Hi, my name is Keelin and I’m obsessed with Avatar the Last Airbender. I know I’m not alone in this and also will be taking no criticism at this time, thank you haha. But really, I’m a huge fan of the show and have loved it for years. I’m so glad it’s back on Netflix and I’m already into my second rewatch of it. However, I never read the graphic novels that came out after the show ended because I figured they were just novelizations of the show and I would rather just watch the show. Boy was I wrong.
This graphic novel collection, The Promise, takes place immediately after the show ended. We’re following the gang as they navigate their new positions in the world and try to figure out how to create a place of peace after the Fire Nation invaded so many lands. And, like most things tackled on the show, it was done really well. Because it’s not going to be super easy to extract Fire Nation colonies from the Earth Kingdom, they’ve been there for decades now, the people are apart of the culture of that region, their lives are there. So how are they going to do it? Is there a right way to handle it?
I mean… you’ll need to read that to find out, I’m not going to tell you, but I will say that this is at least a satisfying story. You see the characters continuing to develop and continuing to deal with flaws and imperfections. It’s comforting to know that the writers didn’t make them and their world perfect and peaceful after the end of the war. There’s so much that needs to be done in order to establish a new era of peace and this acknowledges that.
Overall, I’d say that this collection did a great job of establishing where we are in time with the Avatar world and gives us a good jumping off point for the rest of the collection. I really really recommend them if you’re a fan of the show and don’t mind reading it graphic novel format. Plus I was able to hear the voices of the actors as I read along and that made the experience even better so if that’s a thing you can do too, I’m even more positive that you’ll like this!
Just Read It 