I requested this galley from NetGalley more out of hope than any actual belief that I might get access to it. I usually only get the lesser known titles on NetGalley, since I'm still relatively new at all this, and most requests I put in for books I recognize by sight are either denied promptly or never responded to at all. That being said, I squealed and did a happy dance when I realized I'd been approved for this book.Avatar: The Last Airbender --The Promise, Part One, is the first in a small series of comics that continue from the very moment that the Avatar animated series ends. The series is supposed to create a bridge between the end of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the soon to come Legend of Korra. This comic being so short, I can't go into the plot without ruining things, but I'll say that this book starts out with Zuko becoming the firelord, Toph continuing to be awesome, and Katara and Aang making out. Well, not literally. . . .actually, no, that was a pretty literal scene.
A lot of favorite characters from the series show up in this first volume, including a trio of characters at one point which I know I should recognize, but for some reason don't. I assume I'll figure out who they are later, but for now all I know is that one of the people introduced with Toph in this volume reminds me of every emo kid in the history of ever. It's awesome.
Obviously, as the Legend of Korra's synopsis includes her being trained by the son of Katara and Aang, our favorite avatar and water bender hook up, and this book starts to go into that lightly, mostly with the liberal use of the word 'sweetie'. I think I can accept this, however, because let's be honest: it may be sappy, but I was waiting for this from the first episode of the series and it's about time!
My favorite part of The Promise, Part One so far is the fact that it goes into the idea of cross-bender relationships. I won't go into this too much in this review, because I really don't want to spoil anything for you, but it's a pretty awesome subject to get into. I'm sure fanfiction readers and writers around the world will be waiting with baited breath to see if the child of two benders can bend more than one element.
I guess in conclusion, I can say that the part of me that loved Avatar: The Last Airbender is still squealing in bliss that there is going to be a comic series of whatever length they choose that I can follow until Korra comes out next year. This first taste has been hyped beyond belief, and when The Promise comes out in January 2012, you can bet I'll be there to buy my own copy with the rest of my fellow fans.
So if you liked Avatar: The Last Airbender animated series, you need to go pick this volume up when it comes out in January, because this comic gives back the hope for Avatar that the movie-that-shall-not-be-named stole from us. Three cheers for more Avatar: The Last Airbender!
Go Team Avatar!
ReplyDeleteWhen you say it goes into the idea of cross-bender relationships, do you mean that it talks about "will kids be able to bend more than one element???" or does it talk about how society views such relationships, perhaps drawing parallels to how in the real world some ignorant people don't approve of interracial relationships?
ReplyDeleteWell..the problem here, is that this is only the very first part. I honestly can't tell you how far in depth that particular issue is going to be touched upon, because this isn't a complete series that I've gotten my hands on--it's just the very first part. Don't expect this tiny part to answer all the questions you have.
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