http://mllesays.insanejournal.com/ ([identity profile] mllesays.insanejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] scans_daily,
@ 2009-07-20 10:14 am UTC
Entry tags:char: amethyst/amy winston, char: tim hunter, creator: neil gaiman, publisher: dc comics, title: the books of magic
I had never heard of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld until the scans were posted here. But upon going back through some old Neil Gaiman stuff, I realized that Gemworld gets a mention in the original Books of Magic miniseries (in issue #3, with art by Charles Vess). 




Minor, I know, but I love seeing Vess' take on Gemworld.




They even drop in Zerox (this one, um, may not be Vess. In fact, I think it's Paul Johnson. I don't have the trade in front of me D:).  Someday, Gemworld will exist again!

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[identity profile] menagerie.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 03:24 pm UTC (link)
I love the original Books of Magic.

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[identity profile] greenmask.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 03:34 pm UTC (link)
Someday, Gemworld will exist again!

It had better, or I'll cry.

I always wondered about Books of Magic. Now I wonder again!

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[identity profile] mllesays.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 03:40 pm UTC (link)
It had better, or I'll cry.

Agreed.

What did you wonder about them?

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[identity profile] greenmask.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 03:41 pm UTC (link)
If I should read them! :D

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[identity profile] mllesays.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 03:48 pm UTC (link)
Right, of course!

The first four issues that Neil did are... interesting. They're just a tour through the magic parts of the DCU. The series proper, when it started, fell kind of flat for me, so I didn't read beyond its first trade.

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[identity profile] icon_uk.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 06:23 pm UTC (link)
I think you've sort of got that the wrong way round. The four issue mini seres wasn't "the first four issues", it WAS the series proper.

It was the ongoing series which wasn't the series proper... if that makes sense.

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[identity profile] mllesays.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 06:27 pm UTC (link)
Erm, yes. I said "series proper" because it wasn't originally intended to be a series, but then began as one after Neil's issues. So we mean the same thing, just expressed in slightly different ways.

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[identity profile] jlroberson.insanejournal.com
2009-07-21 11:25 am UTC (link)
Yeah, Neil's was pretty self-contained: it was really just a survey through the magic parts of the DCU. (which repurposed most of them for Vertigo) The series came reasonably later--this was still DC "special format," while the series came out once Vertigo was already well underway. I'm not sure if they had any definite future development of Tim in mind at the time--he was basically just the Guy Who Listens and Learns you need to provide a reason why everyone's talking about this stuff.

I will say this: I still maintain there are many elements of Tim that are suspiciously similar to the later Harry Potter. But I also imagine that even if there are Neil doesn't care to make a fuss.(and besides, it's not like he's hurting, and Tim isn't owned by him)

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[identity profile] mllesays.insanejournal.com
2009-07-21 12:23 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, I realized the key word I left out of those other two comments was "ongoing." Neil's miniseries was, as you say, self-contained; about 3 years later, the actual ongoing series started.

I remember reading something Neil had said/written in regards to Tim Hunter and Harry Potter — he was very gracious, basically saying that certain ideas get repeated unknowingly, the collective unconscious and all of that. He's a classy dude.

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[identity profile] volksjager.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 03:49 pm UTC (link)
Wasn't it also conected to Legion books through the white witch Mordru ect ???

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[identity profile] perletwo.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 04:10 pm UTC (link)
Yeah, that's Zerox, aka Sorceror's World, training ground of Mordru & the White Witch, which apparently is what Gemworld has evolved into by the 31st century.

If I can find my copies of the Great Darkness Saga, there's a great splash page showing what the wild magic floating around Zerox has made it look like.

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[identity profile] mllesays.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 04:10 pm UTC (link)
It was. Though I only know that thanks to Wikipedia.

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[identity profile] icon_uk.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 05:34 pm UTC (link)
Apart from Gemworld becoming Zerox, the mention of an "Archmage" refers to the Magic Wars which brought an end to the Levitz Legion run just prior to the "Five Year Gap".

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[identity profile] halloweenjack.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 04:59 pm UTC (link)
As soon as I saw "Charles Vess" I knew that it would probably be a treat, but even so... wow. Thanks for posting.

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[identity profile] ashtoreth.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 05:33 pm UTC (link)
Yes! :) But so puzzling. I wonder who the Archmage is.

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[identity profile] icon_uk.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 05:37 pm UTC (link)
Vaguely generic "source of all magic" which was featured in the Legion of Superheroes. His awakening started a magical disruption called "The Magic Wars" which led, amongst other things, to the death of Magnetic Kid.

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[identity profile] filbypott.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 07:14 pm UTC (link)
I thought the Archmage was Mordru?

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[identity profile] icon_uk.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 07:39 pm UTC (link)
Nope, different being.

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[identity profile] jlroberson.insanejournal.com
2009-07-21 11:27 am UTC (link)
Well, at least it gave Rokk something to get pissed about.

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[identity profile] comicoz.insanejournal.com
2009-07-20 06:38 pm UTC (link)
Love the icon. It's the entire series in 30 seconds of quick reading!

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[identity profile] btravage.livejournal.com (from insanejournal.com)
2009-07-20 07:22 pm UTC (link)
I really love the Books of Magic take on the 64th century, home of Abra Kadabra or as he's known here, Abhararakadhararbarakh.

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[identity profile] buttler.insanejournal.com
2009-07-21 03:40 am UTC (link)
We need more defunct comics properties intercompany crossovers:
Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld Loves Crystar, Crystal Warrior!

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[identity profile] jlroberson.insanejournal.com
2009-07-21 11:19 am UTC (link)
All I know is Dark Opal was one cool-looking villain. At least to me as a kid.
Image

But that was always the case: him, Baron Karza, Darkseid, any of those, you had that kind of villain and the fanboy instinct came right out.

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