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!

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