Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise
by
Gene Luen Yang (writer) and Gurihiru (Illustrators)
My journey back into the world of the Avatar continues in earnest.
The A:TLA show has been rewatched in full and now it’s on to all the comics that continue the saga of the Aang Gang!
First up we start with “The Promise”, a 3-part story that picks up almost immediately after the events of the show as the gang is trying to find their places in this new world after the defeat of Fire-Lord Ozai (almost a.k.a. The Phoenix King) and the end of the 100-year(ish) long sufferance to the world wrought by his taking the Fire Nation to war with everyone else.
The Promise, Part 1
This first chapter brings us right back to where we left off as former Prince Zuko is now crowned Fire Lord and he and Aang commit themselves to working together and with the other nations to try and heal the wounds of the last century and try and seal the rifts between the peoples of the 4 nations. One of the ideas that is agreed upon is the Harmony Restoration Movement that seeks to relocate the forcibly created Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom and to try and restore the balance for the people. Aang and Katara are now formally a couple – leading to Sokka having quite a lot of “oogies”; Toph has started a metal-bending Academy and everyone is working to try and pick up the pieces and keep the peace. The most dramatic part is that Zuko makes Aang promise that if he starts to turn into his father, Aang will make the hard choice and end him!
The book is extremely well crafted and the author Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese, Superman Smashes The Klan) proves to be as effective a writer as I remember from his other books and in less than the first third of this book I was sold that he was the right man for this job! He has a fantastic handle on the voices of the characters and does an exceptional job balancing the story, the themes and the comedic and more serious elements that are hallmarks of the shows writing. Gurihiru is excellent as always and keeps the artwork crisp and clean and largely uncluttered, going for a vibe that looks as the series did but also like a nice clean comic look which works pretty well I think.
The Promise, Part 2
The first of the post-series Aang-Gang adventures enters it’s second act with this entry!
Herein we see several things underway:
1. The Harmony Restoration Movement is under threat of collapse as Fire Lord Zuko withdraws his support to stop the relocation of the Fire Nation citizens from Yu Dao and many of the remaining citizens are severely angered!
2. The above means that the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation are already at odds, so soon after the end of a war that raged for over 100 years.
3. Toph is struggling with her new Metal Bending school and questioning herself.
At one point Toph is talking to Sokka in a quiet moment and says, “Metal is just a part of the earth that’s been purified and refined. But how does it becomes like that? By getting heated, melted, and pounded. By going through pressure and pain.”
This is deeply emblematic of not just metal, not just Tophs own personal journey to become the worlds greatest Earth Bender – but it also speaks to several characters and the world itself. The war, the fallout, the aftermath, all of it was and continues to be pressure and pain – but what matters is what you do with that and what do you create and mold using that pressure and pain?
Zuko’s journey continues to be one of the most interesting as he is questioning himself as a person and as the leader of his people. Was his father right about some things at least? What is the extent of his responsibility and how far should he go to fulfill this burden?
Meanwhile Aang has a challenging journey of his own in this story as he is stepping into the role of Avatar proper and now has to go from a young man who fought a war and is stepping into the role of the spiritual leader/guide of the world at large – his friend Zuko made him promise that if he crossed the line into becoming like his father, Aang would kill him. When does Aang choose that such a moment has come to pass? Can he bring himself to do it? Can his past lives guide him or leave him more confused?
Meanwhile in Ba Sing Se, Aang and Katara encounter an Aang fan-club which tests their newly flowering relationship in interesting ways.
Two-thirds way into the story, this adventure really raises some powerful questions in ways both subtle and overt.
Colonialism is bad, this is undisputable – but 100 years after the fact, the reality on the ground in a place that has changed over a generation or more becomes harder to see in such simple terms. Colonisers go from warriors and bosses to simple folk looking for a new life; different people struggle and amidst push and pull, we adapt and form whole new melting pot-like communities that evolve into something that combines the two – even the economics and lifestyle dynamics of a whole city or nation can be changed in ways that cannot be seen simply brushed into good or bad, black or white.
This is the kind of challenge that has divided the people of this story – from the Avatar to the average person living in this town. How will such a problem be faced and what choices will be made? If Zuko doesn’t budge, will Aang have to follow through on his promise?
This second installment has been a joy to read and left me eagerly anticipating how our heroes will face the escalating tensions and what comes next in the finale!
The Promise, Part 3
The end-game is upon us and the barely newborn peace is already in danger!
The Avatar and his team are racing against time and tide to prevent an outbreak of war as Fire Lord Zuko is mobilising his army to protect his people in Yu Dao while Earth King Kuei is headed the same way because he has been kept blind to the horrors hitting his people his whole life and been hoodwinked by his most trusted advisor – and now he will brook no more betrayal!
Alongside all this, the Metal Bending school of Toph is under threat by a Fire Bending instructor who owned the school before her and she has to contend with that while wanting to go help her friends.
Can’t say too much without going into spoilers but this is a suitably tense, emotional and riveting finale to this first post-show comic adventure. We see our characters have evolved after all their experiences and are all finding their footing in new roles and with new challenges and responsibilities – but the nicest part is that we see them dealing with them on their own but also keeping their group together as a support network for each other, a family that continues to grow together.
Oh and Sokka is still funny! Water tribe baby!!
Gene Yang and Gurihiru have been fantastic choices for this foray into comics for the franchise and from the vibe of the characters, the look, the feel and the style of the narrative. I daresay some may not totally agree with me but I thought it was as perfect as I could have expected and it just gives me way more confidence in reading the series that follow – franchise fans should be very pleased with this adventure!
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