Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld

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.[2] This in turn inspired the jewel-themed renaming of the other characters in the series and the conceptual rebranding of the entire concept as "Gemworld".[3]

Amethyst first appeared as a special insert preview in The Legion of Super-Heroes #298 (April 1983).[4] 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 (identified by DC Comics as a "maxi-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.[5] The ongoing series was followed by the 1986 Amethyst Special one-shot and a four-issue limited series that ended the character's adventures (pencilled by Esteban Maroto). There was also a one-shot with Superman in DC Comics Presents #63 (Nov. 1983).[6]

The character re-emerged in 2005 after 18 years of sporadic appearances, in the Infinite Crisis mini-series. In June 2012 it was announced that Amethyst would make her debut in the rebooted The New 52 DC Universe as the main character of the new Sword of Sorcery.[7][8] This lasted until May 2013, when Sword of Sorcery was cancelled.[9]

Princess Amethyst, the daughter of the ruling House of Amethyst, was orphaned by Dark Opal of the House of Opal. Following the death of Amethyst's parents, the witch Citrina whisks her away to be reared in safety by the Winston family on Earth.

At the age of thirteen, Amethyst is attacked by Dark Opal. After her return to Gemworld, Amethyst discovers her magical powers and decides to use rebel against Dark Opal's oppression over Gemworld. Upon befriending the winged unicorn Max, Amethyst journeys in search of allies among The Twelve Kingdoms of Gemworld that do not support Dark Opal. She is successful in rallying support from most of the other House and gains friendship in Lord Topaz, Lady Turquoise, and Princess Emerald (Emmy). The first series ends with the defeat of Dark Opal, the liberation of Gemworld, and Amethyst's returned to Earth.

During the second series released in 1986 it is revealed that in the aftermath of Dark Opal's defeat, conflict among the other Royal House of Gemworld caused friction throughout the surrounding kingdoms. The Lords of Chaos attempt to capitalize on Amethyst's absence and threatens to overtake Gemworld. During this time, Amethyst learns from Doctor Fate that she is a member of the Lords of Order as her father was. Amethyst is unique among the Lords as the only creation with a truly human form. After struggling with this revelation, she finally accepts her destiny and battles the Lord of Chaos known as The Child and his servant Flaw, the Gemstone Golem. After defeating Flaw, Amethyst ends the battle between herself and The Child by merging him with Gemworld. As a consequence, she is forced to merge with The Child.

The Amethyst miniseries sees the characters' return from their fates and takes place about two decades after Crisis on Infinite Earths (time passes differently in Gemworld). When 20 years of time pass in the Gemworld dimension, only 13 years time will pass on Earth. Lord Topaz and Lady Turquoise are married and have three children: twin sons Wrynn and Donal, and four-year-old daughter Amber. The miniseries also sees the rise of Mordru in the form of Wrynn when he accidentally summons Flaw back to life. With the help of Flaw and The Lords of Chaos, Mordru transforms himself into a powerful sorcerer. He would become Amethyst's greatest enemy and goes on to plague the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th Century.

After his transformation into Mordru, Wrynn sets off on conquest which eventually leads to a confrontation with Amethyst and in which Flaw is destroyed. Amethyst pursues Wrynn across Gemworld where they battle a second time. Meanwhile, The Child has returned and abducted a now adult Emmy from Earth. He plans to use her as leverage for Mordru in order to defeat Amethyst. The ploy eventually fails as Donal arrives to help Amethyst, who is able to temporarily restore Wrynn to his former self. Wrynn begs Donal to free him from Mordru's influence by killing him. Before Donal is able to fulfil the request he is distracted by Topaz's objections. This distraction allows Mordru to regain control of Wrynn and kill Donal. Enraged, Amethyst pulls The Child out of Emmy's body and banishes him back to Gemworld.

In the final issue of the miniseries Mordru is sentenced to banishment from The Twelve Kingdoms of Gemworld following his defeat. Amethyst, dissatisfied with this sentence and angry over Donal's murder, banishes Mordru into Gemworld by merging him with the planet where he remains for many years. Amber is revealed to be Amethyst's daughter, not Topaz and Turquoise's. Realizing that the end of her time on Earth has brought imbalance to the forces between order and chaos, Amethyst charges Emmy with the care of her daughter and takes them both back to Earth. Amethyst then returns to Gemworld and merges with the planet. By displacing the Gemworld into Earths time and space, the setting is 13 years later in a "possible" future following the Crisis on Infinite Earths series. Time passes and the Gemworld is renamed Zerox. Late in the 30th century, Zerox (The Sorcerers World) is destroyed by an entity battling the Legion of Super Heroes in LSH series (1984) #61,#62,#63,#64 (The Magic Wars). The planet is reduced to asteroid rubble and Amethyst is killed.

During the Infinite Crisis storyline, Amethyst is first seen battling the Spectre on Gemworld in Infinite Crisis #2 and survived the attack. She later appears among the magical beings who are summoned to reconstruct the shattered Rock of Eternity in the Day of Vengeance Special. Amethyst is seen once again in Infinite Crisis #6 where she and other sorcerers pool their powers to summon the restored Spectre to Stonehenge. In the aftermath of Infinite Crisis, all of the other Lords of Order are apparently destroyed by the Spectre, signaling the end of the Ninth Age of Magic and leaving Amethyst as the only known surviving Lord of Order in the Tenth Age of Magic.

Infinite Crisis erases the events of the 1987 Amethyst four issue mini series, since Amethyst never goes into 20 years (13 years Earth time) of crystal glass hibernation and is awakened prematurely by the Spectre. Amber (her magical construct daughter) is never created. Her friend Princess Emerald, the Gemworld royal families, and Earth family have unknown fates. Further proving that time line is deleted, Mordru (in human form) exists some years before the 20 years later future Gemworld back story (a contradiction); The villain has battles against Dr. Fate and the Justice Society following the Post-Crisis time. About 4 years of DC comics time passes between Crisis on Infinite Earths and Infinite Crisis. In the revised continuity, the Gemworld (Zerox) is not destroyed during the 30th century.

Amethyst possesses a host of powers, including flight, spell-casting, energy manipulation, matter transmutation and can tap other sources of magical energy to amplify her own powers. She is powerful enough to engage in battle with the Spectre and survive.[14]

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.[15]

• 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 all the family houses in Gemworld by any means.
• In the alternate timeline of the 2011 "Flashpoint" storyline, Amethyst is a member of the Secret Seven.

• Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on April 4, 2012.
• DCU Guide: Amethyst
• Absorbascon: Amethyst retrospective
• Sequential Tart: Amethyst retrospective
• TangonaT: Amethyst retrospective
• ComiXology: Amethyst retrospective (Archived 2009-10-25)