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Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems #1-4
Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems
Steven & the Gems go camping!
When Steven Universe takes his super heroic pals, the Gems, on a camping trip, he decides it’d be fun to tell them a scary story. But the Gems—Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl—have a spooky yarn of their own where a monster turns bad Gems to glass. It’s of little consequence until citizens of Beach City turn up frozen!
Written by Josceline Fenton (Hemlock) with art by Chrystin Garland (Adventure Time), Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems explores the magical world of the hit Cartoon Network show.
When Steven Universe takes his super heroic pals, the Gems, on a camping trip, he decides it’d be fun to tell them a scary story. But the Gems—Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl—have a spooky yarn of their own where a monster turns bad Gems to glass. It’s of little consequence until citizens of Beach City turn up frozen!
Written by Josceline Fenton (Hemlock) with art by Chrystin Garland (Adventure Time), Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems explores the magical world of the hit Cartoon Network show.
128 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
April 22, 2017
Muy muy buena.
La representación de los personajes es 100% fiel al show. El dibujo es extremadamente similar al del show. El argumento de la novela gráfica es verosímil dentro del mundo, la estructura y contenido de la serie animada.
Se leyó como un episodio.
Me encanto y quiero más.
La representación de los personajes es 100% fiel al show. El dibujo es extremadamente similar al del show. El argumento de la novela gráfica es verosímil dentro del mundo, la estructura y contenido de la serie animada.
Se leyó como un episodio.
Me encanto y quiero más.
July 19, 2020
This graphic novel is good enough to actually be an episode of the series, unlike the last one I read. The dialogue, character beats and themes were all pretty spot on. Nice.
December 17, 2016
I read all of these comic issues individually when they came out, so the trade version was not new to me, but I love having them all in a sturdy volume and especially getting to browse the complete cover gallery at the end. Here are my collected (slightly adjusted) reviews of the four chapters from when I read them before.
Chapter 1
This issue's full-color story features Steven and the Gems going camping. Steven's having trouble locating the place he always camps with Dad, but eventually his map skills come through. The Gems set up camp--with a few glitches--and Steven teaches them to make s'mores, then tells a scary story. The Gems don't really understand why his story is scary at all--it seems unsatisfying and confusing to them--so they take a turn telling a scary tale. And it scares Steven (and maybe Amethyst, too!). The Story of the Glass Ghost, reportedly made up to keep Amethyst in line when she was younger, describes a glass-shard creature that can capture living beings and turn them into broken glass. After reassuring Steven and Amethyst that the Glass Ghost is made up, they settle in for the night, but Steven wakes up and investigates a clinking sound. We end on a cliffhanger with Steven facing a frightening glass-like monster.
Notable bits for fans:
1. Steven's got his cheeseburger backpack, as usual! (Garnet seems to be carrying most of the essentials in a huge pack, and obviously having no trouble. Pearl has a tiny hand basket and Amethyst isn't helping carry anything.)
2. Pearl's combination of thinking camping is bizarre and politely humoring Steven is totally on point for her character in this.
3. If the comic was your first introduction to these characters, Steven's instructions to each Gem would set the stage for figuring out who they are. Garnet is seen speaking extremely succinctly or not at all and she's a huge badass when asked to start a fire; Pearl is good at building things but doesn't understand human practical applications; and Amethyst really likes food.
4. Regarding the above, though, I thought it was odd that Garnet had any trouble with starting the fire, since it's been shown in the show she can generate electricity whenever she wants and that would have done it. And Pearl being surprised there were instructions to pitch the tent seems weird because she probably would have immediately looked for something to tell her what to do.
5. The s'mores-making is really cute. Pearl doesn't want anything to do with food, as usual, and Amethyst is happy to eat the graham crackers and marshmallows by the package with the packaging still on. Garnet just does what Steven does and actually eats marshmallows. This is twice she's eaten sweets in comics but she's never eaten anything in the show and we're still waiting to see her snacking habits. ;)
6. Steven's scary story about a teenage babysitter being haunted by creepy phone calls until the kids she's watching disappear is lovingly illustrated with representations of "Chille Tid" Garnet from Steven's dream as the babysitter, and the kids are represented by Baby Amethyst (the design from "So Many Birthdays") and Onion. Onion apparently sleeps with his eyes open, since the narration says the kids were asleep. That does not surprise me one bit.
7. When the Gems don't find the story scary, it's funny how Amethyst screams about how the ending is unsatisfying, Pearl points out how illogical it is to not answer the question of who the mysterious caller was, and Garnet declares that she saw it coming. C'mon Garnet, don't spoil it like that!
8. It's really interesting that Steven prompts a scary story from the Gems by asking them what DOES scare them. Yes, what IS scary to a superhuman, nigh-immortal space creature?
9. When Pearl tells the Story of the Glass Ghost, she goes into her drama zone after learning from Steven how to do it with the flashlight, and her flashback illustration features the Young Gems with their outfit designs as shown in "Story for Steven" and "We Need to Talk."
10. It's incredibly cute that Garnet and Pearl immediately admit it's a made-up story when Steven is frightened, while Amethyst was tortured with that story to keep her out of trouble all the time.
11. Pearl: "Is this the part where we sleep in bags?" Classic. And she definitely thinks it's weird that humans built homes but sleep outside for fun. Garnet appears to like her sleeping bag very much because it's "like a hug for your whole body." She's such a secret softie. Though I don't know why they put their sleeping bags on either side of Steven and then when he wakes up he's far away from them in his bag. I guess they wanted to hang out by the fire, but I don't know why they left him there.
12. And I'll just say the main cover is really cute, with the Gems barreling toward danger and Garnet's going fist-first, Amethyst's going feet first, Pearl's going headfirst, and Steven's . . . heading on in there butt-first, with no sign of his weapon.
Chapter 2
This issue's full-color story picks up where the previous issue left off: Steven is hollering his head off while facing the Glass Ghost, and Garnet and Pearl are convinced he was just sleepwalking, flipping out under the influence of the scary story they told. But Amethyst sees the telltale broken glass at the site and quietly believes him, becoming sullen and suspicious after seeing how her elders brush off Steven's concerns. Once home, Steven retains his nervousness around anything made of glass, and after Pearl tries to convince him that there's no such thing as a ghost, Steven visits the local paranormal expert: RONALDO FRYMAN. Ronaldo, of course, believes him, and they launch an investigation--which of course has to happen in the woods at night. They track the ghost and come upon glass shards, and Steven is horrified to see Ronaldo being captured and transformed into glass by the monster. And though his shield helps protect him, Steven seems at the mercy of the ghost until Amethyst comes to the rescue. . . .
Notable bits for fans:
1. Pearl and Garnet being so panicked to run to Steven's aid that they forget to get out of their sleeping bags is just precious. You don't often see a Garnet pratfall played for laughs, you know?
2. I love that Pearl says "what on Earth?" just like in the show. She says that phrase a lot--a surprising amount for, you know, an alien.
3. Pearl regrets telling Steven the scary story and remarks that it took Amethyst centuries to get over it. That's such a sad thought--that they tried to control Amethyst with this story and she was haunted by it for hundreds of years! No wonder she's the sympathetic one in this story.
4. Steven nervously avoiding glass items because of his bad experience brings back echoes of the episode "Future Vision" when he kept thinking everything he touched could lead to his untimely death. It's also adorable that he makes nervous little puns. Classic Steven!
5. Pearl's nerdery here is legendary. "Steven, are you screaming again?" she asks before heading to Steven's room and giving him literal diagrams about how Gems and glass are different things and ghosts can't be real.
6. Ronaldo! He's written perfectly. Answers the door with a dramatic phrase. Wants to get back to arguing on the Internet until the possibility of real paranormal discoveries comes to his doorstep. Heavily influenced by his experience with horror movies. (Steven is a little disappointed by his enthusiasm, though. He doesn't want Ronaldo to think ghosts are cool. But he sure is happy to hear that if the ghost is someone they can help, he can be of use!)
7. Poor Steven running after Ronaldo and being unable to keep up because of his short legs . . . he has this problem a lot.
8. Amethyst being there to save Steven's butt felt so triumphant. Everything's drawn so well and ends up so dramatic!
Chapter 3
This issue's full-color story picks up where the previous issue left off: Amethyst is ready to defend Steven against the Glass Ghost, confirming the truth of the story she'd been told all those years ago. Revealing that actually Rose Quartz originated the story as if it were a real experience, Amethyst says she never stopped believing it. The ghost is invulnerable to Amethyst's whip attacks, so she and Steven grab the crystallized Ronaldo and run. Soon they show Ronaldo's helpless form to the other Crystal Gems and debate on what to do, but before they can take any course of action to help him, screams erupt from all over town. More townspeople are being turned into glass! Following a trail (and observing that Sadie in particular doesn't look like she had been scared of the ghost at the time she'd become petrified), Steven is terrified to hear his own father screaming for help. Steven arrives just in time to stop Greg from becoming the latest victim, using his shield and his bubble to defend, but now he's very confused about what this "ghost" actually is and why it's targeting humans now.
Notable bits for fans:
1. The Glass Ghost's eyes and hand gestures clearly look sympathetic almost all of the time; if you look closely, you can see it's confused or dismayed about being attacked, and that it seems to be reaching for help somehow. Its expression is drawn very well despite not having traditional features.
2. There's a strange panel on the first page where Amethyst's hair is not covering her face where it usually is, but her other eye doesn't appear to be under there. Subsequent frames show glimpses of her left eye appropriately when her hair moves, so it looks really weird to see no eye in this one frame.
3. Amethyst claims that Rose finally told her the Glass Ghost story once after she got in "real big trouble." I wonder what she did to deserve that kind of talking-to. It's implied that she talked about the Ghost out of love for Amethyst, though, not as a boogeyman to make her behave. I like the one drawing of Rose talking to young Amethyst.
4. There's a cute moment when Amethyst drops her half of Ronaldo's glass form to yell at Pearl, and Steven is left holding Ronaldo all by himself. When Garnet takes him off his hands, he sighs with relief.
5. Garnet's "I thought violence would be the answer!" mentality comes up hard and fast when Steven's distressed about how to fix Ronaldo and she whips out her gauntlets to smash him. Luckily they stop her, but this is some good continuity. Garnet is occasionally the opposite of level-headed when she's panicking, and this is a good expression of it.
6. Pearl has her science nerd face on again when she says they can't "melt" the glass to help the frozen Ronaldo because he's not made of ice, and the temperature needed to melt glass would kill a human.
7. Steven, in his typical way, is worried about what he's going to tell Ronaldo's family. He specifically mentions Ronaldo's brother, Peedee. The very peculiar thing is that in the next shot, they find that Peedee and Mr. Fryman have already been turned into glass by the Ghost, and when Garnet remarks "Looks like the Ghost found him first," Steven hugs their frozen forms and says "Don't worry, Sour Cream, we'll find a way to get you out of there." That is clearly not Sour Cream in there. Sour Cream is actually not pictured anywhere in this comic, though all of his friends are. I wonder if notes got crossed somehow and Peedee/Mr. Fryman were drawn in the frame but the dialogue still said "Sour Cream"? It's really confusing.
8. Steven notices two frozen people whose pose appears to puzzle him. Everyone else looks terrified (Ronaldo, Mr. Fryman/Peedee, Kiki/Jenny, Kofi, Buck, Mayor Dewey, Jamie, and Lars), but Nanefua and Sadie are reaching up and looking calm or sympathetic. It's only commented on in Sadie's case, but Steven does utter "Huh?" looking at Nanefua.
9. I did think it was a little weird that when the screaming started coming from more than one direction, the Gems let Steven go one way and all three of them went the other way. Doesn't seem like the safest choice, especially with Garnet saying "Steven can handle himself" (even if she's right)--he probably would have appreciated some reassurance.
10. When Steven repels the creature with his bubble and it smashes into the wall, it looks actually really angry for the first time. It's pretty unsettling.
I was just a little less impressed with this chapter versus the previous two. It mostly just felt like more of the same thing that happened last time because we already saw the Glass Ghost turning a human into glass, and now it just did more of it while Steven discovered the story originally came from Rose. There's just not a ton of forward motion in the story here.
Chapter 4
This issue's full-color story picks up where the previous issue left off: Steven and Greg have just survived an encounter with the Glass Ghost, and now there's a big hole in Greg's wall (which he frets about while the Gems burst in and destroy even more of the wall). They follow the glass trail the Ghost is leaving and find it in the forest, and attempt to sneak up on it (with Amethyst flying off in bird form to maybe catch it unawares). Steven observes that the Ghost is admiring a flower, and that it gets frustrated when touching the flower turns it to glass. Just as he realizes the Ghost wants to be able to interact with the world without destroying things, Amethyst barrels in with a sneak attack, but the Ghost retaliates and traps her in crystal. Garnet, attempting to play it safe, uses her remote rocket fists to attack the Ghost, but she is distracted by Amethyst's transformation into glass, and it manages to trap her too just as she thinks she's got the upper hand. Pearl and Steven burst in with spear attacks and a bubble barrage, and this time Steven is distracted by Garnet being trapped in the Ghost's glass. Pearl, while trying to encourage him to fight with her, gets attacked herself, and then it's just Steven facing the Ghost himself. He realizes the Ghost cannot control what it's doing and that it would like to touch people and things without ruining them. Steven thinks about how sad it would be if he couldn't hug his friends, and offers himself to the Ghost while protected in his bubble so it can finally have a hug. The Ghost is satisfied, and wraps itself around Steven's bubble in such a way that it triggers the bubble to explode . . . taking the Ghost's physical form with it. Once everyone is freed from its physical remnants and turned back into people and Gems again, Steven realizes it was a Gem all along--a corrupted Gem with an ability it couldn't control--and Steven happily bubbles it and takes it back to the Crystal Temple basement. They reflect once more on the power of scary stories as they all head back to Steven's house.
Notable bits for fans:
1. Greg muttering about insurance probably not covering monster attacks and Gems bursting through the wall is pretty nice--one of the best things about the show is how rooted in reality it can be, with real people worrying about stuff like this.
2. Pearl squawking "WAS THE GHOST HERE? DID IT TOUCH YOU? ARE YOU HURT?" is so true to the neurotic Pearl we all love from the show. Steven calms her down with a problem to solve, describing the way his bubble pushed the Ghost back and then it phased through the wall. I liked watching Pearl and Garnet being nerds trying to figure out how that power works and what it means for whether trapping the Ghost would be possible.
3. Owlmethyst is back. Amethyst becomes an owl to scout the area from the air.
4. Steven was also using his adorable "stealth mode." It's cute when he gets into the character he's playing, and then gets all congratulatory on himself for how well he snuck around. He's even wearing the coat he was wearing in "Arcade Mania" from the last time he was asked to participate in a stealth mission.
5. When Amethyst is first to get turned into glass, she comments that the story was true after all, which is great because it reminds you how much time she spent scared of this thing, and makes you think about why she was so eager to attack it.
6. Steven sympathizing with the monster because he knows what it's like to not really be able to control your powers makes a lot of sense. And of course he would want it to have what it wants, even if it puts him in danger. I'm not sure what his plan was if the Ghost had just hugged his bubble and left, but I guess he was caught up in sympathizing with it.
7. Pearl is interested in the weirdness of the Gem after it's poofed, now that she knows it's a Gem. She acknowledges that she doubted Steven's assessment from one of the earlier issues, and Garnet points out that corruption can do odd things to Gems--just like scary stories can do odd things to people's minds.
8. Steven refers to the poofed Gem as "she" after he realizes the Glass Ghost was a Gem. This is similar to how they were using the pronoun "it" for the Centipeetle in "Monster Buddies" but Steven started using "she" after they spent some time together. I guess he just assumes anything that's of Gem origin is a she, and has no problem thinking of them that way.
9. Seriously one of the cutest moments is the end where Garnet and Pearl are so impressed that the Glass Ghost retained its phasing ability even though it was so corrupted--and that it must be a very strong Gem, "like a Quartz," says Garnet, and Steven proclaims, "LIKE ME!" He's so cute when he's proud of stuff he knows about his Gem heritage.
10. Amethyst shape-shifting into the Glass Ghost to scare the poop out of her family was funny--it felt like a callback to several times when Amethyst did such things, like when she shifted her head into a fly to freak Steven out during "Island Adventure," and when she startled Steven in "Catch and Release" by pretending she was Peridot back to kidnap him. She continues to not know what's appropriate and this comic matches up with that well. Of course, only Steven and Pearl were startled. Garnet just stood there with no reaction. Typical. When Amethyst says it's payback for scaring her with that story all those years, Garnet agrees that that's fair.
11. As they conclude the comic talking about other scary stories, it's adorable how Pearl pipes up something about Frankenstein's monster. She WOULD be the one staying accurate to terminology and not accidentally just calling it "Frankenstein."
12. They never do explicitly return to address why Nanefua and Sadie were not wearing terrified expressions in their frozen state. We can now conclude that maybe they realized the monster just wanted a hug too. Both characters have been sympathetic to others and able to catch onto nuances in interactions that others are oblivious to, so maybe that's why that detail was included.
This issue felt really authentic to the heart of the characters and was great fun to read. I hope there are more miniseries that feel so close to the show, because I think this series has been the best comic adaptation yet.
Chapter 1
This issue's full-color story features Steven and the Gems going camping. Steven's having trouble locating the place he always camps with Dad, but eventually his map skills come through. The Gems set up camp--with a few glitches--and Steven teaches them to make s'mores, then tells a scary story. The Gems don't really understand why his story is scary at all--it seems unsatisfying and confusing to them--so they take a turn telling a scary tale. And it scares Steven (and maybe Amethyst, too!). The Story of the Glass Ghost, reportedly made up to keep Amethyst in line when she was younger, describes a glass-shard creature that can capture living beings and turn them into broken glass. After reassuring Steven and Amethyst that the Glass Ghost is made up, they settle in for the night, but Steven wakes up and investigates a clinking sound. We end on a cliffhanger with Steven facing a frightening glass-like monster.
Notable bits for fans:
1. Steven's got his cheeseburger backpack, as usual! (Garnet seems to be carrying most of the essentials in a huge pack, and obviously having no trouble. Pearl has a tiny hand basket and Amethyst isn't helping carry anything.)
2. Pearl's combination of thinking camping is bizarre and politely humoring Steven is totally on point for her character in this.
3. If the comic was your first introduction to these characters, Steven's instructions to each Gem would set the stage for figuring out who they are. Garnet is seen speaking extremely succinctly or not at all and she's a huge badass when asked to start a fire; Pearl is good at building things but doesn't understand human practical applications; and Amethyst really likes food.
4. Regarding the above, though, I thought it was odd that Garnet had any trouble with starting the fire, since it's been shown in the show she can generate electricity whenever she wants and that would have done it. And Pearl being surprised there were instructions to pitch the tent seems weird because she probably would have immediately looked for something to tell her what to do.
5. The s'mores-making is really cute. Pearl doesn't want anything to do with food, as usual, and Amethyst is happy to eat the graham crackers and marshmallows by the package with the packaging still on. Garnet just does what Steven does and actually eats marshmallows. This is twice she's eaten sweets in comics but she's never eaten anything in the show and we're still waiting to see her snacking habits. ;)
6. Steven's scary story about a teenage babysitter being haunted by creepy phone calls until the kids she's watching disappear is lovingly illustrated with representations of "Chille Tid" Garnet from Steven's dream as the babysitter, and the kids are represented by Baby Amethyst (the design from "So Many Birthdays") and Onion. Onion apparently sleeps with his eyes open, since the narration says the kids were asleep. That does not surprise me one bit.
7. When the Gems don't find the story scary, it's funny how Amethyst screams about how the ending is unsatisfying, Pearl points out how illogical it is to not answer the question of who the mysterious caller was, and Garnet declares that she saw it coming. C'mon Garnet, don't spoil it like that!
8. It's really interesting that Steven prompts a scary story from the Gems by asking them what DOES scare them. Yes, what IS scary to a superhuman, nigh-immortal space creature?
9. When Pearl tells the Story of the Glass Ghost, she goes into her drama zone after learning from Steven how to do it with the flashlight, and her flashback illustration features the Young Gems with their outfit designs as shown in "Story for Steven" and "We Need to Talk."
10. It's incredibly cute that Garnet and Pearl immediately admit it's a made-up story when Steven is frightened, while Amethyst was tortured with that story to keep her out of trouble all the time.
11. Pearl: "Is this the part where we sleep in bags?" Classic. And she definitely thinks it's weird that humans built homes but sleep outside for fun. Garnet appears to like her sleeping bag very much because it's "like a hug for your whole body." She's such a secret softie. Though I don't know why they put their sleeping bags on either side of Steven and then when he wakes up he's far away from them in his bag. I guess they wanted to hang out by the fire, but I don't know why they left him there.
12. And I'll just say the main cover is really cute, with the Gems barreling toward danger and Garnet's going fist-first, Amethyst's going feet first, Pearl's going headfirst, and Steven's . . . heading on in there butt-first, with no sign of his weapon.
Chapter 2
This issue's full-color story picks up where the previous issue left off: Steven is hollering his head off while facing the Glass Ghost, and Garnet and Pearl are convinced he was just sleepwalking, flipping out under the influence of the scary story they told. But Amethyst sees the telltale broken glass at the site and quietly believes him, becoming sullen and suspicious after seeing how her elders brush off Steven's concerns. Once home, Steven retains his nervousness around anything made of glass, and after Pearl tries to convince him that there's no such thing as a ghost, Steven visits the local paranormal expert: RONALDO FRYMAN. Ronaldo, of course, believes him, and they launch an investigation--which of course has to happen in the woods at night. They track the ghost and come upon glass shards, and Steven is horrified to see Ronaldo being captured and transformed into glass by the monster. And though his shield helps protect him, Steven seems at the mercy of the ghost until Amethyst comes to the rescue. . . .
Notable bits for fans:
1. Pearl and Garnet being so panicked to run to Steven's aid that they forget to get out of their sleeping bags is just precious. You don't often see a Garnet pratfall played for laughs, you know?
2. I love that Pearl says "what on Earth?" just like in the show. She says that phrase a lot--a surprising amount for, you know, an alien.
3. Pearl regrets telling Steven the scary story and remarks that it took Amethyst centuries to get over it. That's such a sad thought--that they tried to control Amethyst with this story and she was haunted by it for hundreds of years! No wonder she's the sympathetic one in this story.
4. Steven nervously avoiding glass items because of his bad experience brings back echoes of the episode "Future Vision" when he kept thinking everything he touched could lead to his untimely death. It's also adorable that he makes nervous little puns. Classic Steven!
5. Pearl's nerdery here is legendary. "Steven, are you screaming again?" she asks before heading to Steven's room and giving him literal diagrams about how Gems and glass are different things and ghosts can't be real.
6. Ronaldo! He's written perfectly. Answers the door with a dramatic phrase. Wants to get back to arguing on the Internet until the possibility of real paranormal discoveries comes to his doorstep. Heavily influenced by his experience with horror movies. (Steven is a little disappointed by his enthusiasm, though. He doesn't want Ronaldo to think ghosts are cool. But he sure is happy to hear that if the ghost is someone they can help, he can be of use!)
7. Poor Steven running after Ronaldo and being unable to keep up because of his short legs . . . he has this problem a lot.
8. Amethyst being there to save Steven's butt felt so triumphant. Everything's drawn so well and ends up so dramatic!
Chapter 3
This issue's full-color story picks up where the previous issue left off: Amethyst is ready to defend Steven against the Glass Ghost, confirming the truth of the story she'd been told all those years ago. Revealing that actually Rose Quartz originated the story as if it were a real experience, Amethyst says she never stopped believing it. The ghost is invulnerable to Amethyst's whip attacks, so she and Steven grab the crystallized Ronaldo and run. Soon they show Ronaldo's helpless form to the other Crystal Gems and debate on what to do, but before they can take any course of action to help him, screams erupt from all over town. More townspeople are being turned into glass! Following a trail (and observing that Sadie in particular doesn't look like she had been scared of the ghost at the time she'd become petrified), Steven is terrified to hear his own father screaming for help. Steven arrives just in time to stop Greg from becoming the latest victim, using his shield and his bubble to defend, but now he's very confused about what this "ghost" actually is and why it's targeting humans now.
Notable bits for fans:
1. The Glass Ghost's eyes and hand gestures clearly look sympathetic almost all of the time; if you look closely, you can see it's confused or dismayed about being attacked, and that it seems to be reaching for help somehow. Its expression is drawn very well despite not having traditional features.
2. There's a strange panel on the first page where Amethyst's hair is not covering her face where it usually is, but her other eye doesn't appear to be under there. Subsequent frames show glimpses of her left eye appropriately when her hair moves, so it looks really weird to see no eye in this one frame.
3. Amethyst claims that Rose finally told her the Glass Ghost story once after she got in "real big trouble." I wonder what she did to deserve that kind of talking-to. It's implied that she talked about the Ghost out of love for Amethyst, though, not as a boogeyman to make her behave. I like the one drawing of Rose talking to young Amethyst.
4. There's a cute moment when Amethyst drops her half of Ronaldo's glass form to yell at Pearl, and Steven is left holding Ronaldo all by himself. When Garnet takes him off his hands, he sighs with relief.
5. Garnet's "I thought violence would be the answer!" mentality comes up hard and fast when Steven's distressed about how to fix Ronaldo and she whips out her gauntlets to smash him. Luckily they stop her, but this is some good continuity. Garnet is occasionally the opposite of level-headed when she's panicking, and this is a good expression of it.
6. Pearl has her science nerd face on again when she says they can't "melt" the glass to help the frozen Ronaldo because he's not made of ice, and the temperature needed to melt glass would kill a human.
7. Steven, in his typical way, is worried about what he's going to tell Ronaldo's family. He specifically mentions Ronaldo's brother, Peedee. The very peculiar thing is that in the next shot, they find that Peedee and Mr. Fryman have already been turned into glass by the Ghost, and when Garnet remarks "Looks like the Ghost found him first," Steven hugs their frozen forms and says "Don't worry, Sour Cream, we'll find a way to get you out of there." That is clearly not Sour Cream in there. Sour Cream is actually not pictured anywhere in this comic, though all of his friends are. I wonder if notes got crossed somehow and Peedee/Mr. Fryman were drawn in the frame but the dialogue still said "Sour Cream"? It's really confusing.
8. Steven notices two frozen people whose pose appears to puzzle him. Everyone else looks terrified (Ronaldo, Mr. Fryman/Peedee, Kiki/Jenny, Kofi, Buck, Mayor Dewey, Jamie, and Lars), but Nanefua and Sadie are reaching up and looking calm or sympathetic. It's only commented on in Sadie's case, but Steven does utter "Huh?" looking at Nanefua.
9. I did think it was a little weird that when the screaming started coming from more than one direction, the Gems let Steven go one way and all three of them went the other way. Doesn't seem like the safest choice, especially with Garnet saying "Steven can handle himself" (even if she's right)--he probably would have appreciated some reassurance.
10. When Steven repels the creature with his bubble and it smashes into the wall, it looks actually really angry for the first time. It's pretty unsettling.
I was just a little less impressed with this chapter versus the previous two. It mostly just felt like more of the same thing that happened last time because we already saw the Glass Ghost turning a human into glass, and now it just did more of it while Steven discovered the story originally came from Rose. There's just not a ton of forward motion in the story here.
Chapter 4
This issue's full-color story picks up where the previous issue left off: Steven and Greg have just survived an encounter with the Glass Ghost, and now there's a big hole in Greg's wall (which he frets about while the Gems burst in and destroy even more of the wall). They follow the glass trail the Ghost is leaving and find it in the forest, and attempt to sneak up on it (with Amethyst flying off in bird form to maybe catch it unawares). Steven observes that the Ghost is admiring a flower, and that it gets frustrated when touching the flower turns it to glass. Just as he realizes the Ghost wants to be able to interact with the world without destroying things, Amethyst barrels in with a sneak attack, but the Ghost retaliates and traps her in crystal. Garnet, attempting to play it safe, uses her remote rocket fists to attack the Ghost, but she is distracted by Amethyst's transformation into glass, and it manages to trap her too just as she thinks she's got the upper hand. Pearl and Steven burst in with spear attacks and a bubble barrage, and this time Steven is distracted by Garnet being trapped in the Ghost's glass. Pearl, while trying to encourage him to fight with her, gets attacked herself, and then it's just Steven facing the Ghost himself. He realizes the Ghost cannot control what it's doing and that it would like to touch people and things without ruining them. Steven thinks about how sad it would be if he couldn't hug his friends, and offers himself to the Ghost while protected in his bubble so it can finally have a hug. The Ghost is satisfied, and wraps itself around Steven's bubble in such a way that it triggers the bubble to explode . . . taking the Ghost's physical form with it. Once everyone is freed from its physical remnants and turned back into people and Gems again, Steven realizes it was a Gem all along--a corrupted Gem with an ability it couldn't control--and Steven happily bubbles it and takes it back to the Crystal Temple basement. They reflect once more on the power of scary stories as they all head back to Steven's house.
Notable bits for fans:
1. Greg muttering about insurance probably not covering monster attacks and Gems bursting through the wall is pretty nice--one of the best things about the show is how rooted in reality it can be, with real people worrying about stuff like this.
2. Pearl squawking "WAS THE GHOST HERE? DID IT TOUCH YOU? ARE YOU HURT?" is so true to the neurotic Pearl we all love from the show. Steven calms her down with a problem to solve, describing the way his bubble pushed the Ghost back and then it phased through the wall. I liked watching Pearl and Garnet being nerds trying to figure out how that power works and what it means for whether trapping the Ghost would be possible.
3. Owlmethyst is back. Amethyst becomes an owl to scout the area from the air.
4. Steven was also using his adorable "stealth mode." It's cute when he gets into the character he's playing, and then gets all congratulatory on himself for how well he snuck around. He's even wearing the coat he was wearing in "Arcade Mania" from the last time he was asked to participate in a stealth mission.
5. When Amethyst is first to get turned into glass, she comments that the story was true after all, which is great because it reminds you how much time she spent scared of this thing, and makes you think about why she was so eager to attack it.
6. Steven sympathizing with the monster because he knows what it's like to not really be able to control your powers makes a lot of sense. And of course he would want it to have what it wants, even if it puts him in danger. I'm not sure what his plan was if the Ghost had just hugged his bubble and left, but I guess he was caught up in sympathizing with it.
7. Pearl is interested in the weirdness of the Gem after it's poofed, now that she knows it's a Gem. She acknowledges that she doubted Steven's assessment from one of the earlier issues, and Garnet points out that corruption can do odd things to Gems--just like scary stories can do odd things to people's minds.
8. Steven refers to the poofed Gem as "she" after he realizes the Glass Ghost was a Gem. This is similar to how they were using the pronoun "it" for the Centipeetle in "Monster Buddies" but Steven started using "she" after they spent some time together. I guess he just assumes anything that's of Gem origin is a she, and has no problem thinking of them that way.
9. Seriously one of the cutest moments is the end where Garnet and Pearl are so impressed that the Glass Ghost retained its phasing ability even though it was so corrupted--and that it must be a very strong Gem, "like a Quartz," says Garnet, and Steven proclaims, "LIKE ME!" He's so cute when he's proud of stuff he knows about his Gem heritage.
10. Amethyst shape-shifting into the Glass Ghost to scare the poop out of her family was funny--it felt like a callback to several times when Amethyst did such things, like when she shifted her head into a fly to freak Steven out during "Island Adventure," and when she startled Steven in "Catch and Release" by pretending she was Peridot back to kidnap him. She continues to not know what's appropriate and this comic matches up with that well. Of course, only Steven and Pearl were startled. Garnet just stood there with no reaction. Typical. When Amethyst says it's payback for scaring her with that story all those years, Garnet agrees that that's fair.
11. As they conclude the comic talking about other scary stories, it's adorable how Pearl pipes up something about Frankenstein's monster. She WOULD be the one staying accurate to terminology and not accidentally just calling it "Frankenstein."
12. They never do explicitly return to address why Nanefua and Sadie were not wearing terrified expressions in their frozen state. We can now conclude that maybe they realized the monster just wanted a hug too. Both characters have been sympathetic to others and able to catch onto nuances in interactions that others are oblivious to, so maybe that's why that detail was included.
This issue felt really authentic to the heart of the characters and was great fun to read. I hope there are more miniseries that feel so close to the show, because I think this series has been the best comic adaptation yet.
November 1, 2020
This was so much fun to read and I really enjoyed the art style! It made me miss Steven universe a lot and I’m really happy I found this on kindle unlimited!
September 30, 2018
Primo volume della serie di fumetti di Steven Universe. Si struttura come un tie-in abbastanza indipendente dalla serie tv animata, soprattutto se si conosce a grandi linee la storia di Steven. Il volume in questione è una graziosa storia di avventura e di mistero, che mi ha ricordato - tra l'altro - le atmosfere da Scooby Doo.
June 22, 2022
4.5
This felt like a very good spooky episode of the show. I still had some questions and didn’t expect this to be as coherent as it was but I loved it. The art is cute and accurate even if Steven looked derpy sometimes.
This felt like a very good spooky episode of the show. I still had some questions and didn’t expect this to be as coherent as it was but I loved it. The art is cute and accurate even if Steven looked derpy sometimes.
August 8, 2017
A really fun comic that embodies the spirit of the show so well. It feels like I'm reading an adaptation of an episode that never aired, and that's great, I want more of this ongoing series already!
July 29, 2017
This was the FUCKING SADDEST THING I HAVE EVER READ. WHAT THE HELL.
March 19, 2017
Story reads like an episode of the show, so I enjoyed it. Art is the same quality as I've come to expect! I'd definitely read more of the comics after this.
October 4, 2017
Steven Universe and the Crystal Gems by Josceline Fenton
Star Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 stars
Format: library graphic novel
Summary: Steven takes the gems on a camping trip, while telling ghost stories, Garnet and Pearl share a ghost story they used to tease Amethyst with. They swear the story is made up but Steven begins to doubt that when he finds evidence of the ghost from the story.
Review: I really enjoyed this graphic novel, Steven Universe is my favorite show so I love consuming any additional material aside from the show. I really liked that the art was very similar to the show, kinda drives me nuts when I pick up comics based of cartoons and the art style is completely different.
The story reads like an episode of the show, there was character development and a whole plot. I liked that there was a big focus on the corrupted gem and Steven trying to help. Corrupted gems really pull at my heart strings (aside from Jasper she can fall into a chasm) so I was glad to see the story gave it the attention it deserves.
I am left with a lot of questions about the corrupted gem though. I know since this is a comic it will likely never be addressed in the show but what sort of gem was it supposed to be? They guessed it might be a Quartz but what quartz can turn people into glass? What gem can phase through walls for that matter? I need to know more! I do hope one day in the show Steven is able to find a way to help the corrupted gems to be able to heal. That's my dream.
I do like that Pearl and Garnet used a ghost story to try to keep Amethyst more under control. I found that pretty amusing, because Amethyst is pretty hard to keep under control as it is and I can only imagine what she was like when she was a younger gem.
Recommendation: If you're a fan of the show this is definitely worth picking up and reading. It was super cute and a great story. I could read this multiple times, it's pretty great.
Star Rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 stars
Format: library graphic novel
Summary: Steven takes the gems on a camping trip, while telling ghost stories, Garnet and Pearl share a ghost story they used to tease Amethyst with. They swear the story is made up but Steven begins to doubt that when he finds evidence of the ghost from the story.
Review: I really enjoyed this graphic novel, Steven Universe is my favorite show so I love consuming any additional material aside from the show. I really liked that the art was very similar to the show, kinda drives me nuts when I pick up comics based of cartoons and the art style is completely different.
The story reads like an episode of the show, there was character development and a whole plot. I liked that there was a big focus on the corrupted gem and Steven trying to help. Corrupted gems really pull at my heart strings (aside from Jasper she can fall into a chasm) so I was glad to see the story gave it the attention it deserves.
I am left with a lot of questions about the corrupted gem though. I know since this is a comic it will likely never be addressed in the show but what sort of gem was it supposed to be? They guessed it might be a Quartz but what quartz can turn people into glass? What gem can phase through walls for that matter? I need to know more! I do hope one day in the show Steven is able to find a way to help the corrupted gems to be able to heal. That's my dream.
I do like that Pearl and Garnet used a ghost story to try to keep Amethyst more under control. I found that pretty amusing, because Amethyst is pretty hard to keep under control as it is and I can only imagine what she was like when she was a younger gem.
Recommendation: If you're a fan of the show this is definitely worth picking up and reading. It was super cute and a great story. I could read this multiple times, it's pretty great.
November 6, 2017
This is the fourth Steven Universe book I’ve read, and it’s by far the best out of the bunch. Reading this really was like experiencing an unaired episode of Steven Universe, just in comic form. The story was quite good (if a bit sad), and the artwork was the best of all the books thus far. This is one where I’d like to own the physical copy (at some point down the line).
June 11, 2017
Very cute! Once again I enjoyed this departure from the main series of comics more than the main series itself. It could easily have been an episode of the show, with clean art and spot-on characterisation.
December 7, 2021
Can't get enough of Steven Universe apparently. (He "fights" his battles with empathy lol). Found a stash of graphic novels at the library! Yay4me!! The graphic novels add new content which is a plus :)
June 16, 2017
Loved it
July 6, 2017
Adorable! A quick read, highly recommended for fans of the show--the characters are written perfectly, and it was impossible to read without hearing the voice actors in my head.
July 14, 2017
Great entry in the SU comics, a little horror tale told in the middle of a camping fire seems inconsquential... right?
September 10, 2018
As a fan of Steven Universe, I really enjoy these comic books, specially this one. It felt like watching an actual episode from the tv series.
March 30, 2019
Más infantil que la serie, pero siempre divertido de leer
June 1, 2019
Cute. My favourite of the SU comics that I've read so far.
October 29, 2019
Steven Universe always cheers me up. Lovely art work as always. I loved the wee horror story element too, I could really see this as an episode.
January 29, 2020
Good for quick read
October 1, 2020
Una lectura muy divertida, sobre todo si eres fan de la serie animada.
December 3, 2020
Cute story.
November 18, 2021
Good but just not mind blowing
February 9, 2022
i cant explain it but somehow this is so cuteee
March 15, 2022
Cute! Loved the campfire spooky stories 👻 ~
November 30, 2023
Estban Universo en historietas.
December 13, 2023
Very cute :)
October 1, 2024
Va mejorando con cada volumen
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