Amazing Heroes #20
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAmazing Heroes #20 (February 1983) is historically significant as one of the earliest in-depth previews of Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld — a sword-and-sorcery heroine created by Dan Mishkin, Gary Cohn, and Ernie Colón who would go on to be considered one of DC Comics' underrated classics for her female representation and fantasy themes, predating both She-Ra: Princess of Power and Sailor Moon by several years. The issue arrived months before Amethyst's formal comics debut in Legion of Super-Heroes #298 (April 1983), making it a rare pre-publication spotlight on a character who would influence genre storytelling for girls in mainstream comics. It also carries Part 1 of a multi-issue New Gods History and an interview with cartoonist Fred Hembeck, reflecting the magazine's dual mission of chronicling both current DC/Marvel developments and the deeper lore of superhero comics. As the seventh issue published in the smaller comic-book format (the title shifted from magazine-size after issue #13), it represents the run finding its mature, sustained voice under editor Kim Thompson.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Amazing Heroes launched in June 1981 under Fantagraphics — explicitly conceived to fill the gap left by the fan-oriented Comic Reader and to give the company a second revenue stream alongside the more critical Comics Journal. First editor Michael Catron proposed the 'Hero Histories' format and other fan-friendly features, but deadline problems led to his replacement by Comics Journal editor Kim Thompson after issue #6. Issue #20 falls squarely in the Thompson era, by which point the title had moved to a twice-monthly comic-book-sized format and was building its reputation as the most thorough cheerleader for mainstream superhero comics of the early 1980s Bronze Age. The Star Wars newspaper strip by Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson, reprinted across issues #1–59, continued as a regular serialized feature in this issue.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover date: February 1983 (Vol. 1, #20); published by Fantagraphics under its Redbeard, Inc. imprint.
- Cover art by Ernie Colón — the same artist who would draw Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld's debut issue later that spring.
- Lead feature: an in-depth preview of DC's upcoming Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld — a character created by writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn with artist Ernie Colón, whose formal debut came in Legion of Super-Heroes #298 (April 1983).
- Second major feature: New Gods History — Part 1, the first installment of a multi-part retrospective on Jack Kirby's Fourth World mythology.
- Interview with cartoonist and humorist Fred Hembeck, a frequent contributor to the fan-press of the era.
- Reprints an installment of the Archie Goodwin/Al Williamson Star Wars newspaper comic strip — a serialized feature that ran in Amazing Heroes from issue #1 through #59.
- Regular departments include 'Potpourri' by Jim Korkis and Don Rosa, 'Coming Distractions,' and 'Comics in Review' covering Jon Sable, Freelance.
- Issue #20 appears in the comic-book trim size, having transitioned from the magazine-size format after issue #13; the title was then appearing on a twice-monthly schedule.
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