Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part One: Comic Review

Jan 24, 2012
Angela Eastman

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part One - Cover Image © Dark Horse, Gurihiru, Gene Luen Lange

Continuing from where the cartoon left off, The Promise may find Zuko and Aang as enemies once again as they disagree on how to move forward in peace time.

Unlike The Lost Adventures, a collection of stories that occurred with in the timeline of the cartoon, Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part One is a continuation of the hit animation created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino. Written by Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) and with illustrations by artist team Gurihiru (Thor and the Warriors Four), The Promise brings back Aang, Zuko, and the rest of the Last Airbender crew as they try to maintain the peace created after the final defeat of the Fire Nation.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part One by Gene Luen Lang and Gurihiru

Fire Lord Ozai may have been defeated, but that doesn't spell an end to trouble for Aang and his friends. Fire Nation colonies are scattered throughout the Earth Kingdom, and with the help of the Earth King they come up with a method for removing them: The Harmony Restoration Movement. Soon after, during the celebration, we discover the "promise" of the title. Zuko reveals that he's been speaking to his father in a fruitless attempt to figure out what happened to his mother. Worried about what he'll become, he asks Aang to kill him should he ever show signs of turning into the old Fire Lord. Aang reluctantly agrees, but with peace upon them no one thinks it will ever come to that.

Then the relocation of Fire Nation colonies begins, and Zuko a hitch in their plan. The oldest colonies have existed for over a century, and many inhabitants have no connections in the home country. It becomes even more complicated when he realizes that members of the Fire and Earth Nations have married over the years, creating mixed families with ties to both countries. With this knowledge, Zuko pulls out of The Harmony Restoration Movement - and Aang worries his newest friend has slipped into old habits, meaning he may have to fulfill a promise after all.

Fans who thought this would be a happy, lighthearted continuation of the story will be sorely disappointed. One thing this comic makes abundantly clear by the last pages is that winning a war does not mean that everything now falls neatly into place. Life, and people, are just too complicated for that.

We see that Zuko in particular still has long path to walk for his character arc to finally end: his mother's loss still haunts him, and even with his father broken and beaten he still can't face the man without fear, anger, and shame. It is troubling to see Zuko move back into his old position as Aang's enemy, but it's also a sign of why this series is so absorbing: we care about the characters and what happens to them, but the story also makes us believe that every step they take is inevitable, no matter how hard it tugs at the heartstrings.

Despite the serious subject, Lang peppers his comic with the same humor fans look forward to in the cartoon, whether with Sokka's goofy jokes or Toph's sarcastic jabs ("Hey, wanna know what fireworks are like for me? Close your eyes. BOOOOM!"). There are a few moments where the comic gets too sentimental, mostly when Aang and Katara insist on calling each other "sweetie". But even as the readers roll their eyes, the other characters gag, with Sokka in particular yelling at Katara for giving her brother "oogies." Thus, we turn what could have been an example of bad writing into an opportunity for humor.

Gurihiru's art is reminiscent of the cartoon, with the designs of both new and old characters being comfortably familiar and the backgrounds remaining as richly detailed with the ornate buildings we remember. In these short pages The Promise packs in plenty of action scenes, a highlight of the cartoon, and even in the comic Gurihiru keeps everything clear and exciting.

The Promise, Part One from Dark Horse Books

The biggest complaint is that this book is too short. Coming to a halt at 80 pages, The Promise: Part One certainly feels like an unfinished book, only half as long as it should have been, and it's almost torturous for Dark Horse to leave us hanging for the next six months. Some of the biggest questions are still left dangling unanswered, but Gene Luen Yang's story promises to march us towards full closure for Aang, Zuko, and all the other characters.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise, Part One gets 4/5.