Avatar: The Last Airbender — The Promise, Part 1

The first thing I thought when I started reading this was, “Ahhhhhh.” It was nice to slip back into the Avatar universe, and it feels like it’s been a long time since the show came out. The graphic novel is supposed to be released in 2012. I don’t really know why it will take so long to get this out there… Anyway, The Promise, Part 1 starts off right where the show ended. I’m sorry for those of you who haven’t seen it, because this review will be filled with show spoilers. Consider yourself duly warned.

We start off with the intro to the first episode of the show, where Katara finds Aang in the ice, and they begin their adventures. …Skipping ahead the time passed in the show plus one year… Zuko is now Fire Lord, and he and Aang come up with the Harmony Restoration Movement to rid the other three nations of Fire Nation occupation. Aang makes a promise to Zuko that if he ever becomes like Fire Lord Ozai, Aang will “end him.”

Aang and Katara have finally moved past the awkward friend stage, right into the awkward calling-each-other-sweetie phase. I’m not sure I liked how that happens, since this is the first I’ve known about them after the show. However, I really like how Zuko comes across. I think they did a great job building his character.

This is a pretty short comic, but was still quite enjoyable. It was fun to get back into the Avatar verse. The ending also made me excited for The Promise, Part 2, which I believe comes out in either May (so says the book) or June (so says Goodreads) 2012, which is too long to wait comfortably, but I guess I’ll have to.

If you liked the show, or you’ve read any of the other comics Dark Horse has put out about it, you will definitely enjoy this. If you haven’t seen the show, I would recommend watching some of it, as this will make pretty much no sense without it.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures

For anyone who doesn’t know, Avatar: The Last Airbender was a show about a boy named Aang and his friends, Katara, Sokka, and Toph. They three nations (Air has been wiped out): Fire, Earth, and Water. The Fire Nation had taken over and was waging a war for domination over the other three nations. Aang is the avatar, the one who is meant to master all four elements and keep peace in the world.

In The Lost Adventures, we get quite a few fun tales about their adventures outside of what the show was able to portray. For avid fans and new readers alike, this is a great graphic novel to get into. It is separated into the same books/nations as the show, so if you are a follower of it, you will understand and enjoy the context of the short stories. If you haven’t seen the show, the group generally spends a good chunk of time in each nation allowing Aang to master that element. The graphic novel shows miniature flashbacks to let you know important plot points in the story.

Fun adventures travelling the world.

I like every adventure, but there were a few that stuck out as especially enjoyable.

In one story, the group has stopped for a rest. Aang finds a merchant who is selling a relic of the air nation, and when the rest have finally gone to sleep, he goes to check it out. To his dismay, the Fire Nation traps him when he gets to an old airbender hideout. I love the history that is put into this story. Airbender relics are something even I would be interested in — they have been all but wiped out by the firebenders.

If you recall in the show, Toph scams firebenders for money by using her earthbending skills. In this story, they have to come up with a new way to get food in the Fire Nation. Appa (Aang’s sky bison) is hungry as well, and his stomach rumbles like an earthquake. Sokka convinces the Fire Nation citizens that he’s a great beast, and that he can scare him off if they pay for his food. Sokka is in for a great surprise though, when they find that the great beast is not Appa at all…

My favorite story with Toph has to be where she fights earthbender King Bumi. He is old and quite possibly senile, and they both think they are the epitome of earthbending glory. Sokka is the referee, and I think my favorite line from him has to be, “Rockalanche! Nice!”

Overall, this is a great read whether or not you’ve seen the show. It had so many fun stories about each character that it’s also not boring for people who have watched the series many times, like myself. I highly recommend it! I also want to thank NetGalley for giving me this book to review, I appreciate it.