Sep 1983
Battlegrounds!
by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, Ernie Colón, John Costanza, Tom Ziuko, Karen Berger
Granch fights with his brothers. He recovers the shard of amethyst that he lost and uses it to transport himself and his siblings to Princess Amethyst’s location.
Amy Winston goes to school. She notices Rita, one of her classmates, wearing an opal around her neck and wonders about a possible connection between Rita and Dark Opal. Amy is involuntarily transformed into Princess Amethyst, in the middle of class, just as a portal opens up and Granch and his brethren arrive in the classroom.
Princess Emerald tries to defy Dark Opal but in the end agrees to follow his orders. It isn’t long after that word reaches the kingdoms of Emerald and Diamond that Princess Emerald is dead.
Herb and Marion Winston see the glowing purple light coming from Amy’s school. The fight between Granch and his brothers spills outside. Princess Amethyst subdues all but one of Granch’s siblings. The police are ready to open fire on the one brother who still seems eager to fight when Amy’s mother steps in their way. She talks to Granch’s belligerent brother. She can see that he is a child despite his size. She defuses the situation before it gets anymore violent.
Lady Sapphire arrives in the kingdom of Topaz. She is there to finalize her wedding plans with Prince Topaz. He isn’t quite as eager as she. The match was made by Dark Opal. Prince Topaz’s heart is not in it. He pines for Princess Amethyst.
Princess Amethyst opens a portal that will transport Granch and his brothers back to the kingdom of Amethyst. She turns to Amy’s parents and promises to explain everything.
Thoughts
Citrina is not in this issue nor does any of it take place in the kingdom of Amethyst. That might be a first for both of these things.
There’s a surprising amount of exposition in this issue. The focus shifts around quite a bit. Amy/Amethyst remains at the center but other things are in motion which almost certainly will cross paths with her before long.
What happened to Princess Emerald? Was it Dark Opal who killed her? Somehow I doubt that but that leads me to think that she killed herself rather than obey his orders and submit to his desires.
What is going on with Prince Topaz? Is Lady Sapphire in league with Dark Opal?
This was a good read. I continue to want to see how this story plays out. I like the way it is all layered together and look forward to getting answers to some of questions that this issue brings to mind.
Meanwhile…
This month’s column is a rundown of stuff that DC has in the works. Some of these things were never produced (Teen Titans/X-Men 2) or were only produced after great delays (The Redeemer by Joe Kubert; JLA/Avengers). The column is written up as if it is a letter from Dick Giordano to his mother that he is writing to explain why he’s been so busy lately.
Purple Prose
Four letters from fans fill three-quarters of this page. One of the letters is from a third grader. The other quarter of the page is filled with a few paragraphs by Ernie Colón about himself.
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