Written by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, and Bryan Konietzko
Illustrated by GurihiruThe wait is over! Ever since the conclusion of Avatar: The Last Airbender, its millions of fans have been hungry for more–and it’s finally here!
This series of digests rejoins Aang and friends for exciting new adventures, beginning with a faceoff against the Fire Nation that threatens to throw the world into another war, testing all of Aang’s powers and ingenuity!
Aang and company are back! After 4(!) years, the Avatar and his gang of misfits and element-benders of the various elements have returned to continue their adventures in the 4 Kingdoms (well, shouldn’t it be three technically?) right where they left off. I watched the whole series in preparation for this book, so it’s all fresh in my mind.
Was it worth the marathon? Check the jump to find out!
I didn’t lie when I said I watched pretty much the entire series in preparation for this. I have quite a few friends who are big fans of the show, so I checked it out on Netflix. It turned out that I loved the series so much I had to pick up this book to talk about how great it is!
If you’re a fan of the series, there’s no doubt in my mind that you’ll love it. Everything in this novel, from the characterization to the settings and plot feel really close to the popular Nick Toon. Taking place a year after the series wrapped (following a recap for any newbies that have never watched the series or people who just needed a refresher, anyway) it drops the reader into a swashbuckling fantasy story filled with complex political allegories and intrigue.
That, in and of itself, is the beauty of such a show. Kids will enjoy this book for a reason. It’s based on a popular show they likely already love; filled with likable characters and magical animals (I dare you not to love Appa and MoMo). The central narrative is told in a way kids will understand on a very basic level, but is complex enough that it can mirror modern real life political and cultural quandaries that even cerebral shows like Star Trek: Deep Space 9 struggled with for whole seasons.
Yang, who wrote the series under the supervision of the show’s creator, DiMartino and Konietzko, perfectly captures the spirit of the show in nearly every way possible. He even gets to have fun with things that the show never had a chance to explore, like the burgeoning relationship between Aang and Katara, for instance, and how that would affect Sokka, Katara’s brother and one of Aang’s closest friends, or how Zuko adjusts to his role as the new Fire Lord (spoiler: he does about as well as his sister initially). There are complex threads that the show left unaddressed, and this book, along with the upcoming television series: The Legend of Korra seem to be positioned to answer such questions.
If I were to have a complaint about the writing of the book, it would have to be how Toph, who is probably my favorite character after Sokka, was re-introduced into the cast. Now, I love Toph, she was an integral part of the series in the second and third seasons, and provided much needed attitude to the series. But while that’s great, and appreciated; she felt shoe-horned in for no other reason than to have the entire cast in the series. Her story, for better or worse, was finished after the series ended. That being said, however, I love her character and her sass will add something to the book that would have been sorely missed. A little more care could have been taken to re-unite her with her friends, however.
While the book reads really well, the strength is in the art. It adds to the atmosphere of the original story, as it looks exactly like the show. Gurihiru, a Japanese animation company, was brought on to “animate” the story in printed form, and they succeeded admirably. Everything in this book looks exactly as it should. But that’s what animators do, right? The action looks great and is never static, the composition of every character is perfect, and their personalities bend their ways off the page in a very real way thanks to the art.
If you’re a fan of the show, even a casual one, you need to read this book. Everything in the book will flash you back all those years (or in my case, a few hours) to the wonderful, ground-breaking epic that deserves a bit more mainstream love than it got. Even if you’ve never watched and episode in your life, you will get something out of it. Then maybe, you can go back and enjoy the series you missed out on the when in first aired, in time to freak out with the rest of us over the upcoming sequel series The Legend of Korra.
Final Verdict: 8.5 — Money-bend yourself into the shop and buy this ASAP.
Here: have a fun gif of Sokka being a dork.
