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Today’s Topic: Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Comic
This article contains some spoilers. Be forewarned!
If you’re a fan of animated television and you haven’t seen Avatar: The Last Airbender, stop reading this and watch it. …then come back (I need the page views). Despite its intended audience, Avatar: TLA is one of the best animated series ever made. It has a wonderful sense of humor, awesome animated action, and an incredibly entertaining story. It may not have any big twists or nuanced character development (though it still has more of both than most shows), but that doesn’t make the show any less awesome. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. After three seasons, Avatar: TLA concluded, leaving a sad hole in Nickelodeon’s dramatic cartoon lineup. Of course, we eventually moved on to Avatar: The Legend of Korra, but after two (short) seasons of the show, I’ve arrived at the conclusion that Korra is not as good as its predecessor. While Korra still has two more seasons to ascend to the heights of TLA, those of us looking for old school Avatar goodness are left out in the cold.<
OR ARE WE?!
For those craving Avatar: The Last Airbender, nothing is more satisfying than the TLA graphic novels. One of the worst parts of TLA as a show is that we never see Team Avatar outside of the context of the 100 Years War. Ozai’s shadow always looms over the heroes, no matter what their current mission is. We never get to witness Aang harness his true strength or start to rebuild the Air Nomad culture or be the symbol of peace that the Avatar is meant to be. However, the comic books allow us to see the amazing characters of TLA when the threat of Ozai is gone. The graphic novels pick up right where the show left off: one year after the fall of Ozai and the end of the war. We see Aang and Katara as a couple (which… well that I could’ve missed that, but still), Zuko become Fire Lord, Toph teach her metalbending art, and Sokka do… Sokka… things (WHICH I MISSED. SO THERE). Moreover, because these stories are not on TV, their subject matter can be a bit more interesting and mature. Of course, it’s still Nickelodeon’s IP and, as such, will never have a true “gritty reboot” but that would suck anyways. Still, the two published stories of the graphic novels broach complex topics that the TV show was unlikely to address.
Since the graphic novels are not the show, a fan might suspect that the quality would decline, but fear not. Not only is writer Gene Yang incredible at capturing the essences of TLA’s great characters, his script-writing creativity is augmented by that of the show’s co-creators, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzo. So not only does the writing of The Last Airbender comics match the superb quality of the original series, it’s all completely canonical. Much like other comically-continued series such as Buffy The Vampire Slayer and Firefly, the TLA graphic novels are the true sequels to The Last Airbender. Fans of it would be foolish to miss the tales the comics tell. Any who have read TV-show comics might also worry about a decline in the aesthetic quality from screen to page (especially if you’ve read the Serenity comic… yikes). Luckily, the TLA comic’s artistic team, Gurihiru, perfectly captures existing elements of the Avatar universe and creates new creatures and characters that are perfectly at home in the world of benders and spirits. Reading the Avatar graphic novel is like watching an episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender one frame at a time. It’s that accurate and that good.
There are two story arcs in the six Avatar: The Last Airbender comics currently on shelves. The first arc is The Promise, a story about post-war reconstruction, Aang’s attempts to do what is right for the world he abandoned for 100 years, and Zuko’s fears that he too will become a Fire Nation tyrant. When Zuko takes up the mantle of Fire Lord, he forces Aang to make him a promise: should Zuko become as corrupt as Sozin or Ozai, Aang must destroy him. However, the limits of the promise are tested sooner than expected when the Fire Nation citizens of an Earth Nation village refuse to return to their homeland… and the Earth Kingdom citizens refuse to let them go. What follows is simply amazing. Fans of TLA examine the complexities of long occupations, the twisted nature of politics, and the connections that can grow between former enemies in one of their favorite worlds. While Zuko confronts his duties to his nation and the kind of Fire Lord he aspires to be, Aang learns the potential costs of his devotion to his friends and chooses his own path as the living Avatar. It’s a spectacular story that is only topped by its successor.
The second story in the Avatar: The Last Airbender graphic novel series is The Search. In this story, one of the series’ most critical loose ends is addressed: Zuko’s mother. Zuko gets the answer he’s sought since Book 2 when he and the rest of the gang (minus Toph) search for Ozai’s long-banished wife. Yet they must also enlist Azula’s aid, and her psychosis and hatred of her mother have only deepened in her year of imprisonment and isolation. Despite their differences, both in personality and motivation, the children of Ursa follow her trail with the Avatar and his friends, finding mystery, danger, and magic as they look for the parent that left them behind. Obviously, this story is centered around Zuko and deeply explores the complicated nature of his parentage, his love for his mother, and the blood ties that bind him to his insane sister. It’s also great to see Azula again, in spite of the terrifying nature of the delusions that plague her mind. Yet even Aang makes new discoveries on this journey, including some which put him face-to-face with ancient and powerful spirits. The Search is not a story that any Avatar fan should miss.
A good story has captivating moments. A great one is amazing from beginning to end. Yet only incredible stories can grow past their intended lifespan and remain as stellar as before. Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of those stories and the TLA graphic novels are the ideal extensions to that story. With the lackluster Legend of Korra on the air, the quality of the original Avatar series is more evident than ever. If I can’t have more televised TLA, there’s nothing better than these graphic novels for my Avatar fix. Plus, unlike the TV show, the graphic novel won’t be finished any time soon. I’m already psyched for the March 5 release of the next comic storyline: The Rift. I have no doubt that no matter how long these stories continue, they’ll still be the best fucking thing ever.
You can check out this impassioned tribute and quite a few more at the N3rd Dimension.
