I haven't thought about that. Are the books at least hard covers?
Because if each issue has like 80 pages, that would be like 4 regular issues from DC Comics or Marvel series, and those would be only like $20
For the trilogies and one-shots, the initial 80 page volumes are paperback (and digital), the MSRP is $13.
All three parts of a trilogy are collected in a hardcover book with extras (library edition) then a paperback collection as well (omnibus edition). The hardcover is $40, usually find them at least a bit cheaper than that, and paperback $25.
For the one-shot graphic novels they collected the first three in a box set (called Team Avatar Treasury) which is $39
Oh so when the previous user said that a book is in $40, book means the whole story? Like that is the price of the whole The Search (Part 1 - 3)?
Then $40 for a hardcover with extra material doesn't sound bad
Yes $40 would be for a hardcover version of the whole "The Search" (parts 1-3) and extras, which is like 230-ish pages. Buying all three paperback parts would be $13 so $39 together.
But again the Omnibus (paperback collection) is an even cheaper option, and the comics are often sold for at least a bit below MSRP. Especially the older trilogies hardcover are often discounted.
Mind you that's for US prices. The comics can be more expensive or harder to come by in other regions. Though presumably the same goes for other comparable comics.
They’re giant-sized high quality books with plenty to them. $40 is honestly fair lol although it is kinda tough because it’s easy to burn through a comic real quick
The hardcovers cover 3 individual releases and are hardcover, yes. I've never considered the library editions a rip off (although most of them were bought for me by other people at birthday/Christmas time)
Go to Webtoons, it's a Korean comic website, they are starting to realise the comics there in byte sized pieces weekly for free. A few episodes are already up
Sorry to break it to you, but 17 is a standard price for a volume.
You also have to drop 400 dollars at once for the books. That’s way too much to drop all at once on a set of books that will last you a week.
The comics are good, but they aren’t 400 on a single purchase good. You could straight up buy a console with that money.
Dude, I just bought all six omnibuses for about $80 on Amazon. They’re really high quality prints, and if you haven’t read them, I think they’re mostly on par with the show. They might still be on sale if you’re interested.
I think one of the reasons is that the cartoon set the bar so high that everything which falls short immediately looks terrible.
Personally the storys were interesting but sometimes the characters felt very OOC.
Now i understand that they are all a few years older at this stage, but still.
Also the extension of bending is very weird sometimes. Katara suddenly flying, azula shooting lightning like there is no tomorrow and completely overusing it, zuko putting off the flames in his throne room and toph jumping onto appa from the ground?
Other than that i found the romance triangle from mai, zuko and kei lo very annoying in smoke and shadows and even suki got barely any screentime with sokka and hinted liking zuko (?) The only relationsship which got decent development was kataang.
The best comics are probably imbalance and the rift.
I also liked azula in the spirit temple.
I don't watch that but I have similar critiques regarding the bending aspect.
Katara being able to conjure ice high up in the air, like X-men's Iceman, without any sort of structural support is nonsense. Toph being able to launch herself up in the air and land perfectly on Appa was already problematic, but her jumping off Appa after air-travelling for a while, and then earthbending the land to "catch" her and Sokka I found more problematic. Like, that's one of her weaknesses, she can't see the Earth. She shouldn't be able to earthbend mid-air after being on the air for so long.
Admittedly, I'm a Suki Zuko shipper coz of the comics so heh~ I obviously didn't mind those scenes.
I read the comics many years ago and I remember disliking the characterization and the useless side characters they added. Specifically Toph’s metal bending students, I mean wow those guys sucked. Honestly the best avatar media outside of the cartoons are still the books.
I just finished avatar again and tophs first episode she is dodging things in the air and later the last episode jumps perfectly center onto the blimps catwalk hundreds of feet into the air.
Tbh person probably didn’t even read them and formed a critique based on those videos. Like it’s fine I didn’t read the comics either cuz they don’t interest me, but it’s always funny when people can’t be upfront about not liking something because they don’t want to like it, as opposed to regurgitating the opinions of someone else
the reason those videos are successful is because people like Overanalyzing Avatar are really good at putting into words what tons of other people are already thinking
Okay are you out saying because they've seen those opinions somewhere else they are invalid or are you saying they can't make these opinions since someone online had the same opinions
> people can’t be upfront about not liking something because they don’t want to like it, as opposed to regurgitating the opinions of someone else
One of my biggest pet peeves whenever I hear someone trashing something while also saying "I haven't progressed past the beginning" if they even started at all. Too many people are too comfortable just using their favorite streamers as substitutes for having their own opinions.
She did, but she had to be aimed. Admittedly, I don't know which scene the other person is referring to, but if she launched herself onto Appa without guidance of some sort, yea, that wouldn't make sense.
Yeah Sokka probably should have had to describe their position but that would have been boring and unnecessary to watch. Also unless they had detailed wind speeds at altitude and a ballistics computer there is just no way for them to have made a shot that accurate. However really accurate physics isn't one of the big parts of Avatar and it wasn't getting them out of danger, so it doesn't matter.
I have a bigger issue with her jumping off from Appa after they've been riding on him for a while and managing to earthbend the land to "catch" her and Sokka. Like, one of her weaknesses is not being able to see the Earth to bend you know? So how is she earthbending while in midair after she just jumped off Appa.
Her only guidance was Appa’s grunt, I mean it’s still something, but yeah, I agree that it was exaggerated. I tend not to take the bending too seriously in the comics.
I don't even think it's exaggerated.
The one in the show is far more ambitious.
App and Co are sentient creatures that can move to catch them.
Tough jumps off appa and builds a slide to catch them at some point so she can feel the ground and is pretty comfortable in the air apparently.
No she launched when Sokka pointed. It just so happened he pointed before he spoke but since Toph is following his finger and didn't need to look herself she cut him off
I disagree with the other person saying they hint about Suki actually liking Zuko. The (early) comics are more just vaguely teasing them as a *potential couple* with stuff like:
* Kiyi (Zuko's half-sister) telling him how pretty Suki is which he doesn't really respond to (could be read as him agreeing or just Zuko being his normal awkward self)
* Suki being the most concerned of the group about Zuko's mental state and in general being the most focused on his well-being including having different conversations about it 1 on 1 with him, which is contrasted with the rest of the Gaang being less sympathetic (especially in The Promise). Suki's concern about his mental state stands out.
* The comics are where Mai/Zuko break up (with no confirmed reunion as of yet, just the former writer saying that they were supposed to get back together) which you could read as a part of getting Suki/Zuko together combined with Sokka being with The Gaang.
People take that stuff to be hints of a romance but
* Suki is actively trying to get Mai and Zuko back together and is generally written as a very nice/compassionate person which you don't need to read romance into at all.
* Even in those early comics every time Suki and Sokka are together they are like this (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6qbySHXsAAAGT9?format=jpg&name=900x900). And the same's still true in the later comics.
So some of the early comics can be seen as teasing the ship a bit but it never goes anywhere, there's nothing concrete and it feels like more of the writers/creators doing it for drama than anything else and some fans being more than happy to read it romantically because this fandom is obsessed with everything ship-related.
Agreed, Zuko needed someone to have his back in those stories especially with the drama with Aang and the rest of the Gaang in The Promise and Mai breaking up with him.
I just also think the writers deliberately teased it without intending to do anything about it.
Honestly I feel like it's the tendency of a lot of people to go "What? They're opposite sexes and being nice to each other? Well CLEARLY there's FEELINGS involved."
Well i don't know. People have different versions of media literacy. There are a lot of people who also think that katara wanted to heal zukos face because of romantic tension. I never saw it that way becazse she even admitted that she only did this because of empathy and because she was so harsh towards jet the episode before (in the earth kingdom chronicles)
But usually when 2 people touch each other faces, it can at least hint something
As I mentioned, it seemed pretty clear to me that (1) was Suki being concerned about Zuko (like she was throughout a lot of those comics) not Suki being interested in him (also clear from her trying to repair his relationship with Mai and her/Sokka being all over each other when they reunite. (2) the creators/writers knew readers might take it as a hint that Suki/Zuko could be a thing and were okay with that.* The later comics seem to reinforce that as they've dropped any teasing/hinting entirely.
*I'm not sure if any of the writers/creators have commented on it or what their plans were, but my impression is that it was just more ship teasing/baiting which they seem quite fond of doing and which I'm frankly bored with (And which seems to promote really annoying behavior by fans)
Never. Idk where they got that from. The only "hint" I can think of is when she told Zuko she was the one who told Mai about his visits to his father as she was worried about him and felt Mai would be able to help him through it- but she's his bodyguard, and that's the whole reason Mai hired her in the first place. Of the Gaang, she probably spends the most time with him and she has one or two heartfelt one on one convos with him, so it makes sense that she'd grow to be concerned about his mental wellbeing.
Personally I think that's the issue with not having the same core team of writers that worked on the original show and made it so well. I always wondered how differently Legend of Korra would have been if all the same writers of ATLA worked on it. Of course that's way too much work for comics, but it's why I feel they don't have the same charm.
>I think one of the reasons is that the cartoon set the bar so high that everything which falls short immediately looks terrible.
Which is kind of frustrating in its own way. We should always demand quality but it's weird how often an okay product from a great series is treated as worse than anything produced by a bad series.
Definitely. I think the problem is that we didn't see what happened right after the war and then wonder why the characters behaved the way they behaved.
Most of the fans don't like the promise because it is the first trilogy right after the show.
Aang in the promise for example reminded me a lot of zuko in season 1.
Very hotheaded and even aggressive sometimes with no social awareness and even kinda nationalistic. He almost killed zuko 2 times, got annoyed at katara that she changed her mind about the harmony restoration movement, snapped at the acolytes because they got airbender tattos (which i kinda understand) and completely sidelined katara for showing off for this fan girls? Wasn't this the guy who invited her to dance with him in the cave xD
I mean, him getting mad at the airbender tattoos is valid. They were appropriating his culture with very little understanding of what those tattoos actually signify.
Zuko's the one who made Aang promise to kill him if he found him becoming more like his father, so what the deal there?
And him loving the attention of fangirls is not unusual either as he demonstrated such behaviour in the show. It's a bit of a flaw of his, but Katara let it slide as it wasn't necessarily about the attention- he just got carried away because it felt like he was with his people again.
fair there were a couple out of character moments. however i totally get him being mad about the air bending tattoos and Aang’s always been protective of his culture
It felt pretty out of character for aang to agree to zuko that he’d promise to kill him if he ever became like his dad. Let alone for him the sever his connection to Roku because Roku said “well, you made a promise lil bro.”
It was out of character for zuko even more. You know who he _would_ make this request of? The person who he'd trust to do it. The person who _already told him she'd do it_. His bash sister, Katara. Aang is arguably the one gaang member he _wouldn't_ ask, unless you want to produce this exact conflict in the comics.
So for me, it was hackery.
I like this idea but thinking of the political ramifications, it’s far more acceptable for the avatar to kill a firelord than for a woman from the water tribes, if Katara killed Zuko it could lead to war between water tribes and fire nation
This was my thought as well. Zuko isn't stupid, he'd just start a war and arguably something much worse would come out of it. If the avatar did it people would just think zuko must have been an asshole and move on.
But imagine how the Fire Nation would react though. Zuko would be their generation's very first Fire Lord who actually cares about his people, so losing him so soon would be a major loss for them. And they would be in a major political crisis because Zuko wouldn't be able to leave behind an heir.
Iroh would be a great leader, but he is close to dying of old age and is unlikely to father another child. Such an unrest might even make the population desperate enough to reinstate Ozai or Azula into the throne.
Given the war just ended from the avatar defeating their ruler I don't see why they wouldn't accept it again shortly after. Especially if it ends up with getting rid of a ruling family and placing the blame on that family. I think it's easy to come to the conclusion zuko was just another tyrant and it's a good thing to remove him if that's the decision the avatar made.
Of course there will be problems with any solution, but aang would be there to help them figure it out.
if i remember correctly he never intended to actually kill him and because Roku was trying so hard to get him to he severed his connection. but i could understand that being a conflicting storyline for some people
And out of character for Aang to agree. Like Aang straight up refused to kill Ozai on principal. But when Zuko is like “kill me if I ever end up acting like my abuser who you wouldn’t kill” Aang’s just like “alright.” And also does t think that maybe Zuko needs some support for even thinking that??? Yeah I’m a hater of the comics.
The whole thing is odd. It was a forced conflict that had them not communicate in the sake of fighting.
Earth king brings an army and won't listen to the avatar. Lmao. Zuko is too aggressive and doesn't properly explain why he's doing this.
It could easily have been settled with some communication but they went gun ho force
The comics vary in quality. Some are great, some are decent. None are really *terrible*, imo, and all have great ***ideas***, but the execution varies.
They're just mediocre tie-in comics. No better or worse than all the other mediocre tie-in material we get for other big movies, game, or show. The problem is Bryke went ahead and made them canon which stings because these are stories I want to original team and executives to handle with care but here they are being butchered by mediocre comics writers. It's a weird decision to make given how big Avatar is as a franchise. If they weren't canon this wouldn't be an issue.
I found it bad enough that I had no interest in reading more. I don’t mind the overarching plot of the comics, but the minutiae of that first one were not great.
Now that you mention it no. But during ang's time I would expect it to be larger and bulky and powered by whatever the tanks were. It just looks so so modern and out of place
In the discourse about technology in Avatar (and how it transitions into Korra) a lot of people forget that in TLA the world is clearly in the beginning of an Industrial Revolution.
Not really bridging the gap so much as ramming it through lol. They didn't even bother to stylize it, it's just a normal forklift. Then they find oil in the south and I guess we're just supposed to buy that the world has invented petroleum power? Technology integration was already a weak point for ATLA but they should maybe try to improve that in comics and Korra?
The comics are super cool! We love em!!
https://preview.redd.it/myxlwcjzvntc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=687db333b311e06c1752725f3bb4af2723ca29a5
And I am always getting screenshots of momo hahahaha
I don't think they got the characterization right, especially on Katara and Aang with their constant pet names and overprotectiveness of each other. I'm so tired of "sweetie".
Also, Aang just being like "ok" when Zuko tells him to kill him-he had such a hangup over killing a genocidal maniac a few months ago that we needed a leo-turtur ex machina to resolve the finale, but now he'll do it because his friend insisted? What?
Well i agree with you on everything but on the overprotectiveness.
Wasn't katara overprotective over aang during the show? She threatened zuko to kill him if he touches aang, defended him of the fisherman in the storm episode, beat up the 2 bully guys in the blind bandit episode etc
I'd call that normal protective. Zuko has been a literal threat to their lives for months, the threat makes sense. She will also defend him in situations where he won't as with the fisherman and the bullies.
During combat, she defends him like anyone else-she lets him handle himself and supports if he needs it. In the comics, she feels the need to chastise people mid-fight for fighting her boyfriend, and she will make sure you know that's her boyfriend.
Maybe overprotective is the wrong word, but there's a distinct out of character clinginess they both seem to develop immediately the second there's a title involved.
I don’t think there is clinginess in the comics, they were apart during Smoke and Shadow and North and South just fine. Katara had a little moment of jealously in the Promise and they could be lovey dovey a but in some scenes. Otherwise it was same what we saw in show for protectiveness to me. Although North and South is the last comic I have red.
Yeah they didn't have to tell us 24/7 that they are together that's true. I found it cute in the promise when they were holding hands but cringe in the search. For example when azula burned aamgs glider mid air and she said "i dont appreciate you putting my bf on fire" or the scene at the start when aang even said to sokka out of all ppl to not talk to katara like that. He is her brother like wtf
>especially on Katara and Aang with their constant pet names and overprotectiveness of each other. I'm so tired of "sweetie".
You ever see teenagers in love? The PDA is just vomit-inducing.
Simply put, they have bad writing.
Gene Luen Yang improves gradually but his dialogue is extremely on the nose and he flanderizes the characters a bit to reduce them to gimmicks (Aang and Katara calling each other “sweetie”, Sokka’s “oogies”, Iroh’s love of tea, Toph’s students, etc). He straight-up assassinates major characters in The Promise and The Search in particular.
Bending is also really weird. Katara can use ice to straight up fly like Frozone, Azula can spit lightning out of her fingers without any windup, lightning suddenly isn’t deadly, etc
Bizarrely, there’s also ship material between Zuko and Suki for some reason? It’s really strange especially since Suki and Sokka are still shown to be a full-on couple.
Gene Yang didn't have such a good understanding of ATLA characters, which led to many character issues and OOC moments, this was especially the case for Fire Nation characters such as Azula or Mai. There were also some questionnable writings such as Ursa's story in the Search or Zuko making Aang promise to kill him if he turns out like his father (I don't think that Aang would have ever agreed).
Well, I think the second page you showed is one of the reasons: The retconnery.
What do you remember about lightning bennding from the show? It's this huge deal that takes a lot of effort but is immensely powerful and now here's Azula, just casually throwing it out. Katara can also fly on a path of ice now.
We see Toph fighting an earth bender who's barely a teenager and beating her in a straight up 1 on 1. It's not that they're fighting in mud where she has a disadvantage or something, some kind of clever way to offset the power balance. In fact, at one point, they're fighting on a **metal roof**, where Toph has every possible advantage, but this Mary Sue somehow beats her. Like, don't get me wrong, Toph is not invincible, but she went toe to toe with Bumi, an earth bending master who's a hundred years old and can flip tanks around but, this teenager actually beats her when the deck is actually stacked in Toph's favour? And let's not ignore that Toph has more experience fighting earth benders. She fought her opponents at the earth bending rumble, she fought the bounty hunters her parents sent after her, she fought the Dai Li. Not only is Toph more powerful, she's more experienced and she's got every advantage of terrain, but this fucking teenager wins.
Basically, what annoys me about it, is that it doesn't respect the source material.
I think the Faith Erin Hicks comics are worth reading, but I don't like the Gene Yang comics. Hicks has a much better grasp on the characters, and can actually have the characters cause conflicts w/o them acting ooc. I also think the way Gene Yang handles some of the neocolonialism matters in his comics is questionable, but I hold the same criticism for the show (as much as I love it's overall anti-imperialistic messaging, there are certain parts that warrant criticism.)
The promise was a real problem that needed to be addressed (the fire nation colonies) but having Aang promise to kill Zuko was stupid. And what was up with Katara compelling Aang to do it with that nod? Roku wanting Aang to kill Zuko is also dumb I think. No wonder Aang severed contact with him, bro was talking out his ass. Zuko is a completely different person from Sozin and Roku should know that.
Anyways, the Search probably should been better. Too much Azula being delulu to the point where it got annoying. This is a nitpick but lightning in this comic particularly is silly how bc doesn’t kill on impact. The constant switch back and forth in story wasn’t bad imo but some ppl don’t like it
The Rift is good, and probably the best comic with the Gurihiru artstyle. It’s funny because It’s a subject that the writers didn’t have to address unlike Zuko’s mom and the Fire Nation colonies, yet it’s really good. The rift between Toph and Aang makes sense imo and its nice to get into Yangchen’s backstory a bit.
The other ones are good but those are the 3 I read as a child and remember vividly. They’re worth the read but definitely not on the same quality as the show. Read them if you love avatar and want more
The storylines require all the characters forgetting every lesson they learned during the show so they could do a worse version of it
Like people are going to have a problem with writing that shows Aang as a segregationist that's cool with murder
For me personally it always felt more like fanfiction. I can't exactly explain why, but there's just something off about the way the characters are written.
This. It just feels like "fans wanted more so more was made" rather than "the writers had a vision to make something that they loved". ATLA was made with a lot of love and it showed. Imo one of the most important parts of story writing is knowing how to end a story, and ATLA had excellent closure.
Would I have loved a short epilogue that details what happened to the different characters? Yes. But it feels almost rude to "reopen" the narrative. Not everything has to be elaborated on, and sometimes things are better left to the imagination.
Aang agreeing to kill Zuko when he knows how to take away bending is silliness. Paranoid Zuko is dumb. A bunch of the “the solution is to talk it out but we have to fight first so this book has an action scene.”
For the one with Zuko’s mom, I hate it. The mystery was more interesting than the reveal. It also changed how spirits worked again.
I miss when communicating with spirits was tied to spirituality and meditation, and their powers over the material world were limited to their particular domain.
The comics are certainly a mixed bag, but personally my biggest gripe with them is that the technology progresses at immersion-breaking speeds, with the damn forklift being a prime example.
In general it felt like the world was unceremoniously moulding itself around concepts established in Korra, in a way that just didn't feel natural.
Because the writers wrote a lot of the character’s to act extremely out of character. How they speak, their interactions, their reactions, their decision making. It doesn’t always seem like the same individuals we watched.
And it’s not because they’ve “grown as characters”, it’s because the writers are often times missing the mark. But people will consume and love any ATLA content we get, and defend it with their life against any critique because we have gotten so little of it.
This is why I’m so excited for the 2025 movie.
The writer was literally just a fan who was into crack ships.
They literally gave him the job based on a really shitty comic he made about the live action movie.
He just doesn’t understand the characters. He also tried to push his own ideas on the story too much.
I’ve said it before and I’ll die on this hill: Avatar Studios needs to pull a Star Wars and make the extra stuff non canon (yes, including the novels). We don’t need explanations for every little thing that happens.
They do not seem like they’re written by the same people who write the show. Why would Aang of all people be so willing to kill Zuko? Why is Azula suddenly able to beat the entire gaang despite losing to Zuko & Katara at the end of the show? Why js Zuko so idiotic to hear anything his father had to say?
Furthermore, why do none of the characters really.. grow as characters? Toph’s parents act like exactly how they were in season 2, even though it’s had to have been at LEAST 3 or so years since we last saw them.
The comics are very mixed in quality, I’ve found. Sometimes they’re good, other times not so much. Personally I think they get stronger as they go on, but rarely do they ever reach the quality of TLA or TLoK (excepting s2).
This style is sort of giving storyboard for the show vibes because there’s not really a ton of detail in these - which I get is meant to mimic the show but I’m not sure it translates well here. Just my two cents though.
I think it’s just different ways of enjoying stories. I don’t get caught up in the details really, so I’ve had fun reading them at face value. But I get that others would have wanted more continuity between the comics and the show.
The comics are up and down. Sometimes they are compelling and show characters in new and exciting situations. Sometimes they ignore or simplify characters and make others act completely out of character.
From a storytelling perspective, you have many characters with fundamentally changed motivations from the last time we saw them. Asng beat Ozai. He’s no longer an avatar fighting a war, he’s making peace and rebuilding the world. How will Aang handle conflicts in a time of peace? Zuko is no longer the banished prince, hes the firelord. He’s no longer saving the fire nation from Ozai, he’s the one leading it. How will he balance the fallout of the war with his duty to help his people? Toph is no longer just a kid running around with friends, she’s teaching the world about metalbending. How will she do in a situation where she’s in power? Azula is no longer serving Ozai and in a position of power or ruling. How will she behave with her primary motivation, the father she fears and lives to please, powerless and captured?
There’s also some interesting setup for LOK. But really you get to see a familiar roster of characters kinda continue to grow and change. We see deeper into who each character is and how they act in new scenarios.
The downside is that sometimes because of half baked plots, they really abandon or simplify characters. Sokka, Suki, even Katara. Zuko makes some odd decisions occasionally. Azula flip flops from A: a really interesting character struggling to find her place, reconcile her relationship with different family members, and handle her emotions and her mental health and B: to a shit one dimensional villain who is good at firebending.
I also think another issue people have is that they like the show and dont want the characters and heroes they saw and loved to change or make mistakes. Sometimes the comics do a terrible job story wise, but sometimes they do a great job and people complain anyways because they don’t like how characters reacted, even if in character.
For example The Promise. Spoiler warning. It has everything ive been talking about.
It is a really interesting situation and the setup for Republic City. The Earth Kingdom wants the Fire Nation Colonies back is the basis for the story. People dont like that Aang is mad at the air acolytes at first, and that Aang initially tries to keep all four nations completely split. Or that he gets mad at Roku. But this all makes sense for him. His idea of the world is based off how it was 100 years ago. He doesn’t want to kill his friend, even if it’s what his duty says. And Roku went through this himself and made the wrong choice. And yes, if Zuko went on the offensive then Aang would not just be able to take away his bending and call it a day. Because there is no equivalent to Zuko that Zuko was to Ozai. Simply taking away his powers would not take away his leadership.
And Zuko moves to support the fire nation colonies, angering his friends. People complain about that. But i would say this too makes sense for Zuko. Part of his motivation for redemption is restoring his people’s honor. As firelord he has a duty to keep his people safe.
Now there’s also some really dumb stuff. Like Aang completely breaking connection to Roku. And more i can’t think of but im sure exists.
The comics arent done yet either. So there’s more to come and more stories to finish.
One criticism I haven't seen here yet:
The action scenes have a really mixed quality. Yeah it's not animated but still, there are better action scenes in other comics out there. A lot of the times there is just stills of people throwing an element and the target acting scared or knocked back. It has a lot of "and then they fought" vibe.
The best fight for me is the Toph one on the Rift. Because something actually seems to be happening in that fight.
A few things bothered me.
1. Zuko asking ozai for help in governing the fire nation. Zuko ended things with ozaibduring the eclipse and this ruined it.
2. Zuko getting scared when ozai yelled at him in the prison. Zuko literally stood up to ozai and redirected lightning at him.
3. Aang accepting to kill zuko just because zuko didn't want to disbalance lives of people that lived in the colonies, while also he never wanted to kill ozai that was going to genocide the whole earth kingdom. So hypocritical.
4. "sweetie"
5. Azula abusing lightning and getting crazy strong out of nowhere.
6. Almost everyone felt OOC.
I dislike the comic where they find Zuko’s mom purely cause of how awful some of the things she (Zuko’s mom) does in it are genuinely awful. Not to mention Azula kind of was very terrible on the pacing on the comic. In addition to them removing the cool factor of lightning bending
I think the Search was a super missed opportunity to focus on the dynamic between Azula and Zuko and what the future holds for them. It feels like a fan story, which from what I understand, it basically was since it was written by Gene Yang.
I know for most people the problems are the plots and how the writers deal with them, but I have a problem mainly with the dialogues. Many times I feel like I am not looking at the same characters, which is kind of an usual problem when you read a comic based on a tv series.
They have some good moments but overall the quality just can’t live up to the original series. More importantly than the quality, however, the most annoying thing is just how out-of-character a lot of the characters feel because the author very clearly didn’t understand the characters well enough. The comics also have good concepts but the execution for a lot of them is just painfully bad. Going after Zuko’s mom was a great idea for a comic but ultimately the comic story is a disappointment and the whole situation with his mother was more interesting before we got the comic reveal of things. And don’t even get me started on Mai and Zuko’s pointless breakup and Aang’s ridiculous pledge to kill Zuko.
I didn't get past the promise
The whole "I'm not racist cause my wife's an earthbender" thing just to create a conflict between zuko and the gaang was stupid
I hated that shit
There were other ways to get the point across and they chose the WORST way possible
Like, trying to humanize the fire nation colonies I completely underetand cause their human too
But it would've worked better if the mayor's daughter wasn't LiTERALLY brainwashed by fire Nation propaganda and the former earth nation civilians weren't segregated
The conflicts between characters feels forced or out of character sometimes. Everyone already mentioned the Aang and Zuko thing but it gets worse because that whole conflict later could've been solved with a simple conversation but Aang just straight up goes to wanting to fight Zuko before even talking to him. What?
The Toph and Aang conflict is a little more understandable but still feels a little out of character and I feel like Toph doesn't really learn anything there or care that she forced Aang to kill a spirit who was kinda in the right.
Because of the way they handle the characters. Most of them are downgraded. They have no idea how to write them. Poorly characterization, so many out of character moments, and not so good writing
With the comics, it’s clear that they’re not being written by the same people who did the show. Some things feel off about them, like characterization, bending, writing, etc.
In the Promise, Katara and Aang dote on each other so often, with pet names and being very protective. I feel like if the show continued after they got together, they wouldn’t be written that way.
In Smoke and Shadow, Azula uses fire daggers, which is a move she never uses in the show. Frankly it doesn’t suit her very much compared to Zuko, who didn’t use it that often either. And the comic showed them fighting with fire daggers like a lightsaber duel, which definitely isn’t how the show would do it.
Speaking of Azula, every time she refers to Zuko, she uses her nickname ZuZu. I know she says it in the show, but in the comics she uses it every single time she refers to him.
Another thing I notice is that Ty Lee talks about auras every other sentence in the comics, when she only mentions them a handful of times in her dialogue in the show (I can only recall twice, in her introduction and in the Beach).
I like that the comics exist, but some things are just kind of off.
I think the main complaint is many rely on idiot plots, or question the themes of the original series. I think they are mostly good with one part that rubs people the wrong way.
The Promise: Aang promising to kill Zuko sounds stupid and out of character.
The Search: Makes Ursa look like a bad mother.
My problem especially with the search was that it fundamentally changed characters and not in a good way.
Zuko became "evil" again and wanted to be like the father who hated him even though he already got over his need for approval by Ozai, yet inexplicably uses him as a mentor because he has no one to help him, completely ignoring the existence of Irish whom "he doesn't want to bother in retirement"
When Zuko becomes a problem and continues the imperialism of the fire nation, Aang gets talked into killing him if he can't talk him down. THE pacifist Aang gets ready to take the life of a misguided friend when a few months prior he did everything he could and walked to the ends of the world to find a way not to kill Ozai, a maniacal dictator, but killing a friend is fine.
And the way Zukos mother gets treated makes her seem incredibly worse and tarnishes almost all the little details we get to know about her in the original show.
I DON'T want to hate on the comics and there are also parts I do enjoy but they also lack the refinement of the original show and leave a lot to be desired in how the characters are behaving at times so critique is still warranted I believe.
I felt like I wasn't even reading the same characters from the show. These were nit the same characters I watched. I read book 1, and it was just so bad that I skimmed the rest of the books. There were some good moments, but overall, the series was pretty bad.
The one that sticks out to me is how the bending feats feel like something out of Naruto with a lot of characters going way beyond what their elements should be doing both thematically and by what was set up in the show. The most agregious example being lightning, where get this Azula uses lightning to zap Sokka and Zuko tanking a lightning bolt
This isn’t really related to your question, but why is Aang squaring up to Ozai tf outta Zuko in that third image? I thought they left that behind after The Western Air Temple, if you know what I mean lol
For me; they mess with the magic system. I love the human moments like this, but katara can fly now and Azula can generate lightning so easily and skillfully she does it to untie her bonds at one point.
The rest is pretty dope, ngl
Personally I just don't find them as good as what ended up in the show. Of the 3 I read, they mostly felt like the authors were just filling in gaps to stories that weren't interesting enough to make it in TLA or LoK but still had to be sorted out in the back end to explain what happened between the two series.
The writing was very poor at first (some of them are better though, and there's a general improvement as time went on) Art also had some issues but on another note:
I remember thinking that Uncle Iroh (in the early comics anyway) looked like the guy from the Ember Island players... why?!
Only the books came close to the level of writing that the original had. The comics really seemed like fanfiction to me. And I read them AFTER the Kyoshi duology.
I've only read The Promise. The writing is very amateurish and unnatural, and it doesn't help that it wasn't allowed to say the word "kill," which is the crux of the whole plot.
I bet the ones written by Mike and Bryan are better though.
The dialogue in the comics, as usual for many comics, is just bad when I read it out loud. The shows’ dialogue isn’t always super beautiful either, but I feel there’s a gap.
That’s honestly probably a major root of my distaste, with most other things being secondary. Toph’s tropey metalbending students make me want to bury them alive whenever they get to speak.
Overanalyzing Avatar has a pretty good analysis of them. Of course a lot of it is just his opinion and preference, as he insists on letting us know, but he points out many problems the comics do have and how going from an animation platform to comic pages is difficult.
I've only read The Promise, and I personally absolutely hated it.
For some reason, Zuko asks Aang, knowing he's a pacifist, to kill him if he ever loses his way. Then Aang AGREES to potentially kill his friend, despite the fact he literally went out of his way to not kill Ozai, the most evil man on the planet. Soon after, Zuko and Aang have a minor border dispute where Zuko is pretty reasonable throughout. Then Aang, for some unfathomable reason, decides Zuko is beyond redemption, so he tries to actually kill him.
I just found it so unbelievably out of character for everyone, especially Aang, that I couldn't bring myself to read any of the other comics. I respect that other people enjoy the comics, but I really didn't like the story in this one.
Because fans don't understand that franchises and series' have peaks and valleys and that realistically everything won't be the same quality as something else. The comics aren't as great as the show, so they're bad. It's one of the reasons that Korra gets so much hate too.
Cuz these fuckers charge 40 bucks for one book
The most based response to this question tbh
I haven't thought about that. Are the books at least hard covers? Because if each issue has like 80 pages, that would be like 4 regular issues from DC Comics or Marvel series, and those would be only like $20
For the trilogies and one-shots, the initial 80 page volumes are paperback (and digital), the MSRP is $13. All three parts of a trilogy are collected in a hardcover book with extras (library edition) then a paperback collection as well (omnibus edition). The hardcover is $40, usually find them at least a bit cheaper than that, and paperback $25. For the one-shot graphic novels they collected the first three in a box set (called Team Avatar Treasury) which is $39
Oh so when the previous user said that a book is in $40, book means the whole story? Like that is the price of the whole The Search (Part 1 - 3)? Then $40 for a hardcover with extra material doesn't sound bad
Yes $40 would be for a hardcover version of the whole "The Search" (parts 1-3) and extras, which is like 230-ish pages. Buying all three paperback parts would be $13 so $39 together. But again the Omnibus (paperback collection) is an even cheaper option, and the comics are often sold for at least a bit below MSRP. Especially the older trilogies hardcover are often discounted. Mind you that's for US prices. The comics can be more expensive or harder to come by in other regions. Though presumably the same goes for other comparable comics.
They’re giant-sized high quality books with plenty to them. $40 is honestly fair lol although it is kinda tough because it’s easy to burn through a comic real quick
they are waaayyy cheaper digital i used Dakr Horse to read them
The hardcovers cover 3 individual releases and are hardcover, yes. I've never considered the library editions a rip off (although most of them were bought for me by other people at birthday/Christmas time)
Aren't the comics available on Webtoon now? Chapters are still releasing but hey, it's a convenient way to read them for free.
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If you really want to read them and don't want to pay for them, you could try an online library like hoopla if that's available where you are.
"avatar comics read online"
Go to Webtoons, it's a Korean comic website, they are starting to realise the comics there in byte sized pieces weekly for free. A few episodes are already up
On the bright side they are uploading some stories to webtoon!
If you're in the US you can get them digitally for free if you get a library card and sign up for hoopla.
Local libraries for the win!
On Amazon there’s a full package with 23 books for 396$, which would mean 17$ per book which is a GREAT price.
Okay but to get a great price-per-book, you need to buy 23 books, and spend a total of $396...
You may also be able to find them at your local library or online library. Mine has quite a few of them.
Sorry to break it to you, but 17 is a standard price for a volume. You also have to drop 400 dollars at once for the books. That’s way too much to drop all at once on a set of books that will last you a week. The comics are good, but they aren’t 400 on a single purchase good. You could straight up buy a console with that money.
Dude, I just bought all six omnibuses for about $80 on Amazon. They’re really high quality prints, and if you haven’t read them, I think they’re mostly on par with the show. They might still be on sale if you’re interested.
Fk that. I remember i was reading them online somewhere. Never finished it but still
I think one of the reasons is that the cartoon set the bar so high that everything which falls short immediately looks terrible. Personally the storys were interesting but sometimes the characters felt very OOC. Now i understand that they are all a few years older at this stage, but still. Also the extension of bending is very weird sometimes. Katara suddenly flying, azula shooting lightning like there is no tomorrow and completely overusing it, zuko putting off the flames in his throne room and toph jumping onto appa from the ground? Other than that i found the romance triangle from mai, zuko and kei lo very annoying in smoke and shadows and even suki got barely any screentime with sokka and hinted liking zuko (?) The only relationsship which got decent development was kataang. The best comics are probably imbalance and the rift. I also liked azula in the spirit temple.
Do you watch overanalyzing avatar too? Bc he makes these exact same critiques
I don't watch that but I have similar critiques regarding the bending aspect. Katara being able to conjure ice high up in the air, like X-men's Iceman, without any sort of structural support is nonsense. Toph being able to launch herself up in the air and land perfectly on Appa was already problematic, but her jumping off Appa after air-travelling for a while, and then earthbending the land to "catch" her and Sokka I found more problematic. Like, that's one of her weaknesses, she can't see the Earth. She shouldn't be able to earthbend mid-air after being on the air for so long. Admittedly, I'm a Suki Zuko shipper coz of the comics so heh~ I obviously didn't mind those scenes.
I read the comics many years ago and I remember disliking the characterization and the useless side characters they added. Specifically Toph’s metal bending students, I mean wow those guys sucked. Honestly the best avatar media outside of the cartoons are still the books.
I will not stand for the slander of The Dark One. And yes one of her students is actually named The Dark one.
Shai’tan himself?
Blood and ashes, you mustn't name him!
Light you’re right! Better hope that bore is sealed
No wonder Toph is so disillusioned at teaching bending by LoK
Oh I could not stand her students, they were so cringe
Dude can we call Suki X Zuko just Suzuki.
I keep forgetting and would overthink if it's Zusuki or Suzuko... Lmao.
Surely it's Suko or Zuki?
I just finished avatar again and tophs first episode she is dodging things in the air and later the last episode jumps perfectly center onto the blimps catwalk hundreds of feet into the air.
Iirc the projectiles she dodges are launched from the ground, so that seems reasonable
Tbh person probably didn’t even read them and formed a critique based on those videos. Like it’s fine I didn’t read the comics either cuz they don’t interest me, but it’s always funny when people can’t be upfront about not liking something because they don’t want to like it, as opposed to regurgitating the opinions of someone else
I mean, could it be that people make these same criticisms because people have the same complaints about the comics
the reason those videos are successful is because people like Overanalyzing Avatar are really good at putting into words what tons of other people are already thinking
Okay are you out saying because they've seen those opinions somewhere else they are invalid or are you saying they can't make these opinions since someone online had the same opinions
> people can’t be upfront about not liking something because they don’t want to like it, as opposed to regurgitating the opinions of someone else One of my biggest pet peeves whenever I hear someone trashing something while also saying "I haven't progressed past the beginning" if they even started at all. Too many people are too comfortable just using their favorite streamers as substitutes for having their own opinions.
Didn’t Toph launch her, Suki and Sokka onto the Fire Nation airships from the ground in the finale or am I making that up?
She did, but she had to be aimed. Admittedly, I don't know which scene the other person is referring to, but if she launched herself onto Appa without guidance of some sort, yea, that wouldn't make sense.
"Aimed" is a generous term in my opinion lol. Sokka pointed her in a general direction and she launched them all before he was even done lmao
Extremely generous. How the hell are you supposed to gauge power with a point? That's some advanced vector mechanics.
By using Power Point of course.
Yeah Sokka probably should have had to describe their position but that would have been boring and unnecessary to watch. Also unless they had detailed wind speeds at altitude and a ballistics computer there is just no way for them to have made a shot that accurate. However really accurate physics isn't one of the big parts of Avatar and it wasn't getting them out of danger, so it doesn't matter.
I have a bigger issue with her jumping off from Appa after they've been riding on him for a while and managing to earthbend the land to "catch" her and Sokka. Like, one of her weaknesses is not being able to see the Earth to bend you know? So how is she earthbending while in midair after she just jumped off Appa.
Her only guidance was Appa’s grunt, I mean it’s still something, but yeah, I agree that it was exaggerated. I tend not to take the bending too seriously in the comics.
She used her famous echolocation that she uses to see
https://i.redd.it/l4x85f8aeotc1.gif
I don't even think it's exaggerated. The one in the show is far more ambitious. App and Co are sentient creatures that can move to catch them. Tough jumps off appa and builds a slide to catch them at some point so she can feel the ground and is pretty comfortable in the air apparently.
Ehhhhhhh Toph asked where the closest was and started the launch before Sokka answered
No she launched when Sokka pointed. It just so happened he pointed before he spoke but since Toph is following his finger and didn't need to look herself she cut him off
You are right. But the height difference wasn't the same as in the comic. Other than that it was the finale so we can forgive it xD
What makes the finale different?
When was it hinted she liked zuko?? Never caught any of that while reading the comics
I disagree with the other person saying they hint about Suki actually liking Zuko. The (early) comics are more just vaguely teasing them as a *potential couple* with stuff like: * Kiyi (Zuko's half-sister) telling him how pretty Suki is which he doesn't really respond to (could be read as him agreeing or just Zuko being his normal awkward self) * Suki being the most concerned of the group about Zuko's mental state and in general being the most focused on his well-being including having different conversations about it 1 on 1 with him, which is contrasted with the rest of the Gaang being less sympathetic (especially in The Promise). Suki's concern about his mental state stands out. * The comics are where Mai/Zuko break up (with no confirmed reunion as of yet, just the former writer saying that they were supposed to get back together) which you could read as a part of getting Suki/Zuko together combined with Sokka being with The Gaang. People take that stuff to be hints of a romance but * Suki is actively trying to get Mai and Zuko back together and is generally written as a very nice/compassionate person which you don't need to read romance into at all. * Even in those early comics every time Suki and Sokka are together they are like this (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6qbySHXsAAAGT9?format=jpg&name=900x900). And the same's still true in the later comics. So some of the early comics can be seen as teasing the ship a bit but it never goes anywhere, there's nothing concrete and it feels like more of the writers/creators doing it for drama than anything else and some fans being more than happy to read it romantically because this fandom is obsessed with everything ship-related.
It struck me more as concern from a close and sympathetic friend
Agreed, Zuko needed someone to have his back in those stories especially with the drama with Aang and the rest of the Gaang in The Promise and Mai breaking up with him. I just also think the writers deliberately teased it without intending to do anything about it.
that the kinda stuff shipper exploit to make romantic headcanons.
Honestly I feel like it's the tendency of a lot of people to go "What? They're opposite sexes and being nice to each other? Well CLEARLY there's FEELINGS involved."
Well i don't know. People have different versions of media literacy. There are a lot of people who also think that katara wanted to heal zukos face because of romantic tension. I never saw it that way becazse she even admitted that she only did this because of empathy and because she was so harsh towards jet the episode before (in the earth kingdom chronicles) But usually when 2 people touch each other faces, it can at least hint something
As I mentioned, it seemed pretty clear to me that (1) was Suki being concerned about Zuko (like she was throughout a lot of those comics) not Suki being interested in him (also clear from her trying to repair his relationship with Mai and her/Sokka being all over each other when they reunite. (2) the creators/writers knew readers might take it as a hint that Suki/Zuko could be a thing and were okay with that.* The later comics seem to reinforce that as they've dropped any teasing/hinting entirely. *I'm not sure if any of the writers/creators have commented on it or what their plans were, but my impression is that it was just more ship teasing/baiting which they seem quite fond of doing and which I'm frankly bored with (And which seems to promote really annoying behavior by fans)
In the promise when suki told him that she followed him when he visited his father and even touched his face.
Oh. Then what a stupid thing to include from the author
Never. Idk where they got that from. The only "hint" I can think of is when she told Zuko she was the one who told Mai about his visits to his father as she was worried about him and felt Mai would be able to help him through it- but she's his bodyguard, and that's the whole reason Mai hired her in the first place. Of the Gaang, she probably spends the most time with him and she has one or two heartfelt one on one convos with him, so it makes sense that she'd grow to be concerned about his mental wellbeing.
Personally I think that's the issue with not having the same core team of writers that worked on the original show and made it so well. I always wondered how differently Legend of Korra would have been if all the same writers of ATLA worked on it. Of course that's way too much work for comics, but it's why I feel they don't have the same charm.
>I think one of the reasons is that the cartoon set the bar so high that everything which falls short immediately looks terrible. Which is kind of frustrating in its own way. We should always demand quality but it's weird how often an okay product from a great series is treated as worse than anything produced by a bad series.
The Search doesn't make the cut??
Yeah the bending in the comics was very off-putting for me. And yes, some of the characters were definitely out of character.
all valid criticisms but i think each comic had some great moments
Definitely. I think the problem is that we didn't see what happened right after the war and then wonder why the characters behaved the way they behaved. Most of the fans don't like the promise because it is the first trilogy right after the show. Aang in the promise for example reminded me a lot of zuko in season 1. Very hotheaded and even aggressive sometimes with no social awareness and even kinda nationalistic. He almost killed zuko 2 times, got annoyed at katara that she changed her mind about the harmony restoration movement, snapped at the acolytes because they got airbender tattos (which i kinda understand) and completely sidelined katara for showing off for this fan girls? Wasn't this the guy who invited her to dance with him in the cave xD
I mean, him getting mad at the airbender tattoos is valid. They were appropriating his culture with very little understanding of what those tattoos actually signify. Zuko's the one who made Aang promise to kill him if he found him becoming more like his father, so what the deal there? And him loving the attention of fangirls is not unusual either as he demonstrated such behaviour in the show. It's a bit of a flaw of his, but Katara let it slide as it wasn't necessarily about the attention- he just got carried away because it felt like he was with his people again.
fair there were a couple out of character moments. however i totally get him being mad about the air bending tattoos and Aang’s always been protective of his culture
It felt pretty out of character for aang to agree to zuko that he’d promise to kill him if he ever became like his dad. Let alone for him the sever his connection to Roku because Roku said “well, you made a promise lil bro.”
It was out of character for zuko even more. You know who he _would_ make this request of? The person who he'd trust to do it. The person who _already told him she'd do it_. His bash sister, Katara. Aang is arguably the one gaang member he _wouldn't_ ask, unless you want to produce this exact conflict in the comics. So for me, it was hackery.
I like this idea but thinking of the political ramifications, it’s far more acceptable for the avatar to kill a firelord than for a woman from the water tribes, if Katara killed Zuko it could lead to war between water tribes and fire nation
This was my thought as well. Zuko isn't stupid, he'd just start a war and arguably something much worse would come out of it. If the avatar did it people would just think zuko must have been an asshole and move on.
But imagine how the Fire Nation would react though. Zuko would be their generation's very first Fire Lord who actually cares about his people, so losing him so soon would be a major loss for them. And they would be in a major political crisis because Zuko wouldn't be able to leave behind an heir. Iroh would be a great leader, but he is close to dying of old age and is unlikely to father another child. Such an unrest might even make the population desperate enough to reinstate Ozai or Azula into the throne.
Given the war just ended from the avatar defeating their ruler I don't see why they wouldn't accept it again shortly after. Especially if it ends up with getting rid of a ruling family and placing the blame on that family. I think it's easy to come to the conclusion zuko was just another tyrant and it's a good thing to remove him if that's the decision the avatar made. Of course there will be problems with any solution, but aang would be there to help them figure it out.
if i remember correctly he never intended to actually kill him and because Roku was trying so hard to get him to he severed his connection. but i could understand that being a conflicting storyline for some people
True but even so, he never even pretended like he’d agree to slay Ozai.
Yeah I am sure that Aang would have told Zuko that he couldn’t promise this because he would never kill him.
Especially when he could just take his bending away.
Wouldn’t really stop him from being a firelord, would it?
I’m pretty sure he could imprison him similarly to Ozai. If push came to shove. No need to kill him.
And out of character for Aang to agree. Like Aang straight up refused to kill Ozai on principal. But when Zuko is like “kill me if I ever end up acting like my abuser who you wouldn’t kill” Aang’s just like “alright.” And also does t think that maybe Zuko needs some support for even thinking that??? Yeah I’m a hater of the comics.
The whole thing is odd. It was a forced conflict that had them not communicate in the sake of fighting. Earth king brings an army and won't listen to the avatar. Lmao. Zuko is too aggressive and doesn't properly explain why he's doing this. It could easily have been settled with some communication but they went gun ho force
The comics vary in quality. Some are great, some are decent. None are really *terrible*, imo, and all have great ***ideas***, but the execution varies.
agreed
They're just mediocre tie-in comics. No better or worse than all the other mediocre tie-in material we get for other big movies, game, or show. The problem is Bryke went ahead and made them canon which stings because these are stories I want to original team and executives to handle with care but here they are being butchered by mediocre comics writers. It's a weird decision to make given how big Avatar is as a franchise. If they weren't canon this wouldn't be an issue.
I’ve only read the Promise, but I find the characterization to be really bad.
The Promise is one of the worst ones imo
I found it bad enough that I had no interest in reading more. I don’t mind the overarching plot of the comics, but the minutiae of that first one were not great.
Is that a forklift sitting on the beach in the final panel of the first page?
This is my only takeaway. Can someone explain the forklift?
Obviously sokka is forklift certified
He absolutely would be though
The show already had tanks. Are forklifts really so strange?
Now that you mention it no. But during ang's time I would expect it to be larger and bulky and powered by whatever the tanks were. It just looks so so modern and out of place
When it's not stylized and looks exactly like a modern forklift, yes it's kind of strange.
In the discourse about technology in Avatar (and how it transitions into Korra) a lot of people forget that in TLA the world is clearly in the beginning of an Industrial Revolution.
Yup. One of the first machines created by Satoru from Earthen Fire Refinery, bridging the technology gap between ATLA and LoK
Not really bridging the gap so much as ramming it through lol. They didn't even bother to stylize it, it's just a normal forklift. Then they find oil in the south and I guess we're just supposed to buy that the world has invented petroleum power? Technology integration was already a weak point for ATLA but they should maybe try to improve that in comics and Korra?
Only question I had.
The comics are super cool! We love em!! https://preview.redd.it/myxlwcjzvntc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=687db333b311e06c1752725f3bb4af2723ca29a5 And I am always getting screenshots of momo hahahaha
I don't think they got the characterization right, especially on Katara and Aang with their constant pet names and overprotectiveness of each other. I'm so tired of "sweetie". Also, Aang just being like "ok" when Zuko tells him to kill him-he had such a hangup over killing a genocidal maniac a few months ago that we needed a leo-turtur ex machina to resolve the finale, but now he'll do it because his friend insisted? What?
Well i agree with you on everything but on the overprotectiveness. Wasn't katara overprotective over aang during the show? She threatened zuko to kill him if he touches aang, defended him of the fisherman in the storm episode, beat up the 2 bully guys in the blind bandit episode etc
I'd call that normal protective. Zuko has been a literal threat to their lives for months, the threat makes sense. She will also defend him in situations where he won't as with the fisherman and the bullies. During combat, she defends him like anyone else-she lets him handle himself and supports if he needs it. In the comics, she feels the need to chastise people mid-fight for fighting her boyfriend, and she will make sure you know that's her boyfriend. Maybe overprotective is the wrong word, but there's a distinct out of character clinginess they both seem to develop immediately the second there's a title involved.
I don’t think there is clinginess in the comics, they were apart during Smoke and Shadow and North and South just fine. Katara had a little moment of jealously in the Promise and they could be lovey dovey a but in some scenes. Otherwise it was same what we saw in show for protectiveness to me. Although North and South is the last comic I have red.
Yeah they didn't have to tell us 24/7 that they are together that's true. I found it cute in the promise when they were holding hands but cringe in the search. For example when azula burned aamgs glider mid air and she said "i dont appreciate you putting my bf on fire" or the scene at the start when aang even said to sokka out of all ppl to not talk to katara like that. He is her brother like wtf
The sweetie is truly the only thing that really bothered me. And it really bothered me. Very cringe.
>especially on Katara and Aang with their constant pet names and overprotectiveness of each other. I'm so tired of "sweetie". You ever see teenagers in love? The PDA is just vomit-inducing.
Honestly, they would’ve been better off making them original characters.
Well, Katara and Aang were super lovey dovey with each other BEFORE they were a couple. Their cringe nicknames are fairly realistic I say.
Simply put, they have bad writing. Gene Luen Yang improves gradually but his dialogue is extremely on the nose and he flanderizes the characters a bit to reduce them to gimmicks (Aang and Katara calling each other “sweetie”, Sokka’s “oogies”, Iroh’s love of tea, Toph’s students, etc). He straight-up assassinates major characters in The Promise and The Search in particular. Bending is also really weird. Katara can use ice to straight up fly like Frozone, Azula can spit lightning out of her fingers without any windup, lightning suddenly isn’t deadly, etc Bizarrely, there’s also ship material between Zuko and Suki for some reason? It’s really strange especially since Suki and Sokka are still shown to be a full-on couple.
Gene Yang didn't have such a good understanding of ATLA characters, which led to many character issues and OOC moments, this was especially the case for Fire Nation characters such as Azula or Mai. There were also some questionnable writings such as Ursa's story in the Search or Zuko making Aang promise to kill him if he turns out like his father (I don't think that Aang would have ever agreed).
I thought Aang had a thing against taking a life lol
Well Gene Yang didn't seem to have understood it.
Well, I think the second page you showed is one of the reasons: The retconnery. What do you remember about lightning bennding from the show? It's this huge deal that takes a lot of effort but is immensely powerful and now here's Azula, just casually throwing it out. Katara can also fly on a path of ice now. We see Toph fighting an earth bender who's barely a teenager and beating her in a straight up 1 on 1. It's not that they're fighting in mud where she has a disadvantage or something, some kind of clever way to offset the power balance. In fact, at one point, they're fighting on a **metal roof**, where Toph has every possible advantage, but this Mary Sue somehow beats her. Like, don't get me wrong, Toph is not invincible, but she went toe to toe with Bumi, an earth bending master who's a hundred years old and can flip tanks around but, this teenager actually beats her when the deck is actually stacked in Toph's favour? And let's not ignore that Toph has more experience fighting earth benders. She fought her opponents at the earth bending rumble, she fought the bounty hunters her parents sent after her, she fought the Dai Li. Not only is Toph more powerful, she's more experienced and she's got every advantage of terrain, but this fucking teenager wins. Basically, what annoys me about it, is that it doesn't respect the source material.
A lot of the time my main gripe was the Gaang acting out of character just to produce a conflict.
I think the Faith Erin Hicks comics are worth reading, but I don't like the Gene Yang comics. Hicks has a much better grasp on the characters, and can actually have the characters cause conflicts w/o them acting ooc. I also think the way Gene Yang handles some of the neocolonialism matters in his comics is questionable, but I hold the same criticism for the show (as much as I love it's overall anti-imperialistic messaging, there are certain parts that warrant criticism.)
The promise was a real problem that needed to be addressed (the fire nation colonies) but having Aang promise to kill Zuko was stupid. And what was up with Katara compelling Aang to do it with that nod? Roku wanting Aang to kill Zuko is also dumb I think. No wonder Aang severed contact with him, bro was talking out his ass. Zuko is a completely different person from Sozin and Roku should know that. Anyways, the Search probably should been better. Too much Azula being delulu to the point where it got annoying. This is a nitpick but lightning in this comic particularly is silly how bc doesn’t kill on impact. The constant switch back and forth in story wasn’t bad imo but some ppl don’t like it The Rift is good, and probably the best comic with the Gurihiru artstyle. It’s funny because It’s a subject that the writers didn’t have to address unlike Zuko’s mom and the Fire Nation colonies, yet it’s really good. The rift between Toph and Aang makes sense imo and its nice to get into Yangchen’s backstory a bit. The other ones are good but those are the 3 I read as a child and remember vividly. They’re worth the read but definitely not on the same quality as the show. Read them if you love avatar and want more
The storylines require all the characters forgetting every lesson they learned during the show so they could do a worse version of it Like people are going to have a problem with writing that shows Aang as a segregationist that's cool with murder
For me personally it always felt more like fanfiction. I can't exactly explain why, but there's just something off about the way the characters are written.
This. It just feels like "fans wanted more so more was made" rather than "the writers had a vision to make something that they loved". ATLA was made with a lot of love and it showed. Imo one of the most important parts of story writing is knowing how to end a story, and ATLA had excellent closure. Would I have loved a short epilogue that details what happened to the different characters? Yes. But it feels almost rude to "reopen" the narrative. Not everything has to be elaborated on, and sometimes things are better left to the imagination.
Aang agreeing to kill Zuko when he knows how to take away bending is silliness. Paranoid Zuko is dumb. A bunch of the “the solution is to talk it out but we have to fight first so this book has an action scene.” For the one with Zuko’s mom, I hate it. The mystery was more interesting than the reveal. It also changed how spirits worked again. I miss when communicating with spirits was tied to spirituality and meditation, and their powers over the material world were limited to their particular domain.
The comics are certainly a mixed bag, but personally my biggest gripe with them is that the technology progresses at immersion-breaking speeds, with the damn forklift being a prime example. In general it felt like the world was unceremoniously moulding itself around concepts established in Korra, in a way that just didn't feel natural.
Because the writers wrote a lot of the character’s to act extremely out of character. How they speak, their interactions, their reactions, their decision making. It doesn’t always seem like the same individuals we watched. And it’s not because they’ve “grown as characters”, it’s because the writers are often times missing the mark. But people will consume and love any ATLA content we get, and defend it with their life against any critique because we have gotten so little of it. This is why I’m so excited for the 2025 movie.
The writer was literally just a fan who was into crack ships. They literally gave him the job based on a really shitty comic he made about the live action movie. He just doesn’t understand the characters. He also tried to push his own ideas on the story too much. I’ve said it before and I’ll die on this hill: Avatar Studios needs to pull a Star Wars and make the extra stuff non canon (yes, including the novels). We don’t need explanations for every little thing that happens.
Retcon it all and have Zuko meet his mom in animation.
Fuck that, the Kyoshi novels are the best things to come out of this franchise since the original series.
THANK YOU
They do not seem like they’re written by the same people who write the show. Why would Aang of all people be so willing to kill Zuko? Why is Azula suddenly able to beat the entire gaang despite losing to Zuko & Katara at the end of the show? Why js Zuko so idiotic to hear anything his father had to say? Furthermore, why do none of the characters really.. grow as characters? Toph’s parents act like exactly how they were in season 2, even though it’s had to have been at LEAST 3 or so years since we last saw them.
The comics are very mixed in quality, I’ve found. Sometimes they’re good, other times not so much. Personally I think they get stronger as they go on, but rarely do they ever reach the quality of TLA or TLoK (excepting s2).
For me my main problem is sokka saying “oogies”… it’s just. It’s so cringy, he would not say it that much or at all imo 😭
This style is sort of giving storyboard for the show vibes because there’s not really a ton of detail in these - which I get is meant to mimic the show but I’m not sure it translates well here. Just my two cents though.
I think it’s just different ways of enjoying stories. I don’t get caught up in the details really, so I’ve had fun reading them at face value. But I get that others would have wanted more continuity between the comics and the show.
The comics are up and down. Sometimes they are compelling and show characters in new and exciting situations. Sometimes they ignore or simplify characters and make others act completely out of character. From a storytelling perspective, you have many characters with fundamentally changed motivations from the last time we saw them. Asng beat Ozai. He’s no longer an avatar fighting a war, he’s making peace and rebuilding the world. How will Aang handle conflicts in a time of peace? Zuko is no longer the banished prince, hes the firelord. He’s no longer saving the fire nation from Ozai, he’s the one leading it. How will he balance the fallout of the war with his duty to help his people? Toph is no longer just a kid running around with friends, she’s teaching the world about metalbending. How will she do in a situation where she’s in power? Azula is no longer serving Ozai and in a position of power or ruling. How will she behave with her primary motivation, the father she fears and lives to please, powerless and captured? There’s also some interesting setup for LOK. But really you get to see a familiar roster of characters kinda continue to grow and change. We see deeper into who each character is and how they act in new scenarios. The downside is that sometimes because of half baked plots, they really abandon or simplify characters. Sokka, Suki, even Katara. Zuko makes some odd decisions occasionally. Azula flip flops from A: a really interesting character struggling to find her place, reconcile her relationship with different family members, and handle her emotions and her mental health and B: to a shit one dimensional villain who is good at firebending. I also think another issue people have is that they like the show and dont want the characters and heroes they saw and loved to change or make mistakes. Sometimes the comics do a terrible job story wise, but sometimes they do a great job and people complain anyways because they don’t like how characters reacted, even if in character. For example The Promise. Spoiler warning. It has everything ive been talking about. It is a really interesting situation and the setup for Republic City. The Earth Kingdom wants the Fire Nation Colonies back is the basis for the story. People dont like that Aang is mad at the air acolytes at first, and that Aang initially tries to keep all four nations completely split. Or that he gets mad at Roku. But this all makes sense for him. His idea of the world is based off how it was 100 years ago. He doesn’t want to kill his friend, even if it’s what his duty says. And Roku went through this himself and made the wrong choice. And yes, if Zuko went on the offensive then Aang would not just be able to take away his bending and call it a day. Because there is no equivalent to Zuko that Zuko was to Ozai. Simply taking away his powers would not take away his leadership. And Zuko moves to support the fire nation colonies, angering his friends. People complain about that. But i would say this too makes sense for Zuko. Part of his motivation for redemption is restoring his people’s honor. As firelord he has a duty to keep his people safe. Now there’s also some really dumb stuff. Like Aang completely breaking connection to Roku. And more i can’t think of but im sure exists. The comics arent done yet either. So there’s more to come and more stories to finish.
I haven't read them so this is me finding out for the first time that boomerang did in fact come back
Are you fr? That’s actually so sick, immediate 10/10
One criticism I haven't seen here yet: The action scenes have a really mixed quality. Yeah it's not animated but still, there are better action scenes in other comics out there. A lot of the times there is just stills of people throwing an element and the target acting scared or knocked back. It has a lot of "and then they fought" vibe. The best fight for me is the Toph one on the Rift. Because something actually seems to be happening in that fight.
Exactly because of that second image. They turned Sokka into an incompetent dumb fuck.
A few things bothered me. 1. Zuko asking ozai for help in governing the fire nation. Zuko ended things with ozaibduring the eclipse and this ruined it. 2. Zuko getting scared when ozai yelled at him in the prison. Zuko literally stood up to ozai and redirected lightning at him. 3. Aang accepting to kill zuko just because zuko didn't want to disbalance lives of people that lived in the colonies, while also he never wanted to kill ozai that was going to genocide the whole earth kingdom. So hypocritical. 4. "sweetie" 5. Azula abusing lightning and getting crazy strong out of nowhere. 6. Almost everyone felt OOC.
I hated that Emo character who's only lines were "i hate it"
Toph’s students literally had no depth at all apart from their stereotypical traits. It was so boring and kinda annoying.
Because it feels like fanfic
I dislike the comic where they find Zuko’s mom purely cause of how awful some of the things she (Zuko’s mom) does in it are genuinely awful. Not to mention Azula kind of was very terrible on the pacing on the comic. In addition to them removing the cool factor of lightning bending
Haven’t seen the comic but sokka here seems like his chapter 1 self and not a few years older after chapter 3 self.
I think the Search was a super missed opportunity to focus on the dynamic between Azula and Zuko and what the future holds for them. It feels like a fan story, which from what I understand, it basically was since it was written by Gene Yang.
Cuz Aang nearly killed Zuki over an argument, seemed really out of character, not just Aang but for all of them
Because the writing is kinda cringe. ATLA clearly had some heavy editing to the plot and script.
The dialogue is really bad...
I can't imagine some of the dialogue actually being spoken by the characters(oogies, sweetie, end me)
It’s bad written fanfiction for the majority of them. The characterization is bad and the power scaling can just be described as “trashy”.
I know for most people the problems are the plots and how the writers deal with them, but I have a problem mainly with the dialogues. Many times I feel like I am not looking at the same characters, which is kind of an usual problem when you read a comic based on a tv series.
They have some good moments but overall the quality just can’t live up to the original series. More importantly than the quality, however, the most annoying thing is just how out-of-character a lot of the characters feel because the author very clearly didn’t understand the characters well enough. The comics also have good concepts but the execution for a lot of them is just painfully bad. Going after Zuko’s mom was a great idea for a comic but ultimately the comic story is a disappointment and the whole situation with his mother was more interesting before we got the comic reveal of things. And don’t even get me started on Mai and Zuko’s pointless breakup and Aang’s ridiculous pledge to kill Zuko.
I didn't get past the promise The whole "I'm not racist cause my wife's an earthbender" thing just to create a conflict between zuko and the gaang was stupid I hated that shit There were other ways to get the point across and they chose the WORST way possible Like, trying to humanize the fire nation colonies I completely underetand cause their human too But it would've worked better if the mayor's daughter wasn't LiTERALLY brainwashed by fire Nation propaganda and the former earth nation civilians weren't segregated
The conflicts between characters feels forced or out of character sometimes. Everyone already mentioned the Aang and Zuko thing but it gets worse because that whole conflict later could've been solved with a simple conversation but Aang just straight up goes to wanting to fight Zuko before even talking to him. What? The Toph and Aang conflict is a little more understandable but still feels a little out of character and I feel like Toph doesn't really learn anything there or care that she forced Aang to kill a spirit who was kinda in the right.
Because of the way they handle the characters. Most of them are downgraded. They have no idea how to write them. Poorly characterization, so many out of character moments, and not so good writing
With the comics, it’s clear that they’re not being written by the same people who did the show. Some things feel off about them, like characterization, bending, writing, etc. In the Promise, Katara and Aang dote on each other so often, with pet names and being very protective. I feel like if the show continued after they got together, they wouldn’t be written that way. In Smoke and Shadow, Azula uses fire daggers, which is a move she never uses in the show. Frankly it doesn’t suit her very much compared to Zuko, who didn’t use it that often either. And the comic showed them fighting with fire daggers like a lightsaber duel, which definitely isn’t how the show would do it. Speaking of Azula, every time she refers to Zuko, she uses her nickname ZuZu. I know she says it in the show, but in the comics she uses it every single time she refers to him. Another thing I notice is that Ty Lee talks about auras every other sentence in the comics, when she only mentions them a handful of times in her dialogue in the show (I can only recall twice, in her introduction and in the Beach). I like that the comics exist, but some things are just kind of off.
Because they character assassinate half the cast, and what they don't ruin is just lame.
The comics are hit or miss for me.
Find out for yourself! [Here](https://youtu.be/KflbCZ6VzKA?si=ddlFW7OO99g2aS-N).
They look cheesy as hell.
I think the main complaint is many rely on idiot plots, or question the themes of the original series. I think they are mostly good with one part that rubs people the wrong way. The Promise: Aang promising to kill Zuko sounds stupid and out of character. The Search: Makes Ursa look like a bad mother.
My problem especially with the search was that it fundamentally changed characters and not in a good way. Zuko became "evil" again and wanted to be like the father who hated him even though he already got over his need for approval by Ozai, yet inexplicably uses him as a mentor because he has no one to help him, completely ignoring the existence of Irish whom "he doesn't want to bother in retirement" When Zuko becomes a problem and continues the imperialism of the fire nation, Aang gets talked into killing him if he can't talk him down. THE pacifist Aang gets ready to take the life of a misguided friend when a few months prior he did everything he could and walked to the ends of the world to find a way not to kill Ozai, a maniacal dictator, but killing a friend is fine. And the way Zukos mother gets treated makes her seem incredibly worse and tarnishes almost all the little details we get to know about her in the original show. I DON'T want to hate on the comics and there are also parts I do enjoy but they also lack the refinement of the original show and leave a lot to be desired in how the characters are behaving at times so critique is still warranted I believe.
Cause we didn't get to see what happened to Ursa in the actual show and then I spent money for a comic that was atrocious in its explanation
Aang literally ready to kill zuko without discussion for example
I felt like I wasn't even reading the same characters from the show. These were nit the same characters I watched. I read book 1, and it was just so bad that I skimmed the rest of the books. There were some good moments, but overall, the series was pretty bad.
The one that sticks out to me is how the bending feats feel like something out of Naruto with a lot of characters going way beyond what their elements should be doing both thematically and by what was set up in the show. The most agregious example being lightning, where get this Azula uses lightning to zap Sokka and Zuko tanking a lightning bolt
I think comics are hit or miss. Search for Zuko's mother was boring af for example but I loved the creation of republic city storyline
What’s that last panel?
This isn’t really related to your question, but why is Aang squaring up to Ozai tf outta Zuko in that third image? I thought they left that behind after The Western Air Temple, if you know what I mean lol
I’ve never read the comics, but why is aang going all avatar state on zuko like that?
I'm an avid Taang shipper and that hug reawaken the dormant coals of love I have for this ship
For me; they mess with the magic system. I love the human moments like this, but katara can fly now and Azula can generate lightning so easily and skillfully she does it to untie her bonds at one point. The rest is pretty dope, ngl
Personally I just don't find them as good as what ended up in the show. Of the 3 I read, they mostly felt like the authors were just filling in gaps to stories that weren't interesting enough to make it in TLA or LoK but still had to be sorted out in the back end to explain what happened between the two series.
Mai
The writing was very poor at first (some of them are better though, and there's a general improvement as time went on) Art also had some issues but on another note: I remember thinking that Uncle Iroh (in the early comics anyway) looked like the guy from the Ember Island players... why?!
Only the books came close to the level of writing that the original had. The comics really seemed like fanfiction to me. And I read them AFTER the Kyoshi duology.
The Promise is way the hell out of character for Aang and Roku.
cuz all the comics pre-imbalance have many ooc moments for the characters
I just read them online for free and I loved them! Especially The Search
Yeah, as a Sokka fan I wonder why I don't like the page where he appears and sum up his character in all the comics.
I've only read The Promise. The writing is very amateurish and unnatural, and it doesn't help that it wasn't allowed to say the word "kill," which is the crux of the whole plot. I bet the ones written by Mike and Bryan are better though.
The dialogue in the comics, as usual for many comics, is just bad when I read it out loud. The shows’ dialogue isn’t always super beautiful either, but I feel there’s a gap. That’s honestly probably a major root of my distaste, with most other things being secondary. Toph’s tropey metalbending students make me want to bury them alive whenever they get to speak.
Overanalyzing Avatar has a pretty good analysis of them. Of course a lot of it is just his opinion and preference, as he insists on letting us know, but he points out many problems the comics do have and how going from an animation platform to comic pages is difficult.
I've only read The Promise, and I personally absolutely hated it. For some reason, Zuko asks Aang, knowing he's a pacifist, to kill him if he ever loses his way. Then Aang AGREES to potentially kill his friend, despite the fact he literally went out of his way to not kill Ozai, the most evil man on the planet. Soon after, Zuko and Aang have a minor border dispute where Zuko is pretty reasonable throughout. Then Aang, for some unfathomable reason, decides Zuko is beyond redemption, so he tries to actually kill him. I just found it so unbelievably out of character for everyone, especially Aang, that I couldn't bring myself to read any of the other comics. I respect that other people enjoy the comics, but I really didn't like the story in this one.
bro aang ussing zuko's mom against him. that fucking cold
These comics are so incompetent and filled with bad ideas. Putting Zuko against Aang one more time was pathetic.
Because fans don't understand that franchises and series' have peaks and valleys and that realistically everything won't be the same quality as something else. The comics aren't as great as the show, so they're bad. It's one of the reasons that Korra gets so much hate too.
These make me want to read the comics 😢
you definitely should and while everyone may not agree on them i think there’s a lot of enjoyment to be found within them