"Thanks, Captain Buzzkill", in Amethyst (vol. 3) #2, by Keith Giffen (story) and Mindy Newell (script/story), Esteban Maroto (artist), John Costanza (letterer)
After the second volume concluded with issue 16, there was a Special, where Amethyst faced down a particularly irritating Lord of Chaos for the fate of Gemworld. Then this four-issue mini-series, set decades later. The Chaos Lords try again, and Amethyst has to come out of the substance of the world to face them down. It's a natural story to do, since the whole Order vs. Chaos thing is an ongoing struggle.
The part that annoys me is that young fool, who ended up helping Chaos, turns out to be Mordru, the JSA and Legion of Superheroes enemy. Now you know the rest of the story. Or where to find the rest of his story. If that's something that interests you, it doesn't mean much to me.
Amethyst herself is quite different. Older, more confident. There's not really a moment where I thought she was at any risk of losing. She also feels more detached. She's been part of this world and its inhabitants, which has given a certain sense of ownership. Like she isn't fighting or punishing Mordru because she's angry that he hurt and killed people, but because he hurt her stuff. Like someone came to your house and smashed your lawn ornaments. It's also a development that makes sense - she's a Lord of Order now, living on a different plane of existence in her perceptions - but I don't know that it was an improvement.
4 comments:
I can't help having a little bit of sympathy for Chaos bringers. Without them, nothing ever changes!
They do get a bad rap, since "chaos" always seems to get equated to death and destruction.
I remember loving the original Amethyst maxi-series back in the day, but I never got into her as a lord of Order.
tavella: Yeah, when they sprang that reveal on us in the previous series, I was not a fan. I guess they were trying to weave Gemworld more in with the rest of the post-Crisis DCU, but I don't know that was right move.
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