Review — ‘Amethyst’ #3: Strike Up the Banned

Amethyst #3 – Amy Reeder, Writer/Artist; Marisa Louise, Colorist

Ray – 9/10

Ray: The Wonder Comics line continues its first foray into high fantasy with Amy Reeder’s excellent reinvention of Amethyst and her kingdom of Gemworld. Reeder wasted no time kicking things off with a bang as the teenage Amy Winston returned to her kingdom to discover that not only had it been ravaged and her subjects taken, but the entire council of kingdoms had turned against her for an unknown reason. Now on the run with only a rebellious young warrior as her company, she seeks out allies in unexpected places. That starts with the rival kingdom of Aquamarine, where a queen finds herself under threat of assassination. Surprisingly, the endangered royal offers her help—but not in person. She instead chooses to send her rude, skeptical son as Amethyst’s new partner, raising the team numbers to three and increasing the conflict by much more than a third.

There is a lot of behind the scenes mythology to Gemworld, but Reeder wisely hasn’t bogged down the series in it. She introduces it into the series as needed, as we see this issue with the introduction of the Banned. Apparently Gemworld has a long and complex history that involved a massive gem civil war and the elimination of all other gems besides the chosen twelve. That’s transformed the other gems into contraband, and now loyalists to them run a secret market full of banned artifacts—the kind of things a rebel princess might need if she intends to track down and expose an evil warlord. But Amy soon finds out that the kingdoms have fully turned against her, and an old ally may just become her deadliest enemy. This issue doesn’t miss a step after a long absence, and it’s another creative win for the Wonder Comics line and a return to form for one of DC’s most underrated heroes.

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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.