These were the last things I read in 2020 and it was the best way to close the reading year. If you're interested to see my review of the prequel story that I read before this one, you can check it out
here.
The story takes place right after the ending of the show and it follows the heroes as they try to restore balance to the world.
***SHORT REVIEW***NON SPOILER***
The art is absolutely stunning. At many moments I had to pause reading just to stare a bit more at the beautiful art. The story flows perfectly and the pacing is great. The plot is rock-solid, it makes sense and it is realistic, but at the same time, it is unique and engaging. The story doesn't shy away from truths and important messages, but then again when did the "Avatar" ever do that? Never. Even though it is a kid's show (and comic books in this case) it is consistently very strong in themes, messages and successfully handles very mature content. Avatar continues to give great material not only from an artistic and creative point of view but also thematically and morally. It is thought-provoking and rich in content, and even though it may be handling heavier, more serious subjects at times, it does it perfectly without the main plot ever losing interest or pace and what helps with this is that the action and non-action scenes are evenly and beautifully spread out through the books. The conflicts are set right from the beginning in Part 1 and then we follow each plotline as they all gradually lead to their resolution in Part 3.
If I really have to say something about each part individually, I'd say that:
- Part 1 was great. It established an immediate connection to what has been previously going on in the story (in the series), as well as set a solid ground for the beginning of this new story. It was interesting and engaging. The introduction was both familiar and new and it felt like a great way to start. It set the atmosphere and themes.
- Part 2 was my least favorite. Even though it was a bit stronger in themes compared to the first part and Aang, Katara, and Zuko's storylines were great, Toph and Sokka's storyline was weak, boring, and somewhat irrelevant. I couldn't care for it and the story would have been the same (and actually better) if the whole "metal-bending school" subplot was removed or reduced significantly.
- Part 3 was my favorite of all and of course, it would be since it's the part that has the whole climax of the story which is by definition the most interesting part. I loved it, I can't find anything wrong with it, really, it was great! It was a great continuation and the outcome of the story was really good, it felt realistic but also exciting. It foreshadows the next parts of the story ("The search" comic books) and it looks really interesting, you can see that things are about to go down makes you really eager to see how everything is going to turn out.
As a whole, I absolutely loved it! I rated parts 1 & 3 with 5* and I gave part 2 4* on Goodreads. My rating for the story as a whole would be 4,75* if I had to be exact, but since I really loved it anyway, I'm still going to give it 5*.
***LONGER REVIEW***SPOILERS***BOOK TALK***
I loved seeing Yu Dao, how the people have mixed and become this new thing, and how this city thrives by being a beautiful combination of 2 different nations. I really liked Kori and her story and how she represents her people. Those people who are made from 2 different nations, they've been born and raised in this situation where for more than two generations these two peoples have coexisted (they have worked together, they've created families) this is their reality, their life and apparently it works well for most of them. Of course, they wouldn't want their whole lives shattered for the second time in their recent history. They are now caught between two rival nations who have conflicted interests about their home and who are about to change their lives forever. It is hard but beautifully realistic.
Zuko's subplot is the main one and it is easily the best one compared to the others by far. I absolutely adored the interactions between Zuko and Ozai! These kinds of scenes really help to get deeper into the characters, to get to know and understand them better. It was strange and so nice too that even though Ozai is wrong about a hell of a lot of things, he was right about some of the things he said to Zuko and he had a point like for example about Zuko's indecisiveness and his lack of self-confidence and lack of trust in his own abilities. Not that he meant to help him of course, no way, he meant to mislead and confuse him even more and he even succeeded it to a certain level. These meetings always leave Zuko more complicated, lost, and tired than before, they don't really have much to offer to him. Ozai's views are corrupt and he tries to give them to his son, but he shows resistance to that, but Ozai does have a point and I think Zuko knows that as well (and if he doesn't by that time, he definitely has realized it by the end of Book 3 after everything that's happened) that he cannot be a Fire Lord if he is so insecure and so doubtful. He has to give himself some credit, he has to start trusting his instincts and believing in himself. He has to become a little bit stronger and more decisive and more certain about his opinions and choices. He shouldn't need "promises" and safety nets as he put it.
This promise they made was wrong from the beginning and even more than that, Aang's reactions on the matter and his whole stance to it was quite annoying to me. I mean he didn't even kill Ozai, of course, he wasn't going to kill Zuko which makes, even more, annoying the fact that he is considering it so much! He seems unable and unwilling to face the harsh reality that they cannot possibly go through with the Harmony Restoration Movement, they cannot destroy these people's lives like this at least not with what they'd planned so far. It is painfully obvious that they'll have to change their plans, yet Aang (and some of the others except Katara) just refuse to see it, they are so blinded to the reality and to the people's wants and needs. Aang was being so annoyingly stubborn I wanted to scream at him. I expected them to have a little more faith in their friend who's proved to be good and have good intentions, he's also proved to be capable and fair, he has proved that he cares about the people and is willing to help and listen to them. I guess I expected the others to be as open to listening to the people's needs and wants and more openminded to another solution, as well as more willing to trust and co-operate. Katara was the only one who showed some understanding of the whole situation and tried to say it at many points and I respect her for her stance. Then again, if it was only up to Aang, things wouldn't have gone so south, it was the Earth King who made everything worse, a completely clueless and incompetent king who has no idea about the world outside his palace who is now called to make important decisions.
I was also annoyed with Roku and I think that Aang was right to not listen to him. Even though I was annoyed with Aang for the first 2 parts, he at least made up for it in the end, by doing the right thing and making the right decisions. I particularly loved how he articulated his opinions to Roku and Zuko towards the end of Part 3. He was also a bit unfair with the air acolytes during the first 2 parts, which is maybe partly understandable, but still, I thought he was overreacting. Thankfully by the last part, he changed his mind, he came to understand and accept them and he also helped them. Aang of Part 3 is the Aang that I've come to know and love: happy, optimistic, acceptant, and open-minded.
As I said before, Toph's storyline was clearly the weakest. It was the least engaging, the smaller characters (Toph's students) were not interesting at all and the whole metal-bending school sub-plot seemed insignificant and irrelevant to the overall story. I couldn't care about it. This was my only and biggest complaint about this comic. I think it was mostly there to give room for Sokka to be himself (smart and hilarious) and to provide much-needed comic relief what with the whole story being a little bit heavier and more serious. Sokka was indeed funny and I loved him like always, but I can't say the same about the rest of the characters of this storyline.
I wasn't very excited about Zuko and Mai's break up, it made me sad and I didn't want it to happen, even though it made sense plot-wise and it was like their characters to act this way, I still love them together and want them to end up together.
One of the reasons I love Avatar is its characters. They are interesting and relatable, but most importantly they are real people. Real people with flaws and advantages, people who make mistakes, who get confused and struggle sometimes, but they always work and try to become better and end up in a better place, being better people. Which is why even if there are moments that I dislike some of them or get annoyed with them, I still love them in the end, because in the end they find themselves and their truth or at the very least they still have some redeeming qualities and most importantly they have reasons and motives for their actions. They are perfectly fleshed out characters, with layers and depth.
The ending was perfect! It was so satisfying to see the two friends be back together again, just drinking tea and planning their next moves together in unity. It is also very endearing to see them finally understanding each other a little bit more. Uncle Iroh was perfect and I loved seeing him and his tea shop again. What was even more awesome was the ending part with Azula. It's the first time we see her after the ending of the show and perfectly plants the seeds for the next comic book in line ("The Search") and it is incredibly interesting!
***SO...***
I've been rumbling and going on and on endlessly about this and this post has turned out huge, so to cut the long story short, I loved it! I absolutely loved it and I can't really find something seriously wrong with it! I have a couple of tiny complaints, but they cannot make me not love the overall story! I enjoyed it very much and I recommend it without a doubt. It is a perfect continuation from all points and it's worth your time. I'm going to leave it there, but I'll surely be back with one more post about these comic books because I still have a lot to say about it and I'm not nearly over discussing it. Avatar gives very much food for thought and discussion and I love it for this!
Thanks for bearing with me!
See you soon!
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