Hey Aang Gangers, did you remember that Dark Horse Comics was going to publish a direct sequel comic book to Avatar: The Last Airbender? I had forgotten all about it, until I randomly saw it mentioned online about a week ago. Well the first chapter was released all the way back in January, and I’ve finally gotten my hands on a copy! We all know that Legend of Korra started this past weekend (I haven’t seen it, don’t spoil it for me!), but this comic book The Promise, is all about our favorite characters from the original series. It’s set one year after Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai, and it’s about the work that must be done to bring peace back to the land.

The Promise: Part 1

And so far, it’s fantastic! All the characters are back, and almost all of them are growing from where we last saw them at the end of the cartoon. This isn’t just the continuing adventures of Avatar Aang and his friends, this is real, in-continuity growth and exploration of their world. This is everything you could want in a direct Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel.

Comic rating: 4/5: Good!

Written by Gene Yang, the titular ‘Promise’ is one that the new Fire Lord Zuko asks of Avatar Aang, and it drives this first graphic novel. As Fire Lord, Zuko is dealing with an incredible amount of pressure to try and end the machinations of the 100 Years War. Fighting a bad guy is easy, governing in his place once he’s gone is hard. So the comic has a lot of nice political issues to deal with, while giving Aang a challenge that can’t be fought physically. The cartoon series was all about preparing Aang for the showdown with Ozai. But now that the fight is over, Aang has to get to the real task of maintaining peace. That can be much harder, with far more complications.

So the story is quite fascinating, and it’s great to revisit the characters. Though one complaint I have is that some of them don’t seem to have grown or changed at all. I realize that it has only been one year since victory, but I would have liked a bit more depth in exploring these familiar characters. I suppose keeping them the same will make it easier for younger readers, but I wanted more.

Especially since Zuko seems to be regressing very very quickly.

A lot of the comic is definitely very light on plot and character development. This book is geared towards the younger set. But it’s still a good read. Click the jump to read a full synopsis of The Promise, in case you can’t get a copy for yourself! The next two parts are due out in May and September, and I’ll definitely be checking those out as well!

Let’s get right to the synopsis! Though quick warning: I’m not going to hold anyone’s hand with this review. This is for fans of Avatar: The Last Airbender. There is far too much to explain to non-fans, who wouldn’t get anything out of this comic anyway.

This takes me back

We open with Katara’s classic narration with one slight change at the end. When Katara says she knows Aang can change the world, she remarks that he did. At the end of the series, Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai and ended the 100 Years War. Then Ozai’s son and Aang’s ally Zuko became the new Fire Lord, and together they promised to bring peace to the land. The fact that Zuko’s still a teenager doesn’t matter all that much. He can be Fire Lord.

Once the reader is caught up, we jump straight to the plot: the Fire Nation has several colonies in the Earth Kingdom, and nobody is happy with it. Usually the four elemental nations have been kept separate in their own continents, and that’s the way it’s always been. But back at the start of the 100 Years War, the Fire Nation was already claiming Earth Kingdom territory, and several colonies were set up.

I love fictional maps from fictional worlds

Earth King Kuei is back (and so is his bear!), and he explains to Zuko and Aang that many Earth Kingdom citizens are simply not happy that the Fire Nation remains on their land. The colonies are like a scar, a terrible reminder of the war. Zuko agrees that the Fire Nation colonies should be shut down, and Aang volunteers to help because that’s his job as Avatar. He wants to make sure everything goes smoothly, since no doubt a lot of people live in these colonies, and they are about to have their lives disrupted.

Sokka, Katara and Toph are also at the meeting, and pop in for some light humor.

How is that a joke? Sounds like a perfectly political name to me

Not all of the humor is that great. Definitely not as clever and funny as the show. But some of the jokes land sometimes. We then make a quick stop at Uncle Iroh’s tea shop, the Jasmine Dragon. Unfortunately, we only see Iroh from behind in a single panel, and it’s his only appearance in the entire comic. Iroh was one of the best characters on the show. But I suppose he’s earned his retirement. Perhaps they don’t want a bigger part for Iroh out of respect for his voice actor, who died during the production of the cartoon. But I would think that wouldn’t be a problem here, considering this is a comic. The lack of Iroh becomes a pretty big deal later on, but we’ll get to that.

This is also a good time to point out that Katara is the narrator of the comic.

Which works out well when she introduces us to one of the biggest changes to the story following the end of the cartoon: hardcore making out!

I'm with Sokka on this one

Yep, Aang and Katara are definitely now a couple, and it’ll come up a lot through the comic. I’ve got to say, it’s a little weird. But then it was weird on the show too. Aang is only about 12 years old, so seeing him with a serious girlfriend is more than a little strange. But hey, they’re going for it, so more power to the two of them. Katara gives her brother an earful for interrupting them, and Sokka complains about the two of them giving him the “oogies”.

Katara’s face is fantastic in this scene. The art really captures the look of the cartoon perfectly.

Don't deny it Aang, your lady ain't gonna like that

Brother and sister continue to bicker until Aang sheepishly interrupts and asks Sooka why he came out to talk to them in the first place. The Earth King is getting ready to announce the Harmony Restoration Movement, but first everybody wants to go take Appa out for a spin.

So Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Zuko and Sokka’s girlfriend Suki all go out for a flight while the Earth Kingdom celebrates the Movement with fireworks. Everybody’s having tons of fun, except for sourpuss Zuko. Aang tries to get him to smile, and it’s here that Zuko wants the titular promise from Aang: Zuko wants Aang to kill him if Zuko ever shows signs of turning into a monstrous dictator like his father.

Way to spoil the mood, Zuko

That promise is apparently going to drive this entire series.

So anyway, we finally cut to one year later, and the Harmony Restoration Movement has been well under way for quite some time. Zuko is sleeping in his palace, and wakes up in the middle of the night – which is apparently a common occurrence. The guards outside his door assure him that he’s just paranoid, despite the five assassination attempts already. But Zuko’s instincts are right, and he’s soon attacked by a young assassin named Kori.

Ninjabending!

They have a heated fight, with Zuko firebending against Kori’s ninjitsu. Eventually he defeats and unmasks her, and Kori angrily explains that she is from Yu Dao, one of the Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. In fact it’s the oldest of the colonies, having been settled more than 100 years ago at the start of the war. Her father is mayor, and the Movement is disrupting and ruining her life. Her family and her people are being forced from their homes. She’s not happy.

So Zuko travels to Yu Dao to meet with Kori’s father. He apologizes profusely for his daughter running off and trying to assassinate Zuko. The Fire Lord is quite displeased, and can’t understand why these colonists don’t get it through their heads that Fire Nation citizens should live in the Fire Nation. That’s how things have always been.

But what do you do when this Fire Nation city, Yu Dao, has existed as part of the Earth Kingdom for generations?

He's the mayor that Yu Dao needs, not the mayor that Yu Dao deserves

This is the crux of the story: dealing with the politics of progress in a post-war world. Technology and the sheer movement of time have changed the world in ways that are strange and new for these people. After 100 years of war, most of the people alive have never known peace. So how will they learn to co-exist? Or what will their compromises in the name of peace mean for the old traditions?

The answer as to what to do about Yu Dao is quite obvious, so it’s a little annoying that we’re going to have to spend 3 whole comics stretching into the Fall to reach the conclusion. It’s even worse when you consider that Legend of Korra has kind of already spoiled the ending to this comic. I’m not going to spoil it here, but it’s not too hard to figure out what they’re going to do.

At least it’s fun to see play out.

The mayor’s words flash us back to one of the epilogues of the cartoon show, when Zuko went to visit his father in prison and asked about his mother. The rest of the scene plays out in this comic, with Ozai being a sneaky bastard. He doesn’t answer Zuko, instead suggesting that Zuko is going to need his advice one day. Ozai wants to control his son from behind prison bars.

Worst. Father. Ever.

We then cut back to Zuko and the mayor, with Zuko’s anger getting the better of him at being compared unfavorably to his father. The mayor doesn’t back down, insisting that at least Ozai wasn’t a coward and a traitor.

We cut again to Aang and Appa helping to transport other Fire Nation colonists back to the main Fire Nation continents. There’s also a big ship beneath them. Aang says the Movement is going well, and a lot of colonists are happy back in the homeland. Zuko has begun teaching old Fire Nation traditions, some of which you may remember from that episode where Aang went undercover as a Fire Nation student.

It’s just as silly now as it was back then.

And it's even worse in print

But when everyone arrives at the Fire Nation, the guards order the colonists to return to the Earth Kingdom. By order of Fire Lord Zuko, the Fire Nation has pulled out of the Harmony Restoration Movement!

Aaaaaand...commercial break

Now it’s time to check it on Toph!

Over the past year, Toph has set up the Beifong Metalbending Academy to teach metalbending to earthbenders. She has three students, who seem to be fun new characters that might fit nicely into the world of Avatar. They’ve stopped their studies for a moment to look down at the protesters outside Yu Dao.

These are the future metalbending masters of the world

Toph is mad at them for stopping their studies, and gives them a firm talking to. But then she too becomes curious about the protesters. Just then, Toph hears Appa flying overhead, since the Avatar is on his way to Yu Dao to confront Zuko. Toph uses earthbending to launch herself into the air to land on Appa. Everyone is happy to see Toph, as they haven’t seen each other in a long time, it seems. Aang doesn’t join in on the hugging, though, because he’s busy communing with Avatar Roku.

On the Spirit Plane, Aang and Roku talk about Roku’s failure to deal with Fire Lord Sozin back in the day, leading to the 100 Years War. Roku and Sozin were the best of friends, which stayed Roku’s hand. But if he could do it all over again, Roku says he would have killed Sozin. Failure to stop Sozin had led to the loss of thousands of lives in the War. It led to a century of strife. That rests heavily on Roku, as does Aang’s promise to end Zuko’s life. Aang has always been opposed to murder, which is why he let Fire Lord Ozai live in prison.

Despite Roku’s teaching, Aang is determined to talk this out with Zuko.

The Aang Gang arrives at Yu Dao and speaks with the protesters outside. They bump into some familiar faces: Smellerbee and Longshot!

Look everybody! It's Smellerbee and Longshot!

They’re among the protesters, and are happy to see the Avatar. They think Aang is there to kick Zuko out, but Aang tells them he is only there to talk to Zuko. Smellerbee isn’t happy to hear that, but she’s willing to give Aang some room to try. If they can get past the fire guards, that is. But Aang has a plan for that: he’ll just fly into the city using his airbending and his glider. He decides to take Katara with him, leading to some of the most oogie-inducing dialogue in the comic. Behold Aang and Katara:

They only have one pet name for each other, and they both use it, constantly!

I don’t know why, but the Aang/Katara relationship is just icky. Toph and Sokka don’t leave this ‘Sweetie’ comment untouched.

But anyway, Aang and Katara fly into Yu Dao and head towards the palace. They are confronted by a legion of fire guards, who tell them to leave. Aang politely asks to be let through to speak with Fire Lord Zuko. The guards and their leader do not move aside, and instead attack the Avatar. But by now, Aang is a master of all four elements, not to mention some kickass fighting skills. But he’s also mostly a pacifist, and he uses his skills to just dodge the attacks.

Aang is straight up gangsta

It’s still kind of cool to see Aang at the height of his skill though. He’s quite badass, even if he’s not kicking ass. But that’s what Katara is standing around for. After Aang gives these guards a few minutes, Katara decides that she’s had enough and just takes them all out with waterbending. It’s an appropriately awesome scene. One of those where each panel is a single word: “Stop. Trying. To. Set. My. Boyfriend. On. Fire!” The results speak for themselves.

Whereas Katara gets the job done

Finally Zuko arrives, and he grabs Katara from behind, telling her to stop hurting his men. Katara tells Zuko to let her go, that he’s hurting her. Aang steps up and tells Zuko to let her go. Zuko demands that she stop hurting his fire troops, that as Fire Lord, he has to look out for his people. So Aang draws in a huge breath and airbends Zuko away from his girlfriend. This launches the two of them into a brief bending fight. Aang sees that Zuko has changed, and it’s got him seriously pissed off.

So pissed off that Aang starts to change into the Avatar State. But Katara is there to talk him down.

It's on like Donkey Kong!

Everyone calms down, and Zuko takes Aang on a tour of Yu Dao, giving everyone a fascinating history lesson. Ya Dao used to be just a tiny village until the Fire Nation moved in. Then the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom worked together to turn it into this large, prosperous city. Using knowledge of both fire and earth, Yu Dao became the premiere metalworking site in the whole world, making it a very affluent city. Though Aang rightly points out that the Fire Nation people tend to be of a higher economic status than the Earth Kingdom people. Zuko admits that the city isn’t perfect.

Then Zuko tells us what happened to make him change his mind on the Harmony Restoration Movement.

We flash back to earlier, when the mayor of Yu Dao called Zuko a coward and a traitor. Zuko was ready to take the mayor into custody, but then an earthbender suddenly arrives to save the mayor. She is the mayor’s wife, and both she and Kori are earthbenders. But by the mayor’s bloodline, Kori is a citizen of the Fire Nation, so she has to put her people first.

This is a fascinating concept, and of course it is going to be the main thrust of the comic book and Legend of Korra. The idea of mixing and intermingling the different nations and benders was never broached in the cartoon.

The mayor, the assassin and the earthbending momma

The family invites Zuko to stay with them for a few days to see the city, and he accepts. From there he learned to put the needs of his people first, and he couldn’t bring himself to destroy this wondrous city that the Fire Nation built. But Aang is still following traditional beliefs, and he insists that in order to have peace and harmony there must be four separate nations.

Katara takes a look at the mayor’s family and comes up with the idea that is going to change everything: Maybe Yu Dao can be the exception.

Aang is shocked by the suggestion, and Zuko insists that exceptions should be made for all the Fire Kingdom colonies. They’re all old and historical. Well whatever they ultimately decide, Katara insists that the Earth King should be involved in the conversation, so they should table this discussion until they can go get him. Katara asks Zuko for some time to arrange a meeting. Zuko agrees to further talks. Kind of anti-climactic, but that’s OK.

Outside, Smellerbee and the other protesters are getting anxious and angry that nothing seems to be happening. Sokka gets hit with a rock, and then Toph gets a moment to be badass.

Not that Toph is every anything but

They also make a Sokka boomerang joke. But frankly, the joke isn’t funny and Sokka is completely wasted in this comic. He never does anything important or cool, and all his usual Sokka jokes fall incredibly flat. Clearly the writer couldn’t think of any specific role for Sokka to play, but they couldn’t exactly ditch him from the story.

Aang and Katara come back out and meet with Smellerbee. They explain about the planned talks, and Smellerbee agrees to give them three days. But if they can’t solve this in three days, then Smellerbee and the Freedom Fighters will find their own solution to get rid of the Fire Nation.

Even Smellerbee has a more important role in this story than Sokka.

Everybody hops onto Appa and they fly off to find the Earth King. Aang and Katara share another “sweetie” moment as Aang thanks her for talking him out of the Avatar State. Sokka again complains about the two of them being close, and Katara gets angry over all his ‘oogie’ comments. She doesn’t even know what that means. Toph then offers an example of what ‘oogie’ means.

Very oogie

Then we cut to the Royal Palace at the Fire Nation capital, where Zuko is lost in thought. His girlfriend Mai pays him a visit, and she seems a lot more caring here than she ever did in the show. But then perhaps I just miss her wonderful deadpan, emotionless voice. She berates Zuko for not telling her that he left. She had to find out that he was in the Earth Kingdom from the fliers that were being posted around the Fire Nation. She tells him that he needs to be open with her, that he can’t just bottle everything up.

Young bad guy love

To help with Zuko’s sleeping problems, Mai has replaced his fire guards with the best bodyguards in the whole world: the Kyoshi Warriors!

Awesome cameo.

So the next night, Zuko still can’t sleep. He leaves his room, and the Kyoshi’s on guard – Suki and Ty Lee – assure him that there have been no disturbances. Still, Zuko feels like going for a walk to clear his head. And where does he go?

Zuko brings tea to his father in prison, and asks for his advice.

HELLO!? WHAT ABOUT UNCLE IROH!!?

And so that’s the comic! I thought it was a very fun read, and an excellent continuation of the TV show. I like the idea of these characters now trying to figure out how to govern peace when there isn’t a big war to fight, or an obvious bad guy. That they come to blows against each other is probably just necessary to make for an interesting comic. But the story of uniting and integrating the various elemental nations is a good one, and an obvious direction to take the Avatar story. So that part is solid.

One of the only complaints I have is the lack of growth or change in the characters. As I said, Sokka has absolutely nothing to do, and he hasn’t changed in the least. They gave Toph a metalbending school, but that was just a short moment before she simply rejoins the gang. Aang and Katara show the most growth, but mostly together as a couple. However, Aang has a few great moments where he tries to wrestle with his new peacetime responsibilities.

Sadly, Zuko comes out the worst. There are moments where it looks like he can handle his new responsibilities, but to end the way it did is infuriating. Considering Uncle Iroh is still around, that Zuko would go to his father for advice instead of Iroh is just disappointing. Iroh has earned his retirement, but that he didn’t offer to help Zuko as an adviser through his first few years as Fire Lord is a missed opportunity on everyone’s part. Zuko’ s journey through the cartoon was quite possibly the best of all the stories, so I just don’t like that he’s regressing into a bad guy so quickly.

Especially since the obvious answer of making Yu Doa the world’s first fully-integrated city is staring everyone in the face. That we’re going to take three comics to reach that conclusion sounds incredibly boring. But I’m sure there are a lot of other ideas and plots to tell, so I can’t wait for the next installment!