Christy Marx discusses Amethyst over on Robot 6, more details about the upcoming series.

Quick reaction: I have to say I am disappointed that the original series is referred to as having a “girly” and “princessy” art style. Ernie Colon’s art was actually very sophisticated considering the time the series came out and I always thought that the general style of the book blended the surreal and fantastic in an interesting way. The varied architecture of the houses of the Gemworld never struck me as overly princessy at all. Sure, there was the occasional girly element of necklaces and flying unicorns, but the art never struck me as overly girly.

Dark Opal being Bad

One of the reasons why it is a bit of a shame that the original Amethyst isn’t being rereleased in color is that the coloring was often used to bring out the otherworldly aspects of the Gemworld:

Amethyst and Topaz

Amethyst, Princess Of Homogeneity – “I’m sure a number of people are looking at this move by DC and saying, “A strong female lead! That’s awesome!” But it’s not. Not really. The character is just as Aryan as Captain America. It’s Barbie in a purple Wonder Woman costume. With backup stories featuring another white male hero, Beowulf.”

The Return of Amethyst (but probably not for long) – “My first impression? The comic’s title sucks. A good title is the first key to success. I get that DC is trying to revive their old, old titles (and probably keep their copyrights), but this title alone will drive it into cancellation. Example: the first Sword and Sorcery from 1973 only lasted five issues.”

What’s new with the New New New 52 books? – “In the plus column, this book may just be different enough from the rest of the line to stand out and attract readers who aren’t interested in the rest of the DCU (and/or DC readers who want something different than they get in the other 51-55 books), and since it does take a chance on a new writer instead of someone from the same old talent pool, who knows what will happen?”

DC Renumbers Again in September, Launches Four New Series – “It’d be hard for any issue to be as surprising as discovering that Christy Marx, veteran comic, cartoon and video game writer (and creator of Jem and The Holograms) is writing a reboot of 1980s YA fantasy title Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld for one of DC’s four new September titles, however.”

Amethyst is back — and the rest of the new DC lineups – “Hm. Older. But not “legal”. And she’s wearing pants. So…promising.”

Just in case you were planning on ordering a copy or three, the Showcase Presents: Amethyst Princess of Gemworld volume is now available on Amazon!

I have to admit, I got excited when I saw the listing since I’ve been pining for a collected edition of Amethyst for so many years. I do wish someone would improve the description of the book:

Princess Amethyst, sole survivor of the House of Opal, was whisked away from Gemworld after her family was wiped out by the evil Dark Opal. After being raised to age thirteen on Earth, she was attacked by Dark Opal, who had tracked her to her adoptive home at last. But his attack served to awaken her dormant magical powers. She then returned to Gemworld to claim her rightful place and protect those in need.

Because that is inaccurate as well as not very compelling. Where’s the love triangle? Where’s the crazy body switching stuff between Gemworld and Earth? Why not mention all the cute but fickle princes who are running around?

Also, while it is nice that writers/creators of Amethyst are credited:

Writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn created the series AMETHYST, PRINCESS OF GEMWORLD for DC Comics, as well as the stuntman turned super-hero BLUE DEVIL and the 1980s horror series “I, Vampire.”

It would have been good to mention Ernie Colón’s art, because the distinctive look he brought to the series really elevated it into something special.

I thought I’d point people in the direction of some of my Amethyst content!

Here’s an index of my Amethyst recaps. I have images and recaps up for the first two Amethyst series. Many of the images on my site got blown away in a wordpress upgrade, so some of my other Amethyst posts are temporarily lacking images.

I run the Gemworld Tumblr, if you want tiny bits of Amethyst.

One of the highlights of my Amethyst blogging career was when Gary Cohn and Dan Mishkin let me interview them! I hope that the new showcase edition creates a new audience for their work, and a new appreciation for Ernie Colon’s remarkable art.

I was very happy to see that DC is finally collecting one of my favorite comic series ever, Amethyst Princess of Gemworld (thanks for the link, Dr. K).

Even though I have the individual issues, I will be preordering as many copies of this as possible.

Here’s an Amethyst Sketch by the talented Max Huffman

Thanks Max!

Via Julia, who pointed me here:

Well, this was disappointing. I should really know better than to get my hopes up for additional appearances by Amethyst in the DC Universe. Since when she showed up last, she was an evil sorceress seductress who ran over Prince Topaz with a car, I was hoping that this Flashpoint series might improve on that. I’m generally fond of Peter Milligan too, since he gave the world X-Statix and Human Target. So Secret Seven shows the gathering of a team of magic users lead by Shade the Changing Man. An adult Amy Winston is introduced at the start of the issue. She’s spending her time teaching English to refugee children. I should have known that anyone doing charitable good works was going to be dead by the end of the issue. Amy is visited by two men in suits and sunglasses, saying that they’re there to check up on “beings of power.” A magical aura surrounds Amy and she has a vision of Mordu. She runs outside yelling that she’s only twelve years old.

Amy joins Shade and the Enchantress, yelling at him for inflicting insanity on her. Shade says he was only calling her, not inflicting madness. It seems like he doesn’t have the best grip on his mystical powers. Elsewhere other members of this magical supergroup are shown. Mindwarp is having issues. I don’t even know what to make of Zantanna. Amy needles Shade about the Enchantress and he attacks her. She promises to kill him if he tries it again. Abra Kadabra is holding a press conference to share the names of the Secret Seven. The Enchantress goes to check on Shade, thinking that she hears crying and she finds him holding Amy’s dead body.

So, not a very nice issue for anyone hoping for a good cameo from Amethyst. On the whole, this series still feels like all set-up and not very much story. For a mini-series I’d be hoping to have all the characters in one place by the end of the first issue but that doesn’t seem to be happening here. And I don’t particularly care what Flashpoint Shade’s mental issues are. This just wasn’t a very interesting comic to read, the only parts that were vaguely amusing were Amy’s bitchy comments.

Amethyst by Jason Ho, as part of the campaign to Help the Cheerleader.

I have made no secret of my long and abiding affection for Amethyst Princess of Gemworld. So seeing that Amethyst is returning in Flashpoint: The Secret Seven is intriguing:

Here’s the solicitation text:
FLASH QUESTION: Who killed the first Seven? And can Amethyst stop them from killing the new Secret Seven?

FLASHPOINT: SECRET SEVEN #2
Written by PETER MILLIGAN
Art by GEORGE PEREZ and SCOTT KOBLISH
Cover by GEORGE PEREZ
On sale JULY 6 • 2 of 3, 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US • RATED T

Thanks to Ragnell for the tip.

I’m excited to see any return of Amethyst to comics, but I’m not so crazy about seeing her in a massive crossover event that is spawning multiple mini-series. Still, I’ll take whatever I can get.