Insanity Gems
The Insanity Gems are a set of cosmically-powerful jewels. They have immense, reality-warping power, and are often seen attached to a leather gauntlet known as the Insanity Gauntlet.
The original five (SIX) gems are:
- The Crossover Gem
- The Guest Star Gem
- The Cover Gimmick Gem
- The Mystery Past Gem
- The Death Gem
- The Origin Gem
Later additions to the lineup include:
- The Grim and Gritty Gem
History
The first Insanity Gem to show up was the Crossover Gem, wielded by the Crossover Queen in Cry.Sig and used to devastating effect against the LNH and Ca.net.da. The Guest Star Gem showed up with the August One in All Things Dark and Scary, its power matched against the dread plant Shrub-Niggarauth.
The others finally appeared in The Flame Wars, as The Man With the Black Hat became The Man Who Now Has A Leather Gauntlet Jeweled With The Insanity Gems. When The Man Et Cetera was defeated, the Basic Mysterious Cosmic Dude took the Gems, intending to break them up among an "Insanity Watch". Unfortunately, the writer got a bad case of Real World, and that series only got one issue.
Other than the Grim and Gritty Gem being retconned into existence, the Gems next showed up when Panta was accidentally sent to the year 2099. She faced a Marvel Empire that had all the Gems but one. She tried to hide the Guest Star Gem, but it was discovered, and she fled back through time. Thankfully, she managed to avert this future with the power of Beautiful Soldier Sailor Panta.
A set of seven Insanity Gems from the Age of Apocalisp timeline were brought to the mainstream Looniverse by an alternate Man With the Black Hat, creating the Insanity Gaulnaut. Useless Powers Lad found and was corrupted by them until being stopped by Teenfactor. Jennifer Frost possessed Sandy the Unhuman and made a bid for this set, but as it turns out, they were possessed by a demon named Insanity. The demon recreated the world based on Malingerer Lad's It's a Wonderful Life-esque wish never to have existed, and after this was set right, the Gaulnaut was not seen again.
Bart the Dark Receptionist showed up at the end of the Infinite Leadership Crisis wearing both the Gauntlet, jeweled with the original six, and the Ring of Retconn. Despite this massive cosmic force, his own hubris left him open to defeat, and the gems passed into Occultism Kid's hands. When he attempted to cast a spell against the Bryttle Brothers using them, he was sucked inside, and went on a cosmic odyssey in a series of surreal worlds. He burned out their power in a last-ditch Hail Mary play, and since then, the Gems lay powerless in a faraway alternate world...
Appearances
- Cry.Sig
- All Things Dark and Scary
- The Flame Wars
- Insanity Watch #1
- League of Heroes #55
- Tales of the LNH #323-330
- Golden Man: Life and Death Book IV #12
- Fuzzboy vs. Andy Best #3
- Teenfactor #1, 43-44
- LNH Comics Presents #500, 502 (Infinite Leadership Crisis Parts 465 & 467)
- Beige Countdown #11, 6, 1-0
- Beige Midnight #4-10
Notes
Looniverse-20 has its own equivalent of these, the Absurdity Stones. Of these, only the Characterization Stone has been seen on-panel.
