You’ve watched Avatar, right? The Nickelodeon cartoon, not the blue cats. If not, go watch it. I’ll wait. Then come back here and find out why you should read the first comic sequel.
Written by Gene Luen Yang with Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino
Illustrated by Gurihiru
The war is over… but the adventure has just begun!Picking up exactly where Avatar: The Last Airbender left off, The Promise takes Aang to a Fire Nation colony in the heart of the Earth Kingdom, where tensions between neighbors threaten to shatter the world’s newfound peace-putting the Avatar on a collision course with one of his closest friends, Fire Lord Zuko!
$39.99
First, the part about watching the television show wasn’t a joke. If you haven’t seen it, you’re missing out on a terrific show. Also, this comic is in no way new reader friendly. There’s a bit of quick recap to orient you to when exactly the story takes place (during/immediately after the final scenes of the final episodes before a jump a year in the future), but anyone unfamiliar with the story so far will be both lost and spoiled.
But if you have seen the show, it’s pretty much required for you to read this book. It’s made with the blessings of the show’s creators, and is an official segue between the show and its sequel, The Legend of Korra. There are really two plots at work in this collection. One is Toph’s new metal bending school and her unlikely students, and it’s played mostly for fun. The other is deeper, focusing on the complexities of telling Fire Nation colonists they have to leave the land where they, their parents, and grandparents were born. The parallels between this and the Middle East are probably intentional, and definately unavoidable. Yang does an excellent job of presenting the situation neutrally.
He also masters the voices of all the individual characters. Their various quirks and traits are present without feeling overdone or forced, including Aang’s trademark innocence. When Zuko wakes up and says it feels like he’s been asleep a week, Aang cheerfully tells him “Nope. Just four days!” Try to read a page without hearing the words in the voices of the cast. I dare you. The plot as a whole is well paced. The two chapter breaks made for great end points when read individually, but also read smoothly when collected.
The art is a perfect match to the animation, from the facial expressions to the coloring. Gurihiru has a remarkable talent for picking just the right viewpoint for each panel, utilizing both wide shots and close ups for maximum effect. The action scenes are full of life, and he’s able to convey the connections between benders and their elements clearly.
The original three digest-sized books collected into this library edition were $11, making the hardcover an extra seven bucks. Don’t worry. It completely earns your money. The art is all enlarged, but each page still contains a fair amount of negative space. This is filled (on some pages) with annotations and comments from Yang and Gurihiru. They talk about which episodes certain references come from, page layouts and designs, and other generally interesting bits. The back also includes a wide variety of other bonus features including unused covers, sketches, and more. This is truely a comprehensive set of extras, fully earning the forty dollar price tag.
This volume is a complete story, but it’s not the end. At least one more series is coming from Dark Horse, and if the quality of it is even half of this one, it’ll be a solid buy. If you’re even a passing fan of the show, do not miss this book.
Final Verdict: 9.0 – Buy
