Format read: Paperback

Release Date: 25 January 2012

Number of pages: 76

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Formats available: Paperback

Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Author’s Website, Amazon, Book Depository

The war is over…but the adventure has just begun!

Picking up exactly where Avatar: The Last Airbender left off, The Promise takes Aang to a Fire Nation colony in the heart of the Earth Kingdom, where tensions between neighbours threaten to shatter the world’s newfound peace – putting the Avatar on a collision course with one of his closest friends, Fire Lord Zuko!

Written by Eisner Award winner Gene Luen Yang (American Born Chinese) in close collaboration with Avatar creators Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, this is the story Avatar fans have been waiting for!

My Thoughts:

The Promise Part 1 was just what I needed to slake my thirst for more Avatar: The Last Airbender.

The world is at peace thanks to Aang defeating the Fire Lord. Now, with the help of his friends and new ally – Zuko, Aang must help rebuild the Four Nations after the destruction caused by the Fire Nation, beginning with the removal of the Fire Nation colonies from the Earth Kingdom.

The Promise is based on Aang’s promise to Zuko, that if Zuko ever started to turn into his father, Ozai, Aang would end him. It looks like Aang is going to have to come to terms with this promise a lot sooner than he ever expected as Zuko has suddenly withdrawn his support of ridding the Fire Nation colonies from the Earth Kingdom.

The Promise series has the collaboration of not only Gene Luen Yang but Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino – the original Avatar creators, and it was very easy to tell that they had a hand in the creation of this graphic novel. The characters were the same as the original series; their mannerisms, their vocabulary, and Sokka’s jokes.

I have only read one other graphic novel, and because of my difficulty in following the story, I was a little apprehensive to read The Promise series at all, but the drawings were so well done and the dialogue so easy to follow that I devoured this in one sitting. Everything was easy to comprehend and I never once wondered what was going on.

The only problem I really had with this book was Aang and Katara and their newfound use of the word “sweetie” it just didn’t fit in with their characters or the story as it has been up until this point. Sure they are together now, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t refer to each other by their names any more, or at least vary the term of endearment.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is in my Top 3 of all-time favourite TV series, I was a little worried that this wouldn’t do it justice, but I had nothing to fear at all. The Promise Part 1 felt like a genuine continuation of the Avatar series because it had the input of the original creators and it has left me salivating for The Promise: Part 2

I give The Promise: Part 1 4 Stars

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

About Amanda

Amanda-Lee is a proudly addicted reader and writer from Sydney. She lives with her wonderful husband and their more like a baby than a kitten Hamish. Amanda-Lee has been blogging for 4 years now and is a lover of all genres, though she does have a tendancy to stray towards the weird and wonderful concotions in the paranormal and fantasy genres. In addition to being the Winged Lover on BLI she also runs the book blog StoryWings.

• View all posts by Amanda →
• Blog
• Twitter
• Facebook