it turns out that I didn\u2019t have to make a deal with those creepy-ass Emissaries, as eventually, after the initial sticker shock, my mom never really mentioned the price increase again, and, as should be obvious, my comic book habit continued unabated for years and years.
Still, I was totally<\/em> ready to make a deal with the Emissaries\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comments from the original post:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Anonymous said…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I remember when the cover price was 12 cents …
Amethyst. A wonderful series. I could cheerfully throttle whoever came up with the idea of turning her Dark in a later book (I think it was Keith Giffen in Fate).
Ditto Kamandi. I’m amazed at how Kirby really gives the feeling of world which pre-existed Kamandi (a lot of later writers on the book failed miserably at that)
-Fraser<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Jon Maki said…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back it appears that within my lifetime comics cost as little as 20 cents, though I don’t remember that. 50 cents is the lowest price I really remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I didn’t read much of the ongoing series. I think I have the first issue, and whatever issue it was that was a crossover with Crisis on Infinite Earths<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’m actually enjoying Kamandi<\/em> a great deal. One of my favorite things about reading old Kirby comics is the little mini-essays he wrote explaining the thought processes that led to the idea behind a series. While he obviously veers off into directions that only Kirby could, you realize that no matter how “out there” the concept gets it actually makes a certain amount of sense.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld <\/em>#1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld <\/em>#2<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #5<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #6<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #6.5<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #7<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #9<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #10<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #11<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Go here<\/a> for the Reread of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld<\/em> #12<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Born and raised in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Jon Maki developed an enduring love for comics at an early age.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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