Storytime:
It was yesterday, and I was in town shopping when I really should have been careful and not spend any more money. But I was on my two week break from work before the big Christmas rush, and I felt like being frivolous and I wanted to find some books and comics, what can you do?Anyway, I wasn't having much luck in the comic-finding department. Suddenly I remembered I could look in my local comic book shop - yes, my small English town has one, I used to be surprised by that, too - and so I did. Again, bafflement and disappointment won out.
But then what should catch my eye, but the small, purple, cute and kiddie spine and cover of 'Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld', authored by none other than Shannon and Dean Hale (art by Asiah Fulmore). I was stunned - I was certain there was no recent 'Amethyst' comic since the Amy Reeder line. Yet there was this little title, placed on a big shelf in between big DC and Marvel trades and omnibuses, like a literal hidden gem that was made for me to find. It's like destiny...
Okay, I'm being overly dramatic. Point is: I bought the graphic novel, adding up to an overall nice and fruitful day in continuously consuming and supporting girl power media, and I read it that very night, and liked it (I shouldn't have doubted!). The end.
'Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld (2021)' truly is an adorable, magical princess-y children's comic with heart. In this rendition of the DC heroine, Princess Amethyst - or Amaya - is nine-years-old and lives in House Amethyst in Gemworld. The magical prodigy is a cheeky troublemaker and a spoiled brat who is always playing pranks, accompanied by her younger brother Quartz.
One day, when one of her antics goes too far and a part of the powerful House Amethyst keystone is damaged - along with part of her palace - her parents ground her...to Earth! To attend school there! (Why hello, 'Star vs. the Forces of Evil')
With the palace mage Citrina as her guardian, Amaya is sent off to the dreaded, nonmagical Earth. Feeling guilty, and as a way to prove that he is strong, Quartz gives her a play-sword with a sliver of the Amethyst keystone attached to it before she leaves. The sword transforms into a tiny pendant on Earth.
This trip was supposed to last only a week.
Three years later, Amaya/Amy and Citrina/Trina have forgotten about Gemworld, and magic. Their link to their realm is gone; the Amethyst network connection was too weak and their separation was too long. Amy is an ordinary middle school girl, minus the purple hair, and Trina is her aunt, as far as she believes.
Then, basically, while dealing with school bully boys, Amy and her friend Autumn suddenly get pulled in through a portal to Gemworld by young Prince Topaz. Both girls' clothes transform into cool and colourful royalty garb on arrival. Monsters made of crystal - originating from one big monster known as Flaw - are terrorising Gemworld. Everything is chaotic and out of balance. Only Amy's sword - now a big and ensorcelled weapon - can defeat the flawlings.
As she starts to remember her past life and the ways of Gemworld - and of being a magical warrior princess - how she can save her true home - and her parents and brother - becomes clearer and clearer to Amy/Amaya. With the help of her friends Autumn, the fashionable and spirited POC who is also dealing with her parents' divorce, and Topaz, the shy and initially-lonely techno nerd and wiz, this twelve-year-old princess can achieve her destiny. Even in between sleepovers!
So fun and nostalgic! 'Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld' is a gem for all ages. It's a joy. A nice, different little edition to the lore of Princess Amethyst in comics and other media. I'm extremely glad I decided to go to my hometown's comic book shop that day, and discover its existence.
Easter eggs: Amy has a Wonder Woman poster in her bedroom on Earth. And one of the lanes in her neighbourhood is called Winston, after her surname in the original DC comics (I don't know what her surname is in this version of her character; is it Winston?).
Plus, I'm loving the implication that House Amethyst is a matriarchy, with Amaya's mum clearly shown to be in charge of most things.
Final Score: 4/5
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