Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (1983) 12

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld (1983) 12

Apr 1984

Darkness Falls

by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, Ernie Colón, John Costanza, Tom Ziuko, Karen Berger

Sardonyx turns the tables on the Varn and escapes back to the Gemworld. He returns to Opal Keep looking for revenge against Dark Opal.

The battle of Amethyst and friends versus Dark Opal continues. Citrina channels all their power through herself at Dark Opal. Citrina gets injured and Amethyst steps in to take her place. 

Sardonyx’ attempt to strike Dark Opal down is unsuccessful. He joins forces with the others that are led by Amethyst. 

The Varn return once again. They try to take Dark Opal with them but he is too strong for them to subdue. Carnellian stabs Dark Opal and then Opal Keep collapses on Dark Opal, Carnellian, and the emissaries of the Varn. 

The land begins to heal now that Dark Opal has been killed. The other lords and ladies ask Amethyst to be the new Queen of the Gemworld. She declines and returns to Earth, to her life as Amy Winston. 

Thoughts

A little rushed, which was basically my reaction to the previous issue, but this ending felt like more or less what I expected would happen. I wasn’t sure about Amethyst returning to Earth but it isn’t too surprising. She will return to the Gemworld in the next series. 

Is Dark Opal really dead? Will he return in the next series?

I don’t have plans to read the next series. This is enough for me. I’m glad I read it but I don’t feel the need to read more stories of Amethyst and the Gemworld. 

Notes

Between this series and the next one there was an annual which came out in 1984. The second series began in 1985 and ran for 16 issues. It was cancelled but there was an Amethyst Special in 1986 which wrapped up the 1985 series. There was an Amethyst miniseries in 1987 which was four issues in length. She might have appeared in other series but after the 1987 miniseries there were no comics with her name on them until 2020. 

Purple Prose

Eight letters from readers dripping with praise about the series. The most recent issue mentioned in the letters is the ninth one. One reader has his own ideas for how the series should wrap up. Only one of the readers isn’t from a male reader. Editor Karen Berger announces that there will be another Amethyst series in about six months time.