Avatar: The Promise, Parts Two and Three

[starlady]

Yang, Gene Luen. Art by Gurihiru. Avatar: The Promise, Parts Two and Three. New York: Dark Horse Comics, 2012.

I really liked the first of Gene Yang's Avatar comics, and I really thought that these last two volumes, and in particular the third one, brought the trilogy home in a deft and wonderful way. Between the art and the writing, it feels like an extended episode of the show, and I really don't think we can ask for more than that. I also thought that the ending of this trilogy (spoilers: Iroh invents bubble tea) pointed the way toward Korra in an interesting way, where you can see the seeds for what has grown up in Republic City, but not the exact way things will go. And Zukoooooo. And Aaaaaang. Their FACES and their aaaaaaangst, OMG. The final interaction between Aang and Roku was heartbreaking, but obviously necessary.

I said after the first volume that Yang's handling of issues of colonialism and imperialism was interesting, and I think that he continued to do a pretty good job throughout. Obviously in a comic aimed at the middle grade age bracket he has to take a pretty light touch to the matter, which he does, and in particular this best-of-all-possible worlds spin on the end of empire presumes perfect economic equality between all parties involved, which doesn't match the way things turned out in our world, for certain. But all those caveats aside, I still agree with Yang's points and the way he makes them, and I love that he made them in the first place. My one real complaint is that I wish the comics were longer--Aang's dealing with the appropriation of his cultural heritage by his fangirls is brought up and put to bed entirely in the third volume, and again, I really liked what Yang said and the way he handled the issue, but it could have been even better done if it could have been done at greater length. As an expansion of the cartoon and a thoughtful engagement with some of the issues it raised, however, this series really couldn't be better.

But! There is another trilogy! With Zuko and Azula and their mother! I AM EXCITE.

Comments

[ambyr]

I am EXCITE too! Did you read the sample pages on Buzzfeed, or are you trying to remain unspoiled?

[starlady]

I actually only read the last volume last week, so I haven't looked at the sample pages. I kind of don't want to, since the comics are so short. :-/

[ambyr]

Perfectly understandable! I should really go back and reread The Promise, since I gulped the volumes down when they came out. It would probably benefit from a closer, more unified reading. I'm also looking forward to getting my hands on the annotated hardcover edition in March. (Um. Hopefully I can find someone who wants to buy my paperback volumes off me first? Fannish obsession is an expensive hobby. But I want ALL the A:TLA things.)

[starlady]

Annotated hardcover? What??

[ambyr]

The Promise Graphic Novel. Comes out in March. Amazon's look-inside feature should give you a sneak peak of some of the annotations and other extras.

[umadoshi]

That release looks lovely. *_* Wish I'd known about it before buying the paperback editions, though. >.> (Not that I necessarily wouldn't have bought them anyway, but still.)

[starlady]

Oh, I'm pretty sure they are putting this out in reaction to the paperbacks selling like hotcakes.

[umadoshi]

It does seem likely, and I'm definitely glad the popularity means they're able to do a shiny release! I just get vaguely grumpy about rebuying, and am too much of a fan not to. ^^;

[lilacsigil]

I really enjoyed them, too! I thought that the colonial story was really deftly constructed to make nobody entirely right, and I loved Aang coming to terms with people trying to clumsily learn about his culture. Aang and Katara as a couple worked for me here when it didn't in the show (mostly because of Aang's age, and he's grown up a bit here), and I loved Toph as a teacher.