I created The Saturday Issue to in order to feature the comic books that I read, and I have revamped the feature in order to include volumes instead of single issues.

Source: Purchased from Amazon
Publisher: Dark Horse
Series: : The Promise #2
Edition: Hardcover, 80 pages
Genre: Graphic Novel, Fantasy
Purchase: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository*
*I receive a small monetary kickback from Amazon purchases
Rating: 5/5

Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko continue the story right where the TV series left off! Aang and Katara are working tirelessly for peace when an impasse between Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei over Fire Nation colonies within the borders of the Earth Nation threatens to plunge the world back into war! Meanwhile, Sokka must help Toph prepare her hapless first class of metalbending students to defend their school against a rival class of firebenders! Written by Eisner winner and National Book Award nominee Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and drawn by Gurihiru (Thor and the Warriors Four), this is the adventure Avatar fans have been craving!

I know I’ve kind of read the Avatar graphic novels out of order, since I’ve already read The Search part 1, and I didn’t do it on purpose..I just got excited about having it and didn’t want to wait to read it until after I’d read the last two Promise books. That being said it didn’t take away from either story.

The Promise part 2, picks up where the first leaves off, with tensions rising once again between the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation thanks to Zuko removing his help with the Harmony Restoration. We get to see how the tension is affecting Aang and the nations, but we also get to see how it affects on the personal level through a few side characters as well as Toph and Sokka. Granted Toph and Sokka’s story is a bit more humorous and if I’m being honest the most enjoyable part in the book. I really love that Aang and Katara are really developing their relationship as well, not all is perfect and they are still learning about each other. It’s cute.

I love that Avatar deals with really big social situations in a way that people of all ages can understand, like equality and racism (though it’s more about the different ‘nations’ and benders than race). The way this particular story goes it makes you stop and think about it, because during the show we think that everyone wants the Fire Nation to back off…but now we get to see that it’s not that simple. Zuko and Aang both have to navigate a very complicated issue. Zuko deals with a lot of self doubt and he also grows as a leader. Aang has to fight with himself  and his culture over how to handle the situation before him.

This has gorgeous artwork and I love the attention to details. The library binding, which has all three parts, has some great notes in the margins about the story and the ideas which gives some great insight to the story as a whole and just how thought out it is.

If you are an Airbender fan, then I definitely urge you to go grab copies of this series and if you are willing to spend a bit more then the library binding. That way you can get all the extra info.