This is was a super powerful read and using some of your favorite characters to share this powerful story was really impactful. It has dived into aspects of racism and also how racism is represented in different populations. it also had some elements of and some quotes that really stuck to with me. I loved seeing the gang back together and the new characters we met. ( )

This is was a super powerful read and using some of your favorite characters to share this powerful story was really impactful. It has dived into aspects of racism and also how racism is represented in different populations. it also had some elements of and some quotes that really stuck to with me. I loved seeing the gang back together and the new characters we met. ( )

With this volume, the Avatar continuation comics switch from being by Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru to Faith Erin Hicks and Peter Wartman. It's an effective transition. I liked Yang's writing overall, but though he captured the characters well in dialogue, I didn't always feels that he did a great job with their actions, and a couple of his installments felt sort of aimless. Hicks knocks it out of the park right out of the gate (now there's a mixed metaphor for you). All of Team Avatar have a strong sense of voice, but also their personalities and predilections really shine through. Aang struggles with how to balance disparate communities when there's no villain as obvious as a Fire Lord; Toph discovers a talent for investigating; Sokka provides humor and humanity. Only Katara feels somewhat superfluous, not really fulfilling a narrative role other than Aang's girlfriend. The story does a good job setting up much of what we will see in The Legend of Korra, and Hicks explores timely themes of "reverse discrimination." Plus the jokes are good, which is of course important for Avatar.

Wartman's art apes the style of the cartoon less than Gurihiru's; his linework looks more like comics linework, with variable thickness, than the smooth linework of Gurihiru. Your mileage may very (I am sure someone wants this to closely ape the tv show), but I liked it more as a result. He has a strong sense of character. Like the Yang/Gurihiru "Library Editions," this one includes marginal notes from the creators. Yang was always a smart commentator, but I found Gurihiru's insights a bit bland; thankfully, Wartman has much more to say about his own creative process than Gurihiru did.

Another worthwhile installment of this series, which is why it surprises me to learn that Dark Horse is abandoning the post-tv trilogy format in favor of a series of standalones set during the tv run for future Hicks/Wartman volumes. Not sure what what's about, but I will be there regardless.