The new Amethyst miniseries, the first solo one since the 80s, follows teenager Amy Winston—a.k.a. Princess Amethyst—as she returns to her magical kingdom to celebrate her 16th birthday in style. The only problem? Her kingdom is missing, her subjects have vanished, and none in the realm of Gemworld—even her best friend, Lady Turquoise—remain loyal to her house!
Review
There’s something beautiful, floaty and kind in how Amethyst first issue carries you in its paper arms, even if the themes at stake are harsh. Amy Reeder approaches the story of her namesake as a growing tale from a fantasy adventures and magical companions filled childhood into the solitude and constant change of teenage years. Our princess suddenly feels herself alone and anxious about the world around her, and this is hardly a metaphor, since her world is literally devastated and all her people have disappeared into thin air.
This story brings something really important to teenager storytelling: consequences and accountability. When she goes to House Turquoise to figure out what’s happening, she’s met with resentment cause all of her “adventures” were not without costs to the people of Turqouise. Turquoise’s Queen, once her best friend, is now rejecting and isolating her. Even if all points out to “something weird” happening in Gemworld, the truth is the fallout of these very real issues is shown by various characters’ perspective, from the queen and her warriors, to the people spying on her throughout their windows.
All of that makes the story dive away from the single narrative of a marvelous hero against a cruel villain, and shines a light on the sacrifices of fighting “the good fight”. The spotlight is also over her mental health as she deals with this, and it trully feels that, as she learns about consequences, we’re learning with her. This perspective of a blurred line gets crystallized when the new character, the reckless rebel Phos, literally tells her “what’s good and what’s bad in this world isn’t always crystal clear”.
Reeder’s art really takes the story to vibrate with each movement and shape. As Amy thinks of how she’s falling alone and helpless on her empty land, we also see her fall into some crystalline amethysts. When she misses how this place looked when she was a kid, we see the shiny castle and appreciate her loss. When she lands on the hostile House Turquoise, we are met with lots of shields, lances and geometrically coarse constructions. We even get to understand there’s gonna be something new and cheerful when that colourful worm appears – nothing less than a new friendship!
It’s specially impressive how the colours match the emotions throughout all the issue. The violet claims her isolation in her own land, and the blue comes down to the conflict and the questioning of her ethical assumptions. The panel in which she learns that from Phoss gets darker blue, which grows into the darker side of the palette when we get closer to the final revelation. Plus, the cover is an explosions of other different colours and shapes that tease Amy’s upcoming adventures, with a brilliant variant cover by Stephanie Hans that reflects the solitude and defensiveness that Amy feels in this issue. Playing with colour and shape as a storytelling tool is not only effective to the reader’s eye, but makes the travel to so many emotional places compact and unified, like a rainbow that it’s its shades but also its whole.
Final Thoughts
Amy Reeder takes on writing, art and colour duties (with Gabriela Downie in lettering) in a brilliant new reinvention of this character, which subverts most of the magical girl narratives. The idealized fantasy transformation of a child into an adult in a fantasy world turns into an adolescent who doesn't magically grow and also doesn't live an stereotypical adventure of the right versus the wrong. The moving and compelling art easily makes this first chapter shine like a precious gem.
