Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Lost Adventures

Like many Avatar: the Last Airbender fans, I was distressed when Nick Magazine went out-of-print- thus removing the chance to read several comics that were promised us. This book contains not only those lost comics-which contain some pretty amazing stores-but all other NickMag comics as well. It also has a few pages of concept art, and information on the crew of the show, and the people involved in the comics (which was pretty much the crew of the show :P). This is definitely a great buy for fans of the show, on any degree, from die-hard Avatards, to casual lovers.

Premise: This volume collects the A:TLA comics that were previously published in several Nickelodeon branded magazines, as well as many which were never published. They take place concurrently with the animated series, as a series of short stories that fit in-between the episodes.

I adored this. It's a great assortment, from short two-page gag comics, to longer, in-depth stories. Twenty-eight stories total, including both stories I had read in the Free Comic Book Day sample. They are arranged in chronological order, and split up into sections for how they match up with the seasons of the series.

There were a few shorts that had art which I didn't much like, but overall it's remarkably consistent. The writing is generally strong, all the characters are true to their on-screen selves, and the dialogue and situations captured that balance of comedy, action, and pathos that makes the show so special.

I don't necessarily recommend this to anyone who isn't already familiar with the show, although if you aren't a fan of the show, I recommend you go watch it!

The best stories are definitely the longer stories which go with the third season.

My favorites were:
-"Private Fire", in which Sokka inflitrates the Fire Nation Army to "learn more about them," with comedic results.
-"Combustion Man on a Train" in which Aang splits his time between comforting a little girl who is traveling alone and fighting Combustion Man (villain from the show, they don't know his name)... on a TRAIN.
-"Swordbending" in which Sokka challenges Zuko to a 'Swordbending' contest, and Zuko tries to get Sokka to admit there's no such thing as 'Swordbending'.
-"Dragon Days" is especially welcome, as it's a flashback to before Aang was frozen, about an adventure with his friend Kuzon.

If the entire volume had been stories of that quality, it would have been amazing. As it is, it's a strong volume, and I'm glad I bought it, but it has weak spots, especially early on, plus the very surreal "bonus" comics at the end.

I understand that Dark Horse plans to create a new series of Avatar comics, presumably issue-length. I now have very high hopes for this.

an amazing and funny collection of short stories featuring the avatar and his friends plus find out who's the ultimate earthbender when Toph goes toe to toe with Bumi the mad genius in an earthbending match for the ages!
For three years, millions of eager fans tuned in to watch new episodes of Nickelodeon's hit animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender. Ever since, fans have been hungry for more—and now their wait is finally over!

This volume collects the long-out-of-print, fan-favorite comics previously published in Nickelodeon Magazine and with the Airbender DVDs, plus over seventy brand-new comics pages. That's twenty-six stories set in Airbender continuity, by a host of top-notch talent, many of whom worked on the original animated series!

For anyone who doesn't know, Avatar: The Last Airbender was a show about a boy named Aang and his friends, Katara, Sokka, and Toph. They three nations (Air has been wiped out): Fire, Earth, and Water. The Fire Nation had taken over and was waging a war for domination over the other three nations. Aang is the avatar, the one who is meant to master all four elements and keep peace in the world.

In The Lost Adventures, we get quite a few fun tales about their adventures outside of what the show was able to portray. For avid fans and new readers alike, this is a great graphic novel to get into. It is separated into the same books/nations as the show, so if you are a follower of it, you will understand and enjoy the context of the short stories. If you haven't seen the show, the group generally spends a good chunk of time in each nation allowing Aang to master that element. The graphic novel shows miniature flashbacks to let you know important plot points in the story.

I like every adventure, but there were a few that stuck out as especially enjoyable.

In one story, the group has stopped for a rest. Aang finds a merchant who is selling a relic of the air nation, and when the rest have finally gone to sleep, he goes to check it out. To his dismay, the Fire Nation traps him when he gets to an old airbender hideout. I love the history that is put into this story. Airbender relics are something even I would be interested in -- they have been all but wiped out by the firebenders.

If you recall in the show, Toph scams firebenders for money by using her earthbending skills. In this story, they have to come up with a new way to get food in the Fire Nation. Appa (Aang's sky bison) is hungry as well, and his stomach rumbles like an earthquake. Sokka convinces the Fire Nation citizens that he's a great beast, and that he can scare him off if they pay for his food. Sokka is in for a great surprise though, when they find that the great beast is not Appa at all...

My favorite story with Toph has to be where she fights earthbender King Bumi. He is old and quite possibly senile, and they both think they are the epitome of earthbending glory. Sokka is the referee, and I think my favorite line from him has to be, "Rockalanche! Nice!"

Overall, this is a great read whether or not you've seen the show. It had so many fun stories about each character that it's also not boring for people who have watched the series many times, like myself. I highly recommend it! I also want to thank NetGalley for giving me this book to review, I appreciate it.

This book collects all the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics from Nickelodeon magazine, plus over 70 pages of comics never before printed. It's a short story collection, set at points throughout the course of the TV series. Many of the stories are by members of the Avatar production staff, and they all feel very much like part of the TV series.

Like most tie-in projects, the stories don't really impact the course of the series at all. Most of them are brief incidents that could have happened between episodes. A couple, however, do shed some light on incidents and events only hinted at in the series. However, they all feel like they could be deleted scenes from the TV series. There isn't a clear distinction between stories by the TV writers, and stories by writers that never worked on the TV series. And that's high praise.

The art is beautiful throughout. Many of the stories are drawn by artists who worked on the series. A couple of the stories by other artists aren't quite as on-model, but they still look just fine.

While the stories do clearly reference episodes of the TV series, the book assumes that the reader will know the events of the series. Except for dividing the stories into three sections that parallel the three seasons of the show, the book doesn't provide any context for the stories. This isn't necessarily a huge problem; who would read a tie-in book to a TV series without being familiar with the show? But in the unlikely event that someone might try, consider them warned.

While it may not be particularly accessible to readers who don't know the show, Last Airbender fans will find much to enjoy here. It may not tell us what happens after the series, but it's still like hanging out with old friends, and hearing about adventures we didn't know about. It doesn't break new ground, but it's still a lot of fun.

For those of you not familiar with Avatar, you probably should be. It's super cute and deeper than you might expect on first glance. It took a few episodes to grow on me, but, by the end, I was pretty much in love with it, even if my ship didn't turn out (still a little bitter!).

Anyway, The Lost Adventures is, as you may have guessed, little episodes that happen between the episodes or scenes of the show. They span all three seasons, and, as with any collection of stories, some are better than others. For the most part, I give this a big thumbs up. These little vignettes definitely retain the atmosphere of the show, giving the impression that at least some were probably cut from the show for time and are now being given to the fans (just in time to amp up interest for the reboot).

My only complaint is about the two sections which really do not seem to belong in this anthology. Two of the stories are totally amateur hour; the art is awful and the stories unremarkable. When you can make the characters look realistic, why wouldn't you do so? The last story had silly art, but it made sense in context; these other two were trying to be serious and good, but failed utterly.

Avatar fans should definitely give this a looksee, if they want more cute. Now, I really want to watch Avatar and am totally stoked for the reboot!

I first came across The Last Airbender cartoons in January of 2010. I remember I was flipping channels and stopped on Nickelodeon because there was a bald kid running around manipulating the elements, and it peaked my interest. I only planned to watch a little bit, but a few hours and episodes later, I was hooked. Of course, I came into the re-runs of the third book, fire, so I was completely lost, but Netflix comes is very handy for a crisis like that. And, Netflix was running them through instant play, no less, so I had instant gratification and watched the entire series in a few weeks. Imagine my surprise, and excitement, when I found out there was a movie coming out by my favorite director, M. Night Shyamalan! Of course, I HAD to go see it, and I tried to buy up all the comics, but Barnes and Nobel was all out, so reading the comics never did happen, but oh well, I saw the cartoon series and the first movie (which I did love--acting abilities aside, the effects made it worth it, in my opinion), and I was in heaven.

The other day I came across The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures on Netgalley, via Dark Horse Comics, and instantly requested it because, though I'm not really a comic book person, I had originally wanted the comics for the series, and this comic book has bonus materials! Of course, I highly enjoyed it; the adventures are funny/interesting and gave me a new perspective, making me want to watch the entire series/movie all over again (and I probably will soon). I really did enjoy this comic book, and recommend it to all fans of The Last Airbender, but be forewarned, if you haven't seen/read the series in its entirety, some of this comic book won't make sense, since it jumps around from place to place, adventure to adventure.

ARC provided by netGalley

Are you a fan of the animated "Avatar: the Last Airbender" (not the movie)? If you are then this book is for you. Aang and the gang return for a series of 26 short comics, some of which have never been published before. The book is dived into three sections to match the TV show--water, earth, and fire.

If you're looking for full length feature episodes in comic format then you'll be disappointed. If you're looking, however for stories that flesh out what went on in between the episodes then this book is right up your alley. These stories are mini-adventures that in some places add to the cannon, such as seeing Aang with his fire bending friend before Aang was frozen in the ice; and a story that reveals the fall of Ba Seng Se. The sense of humor and friendship from the series continues over into the writing of all of these comics. And the artwork is rich and vibrant as the series. It's fun to see how different artists add their own unique twist to the characters and depict them in slightly different styles than we're used to seeing them.

The book started off slow, but really picked up in the 2nd and 3rd acts. If you're a fan of the series then you'll enjoy this book.

The hype: Before the live-action movie of Avatar: The Last Airbender, there was the animated series on Nickelodeon. Now, with the new series coming out soon, Dark Horse Comics has released a collection of short stories that tell of the adventures and mishaps of Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, and all of their friends and enemies as they struggle to defeat the Fire Lord.

Tell me more: The collection contains twenty-eight short stories, most of which take place during the Water, Earth, and Fire chapters of the series (two stories are "just for fun" and don't really fit into the storyline). The stories range from simple "slice of life" sketches to plots that could have been an episode of the show. Some even fill in gaps from the series (such as how the Water Tribe captured a Fire Nation boat between Seasons Two and Three) or answer questions (such as who is the greatest Earthbender ever: Toph or Bumi?). All of the humor, drama, and adventure of The Last Airbender is captured in these stories. Sokka the Avatar? Zuko and Mai restarting their romance? What happens when you challenge a Waterbender to a water balloon fight? Find out the answers to all of these and more!

Read my complete review here: [...]

This is an anthology of stories, NOT one long story. Each story has a different artist/author. Some of the stories are good, sad, happy, while other stories aren't too good due to poor writing and art. A highlight of this book (besides the tale of Wang Fire) is Zuko and Azula playing a Fire Nation version of Street Fighter at an arcade.

I was positively blown away by this, the first comic book I purchased in my entire life (I'm forty-eight years old). All the characters are back--expertly drawn, precisely delineated, boldly colored, and participating in engaging new adventures. Also, almost incredibly, the behaviors of the characters match the personalities we've come to associate with them: there's characteristically sarcastic Toph, goofy Aang, well-wishing Sokka getting the gang into more trouble than he bargains for, and responsible-with-a-twist Katara. Just about everyone shows his face: the only one I couldn't find was the cabbage merchant--though, I confess, I haven't yet read every single story. Honestly, I could have done without the two "bonus adventures": they were not up to the quality established by the bulk of the text, and, frankly, they left me cold. I only wish some of the adventures were lengthier: I was left wanting more. But, I guess any well-written story should leave the reader feeling that way.

My personal favorite was "Private Fire," wherein Sokka joins (!) the Fire Nation Army. It was funny, clever, sweet, charming, and exciting.

This was a disappointing purchase. I thought this book would be a collection of short stories that would supplement the tv show. Rather, it was a bunch of random shorts (anywhere from 2 - 10 pages) that were pretty bland and unoriginal.

Some of the stories fill in the gaps between the events of the tv show and, with some work, might have been made into full episodes. However, in their present comic book state, these plot lines are quite underdeveloped. I would avoid buying this, even if you are an Avatar fan, unless you just want to support the show's creators and toss some money their way.