Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld #5

Sep 1983 · DC · 0.60 USD; 0.25 GBP; 0.75 CAD

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“Battlegrounds!”

★ 1st appearance — Lady Turquoise★ 1st appearance — Lady Sapphire

About this Issue

Issue #5 of the 1983 maxi-series is a pivotal world-building chapter in one of DC's most forward-thinking fantasy titles of the Bronze Age — a sword-and-sorcery series centered on a young female protagonist at a time when the publisher's output was dominated by male superheroes. The issue introduces Lady Sapphire and Princess Emerald II, expanding the geopolitical tapestry of Gemworld's twelve royal houses and deepening the dynastic intrigue that drives the whole arc. Its school-hallway sequence — in which Amy Winston involuntarily transforms into Princess Amethyst in front of her classmates — dramatizes the series' central tension between ordinary girlhood and extraordinary destiny with unusual emotional precision. The series as a whole predates both She-Ra: Princess of Power and Sailor Moon, giving Amethyst a legitimate claim as one of the earliest Western 'magical girl' protagonists in mass-market comics.

writer Dan Mishkin · writer Gary Cohn · artist, inker Ernie Colón · colorist Tom Ziuko · letterer John Costanza · cover George Pérez, Ernie Colón

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Amethyst Princess Of Gemworld Vol. 1 #5 DC Comics 1983 Comic Book $8.55

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History

Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld was created by writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn and artist Ernie Colón, with Karen Berger as editor. The concept was originally pitched under the name 'Changeling,' but because Beast Boy was already using that name at DC, Mishkin chose 'Amethyst' as a substitute — a decision that cascaded into the jewel-themed naming of every character and the entire Gemworld setting. The character first appeared as a special preview insert in Legion of Super-Heroes #298 (April 1983) before launching into her own 12-issue maxi-series — DC's label for an extended limited series — beginning in May 1983, with issue #5 landing in September of that year.

Trivia · 8 facts

Title: 'Battlegrounds!' — script by Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn, interior art and cover inks by Ernie Colón; cover date September 1983.
First appearance of Lady Sapphire, who is being brought to Topaz Keep as a politically arranged bride for Prince Topaz.
First appearance of Princess Emerald II, introduced in the wake of the original Princess Emerald's death, with the deceased's magical power temporarily held in trust by the Diamond Priests.
First appearance of the Diamond Priests of the House of Diamond, who debate whether their accumulated royal magic could be sufficient to challenge Dark Opal — and choose not to act yet.
The issue's Earth-set sequence pivots the series: Amy's amethyst pendant accidentally links to Granch's magic fragment rather than the Opal Mausoleum stone, yanking Granch and his siblings into Amy's junior-high classroom and forcing her public transformation into Princess Amethyst, which compels her to finally explain everything to her parents.
Dark Opal's arrangement that all heirs of the royal houses must serve in his household — because he regards his biological children as 'monstrosities' and his adopted heir Carnelian lacks magic — is explicitly articulated to Princess Emerald, revealing the coercive political structure underpinning his rule.
The entire 12-issue maxi-series, including this issue, was reprinted in DC's Showcase Presents: Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld Vol. 1 (2012), alongside the Legion of Super-Heroes #298 preview, Amethyst Annual #1, DC Comics Presents #63, and the first eleven issues of the ongoing series.
The series has received animated adaptations, including a segment of DC Nation Shorts on Cartoon Network (2013) and an appearance in DC Super Hero Girls: Hero of the Year.