Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part One

Title: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise Part One

Author: Gene Luen Yang

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

ISBN: 9781595828118

More Information: DarkHorse.com

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

It has finally arrived.

After a long war, peace should have descended.  Right?  Wrong.  Peace does not come easy to the 4 Nations.  In order to maintain balance in their world, the Fire Nation colonies based in different Nations needed to be disbanded.  However, fear and anger spurred the Fire Nation colonies to fight for their homes.  As the Fire Lord, Zuko has to protect his people.  As the Avatar, Aang needed to achieve peace and balance.  Zuko and Aang are caught in the middle of the unrest and it might push their friendship to the breaking point.

Despite hoping for a happily ever after for Aang and company, there were a lot of work to clean up the mess the last Fire Lord created.  The writers picked up the story from where Season 3 ended.  Amazing storytelling, with just a hint of a predictable plot, that held you riveted to the pages.  It easily captured and related their trademark humor and personalities.  In graphic novels, events and actions tend by misconstrued or missed but the wording and the artwork in each panel were concise and action packed.  The balance of action, intrigue and especially romance was done well.  Zuko and Aang got equal page time.  And for the AangxKatara fans out there, they were perfectly lovey-dovey that it was "oogie" at times.

The artwork was on par with the animation from the shows.  Even though only a year has past, you can see the subtle changes of the gang as they mature.  The lines are clean and crisp.  The colors were sharp and beautifully shaded.  The quality of the pages was tight and glossy.  My only gripe is the length of the comic.  For $11, I expected a bit more than 76 pages but the enjoyment value I got out of this book was definitely worth it.  If you have never watched the series, I suggest watching the show first.  There are no rehashing here.  If you are a fan and haven't picked it up yet, do so now at a lower price.  You will not regret it.