Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise, Part 3 Paperback – Illustrated, September 26, 2012

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise, Part 3" is an absolute must-read for any fan of the original series. This final installment beautifully wraps up the story with the same heart, humor, and depth that made the show so beloved. The artwork is stunning, capturing the essence of the characters and the world they inhabit. The plot is engaging and thought-provoking, addressing complex themes of identity, loyalty, and change.Gene Luen Yang, along with Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, has done a fantastic job of continuing the story in a way that feels true to the original while also expanding on it in meaningful ways. The character development is spot-on, and the interactions between Aang, Katara, Zuko, and the rest of the gang are both touching and entertaining.Overall, "The Promise, Part 3" is a satisfying conclusion that will leave you feeling nostalgic and fulfilled. Highly recommended for anyone who loves "Avatar: The Last Airbender"!

I decided to write a review for the whole trilogy with my review of this third volume. While each volume has a lot going on in it, they form one cohesive story with each other so that this is the most practical way to review them.The story begins with a summary of the series Avatar: The Last Airbender, and comes to the moment immediately after the end of the series. Every one is at Uncle Iroh's tea shop celebrating, Aang and Katara kiss and form a relationship, so on. We see a peace treaty between Zuko as Fire Lord, and the Earth King Kuei, who has been brought back from exile now that his land is freed. The movement is called the "Harmony Restoration Movement". It is designed to remove all Fire Nation colonies and return the world to the pre-war status quo with the nations separate.Weelll, anyone who has seen The Legend of Korra sequel series (as the colonies become Republic City eventually), or knows about real-life situations about how messy it is to try to "undo" colonialism pro, bably can anticipate that this isn't going to be so easy, and that it is going to be kinda messy. In short, everything blows up. You see, Zuko faithfully administers this agreement, and then one day a Fire Nation citizen forces herself into his palace and he goes to investigate her pleas.He finds two things that make him question the Harmony Restoration Movement. The first is that, despite it's incredible evil, and he firmly believes it was evil, period, of the war, good came too. Advancement of technology in poorer areas of the world and other concepts that are true of good results amongst undeniably evil actions. But this wouldn't be enough to sway him, I doubt, if he didn't see the second revelation. The girl is not alone. She has a Firebender father and earthbender mother, and there are more like that family. Harmony can't be restored now, as so many bloodlines have been mixed, and so many folks will suffer if forced removal occurs. Said forced removal would be especially bad because their families have been their for generations, and they are not guilty of their grandparents' crimes.On the other end, King Kuei wants to strengthen both his own standing, and that of the earth monarchy, so he can make his country more prosperous, and keep the problems that have plagued his nation for so long from occurring again. In the end, both men have a point and a good reason for their actions. Zuko has a stronger case for his actions, but Kuei is sympathetic as well.Needless to say, when Aang investigates, and sees this complicated issue, one on which neither Kuei or his friend Zuko will budge, he is in for a hard time settling the dispute in his role as Avatar. The question is if he can do so. Or will there be another war?I apologize for such a spoilerific description in this review so far, but I felt it necessary to do this for two reasons. First of all, there has been some bad reaction in parts of the Avatar fandom, and that has resulted in misinformation about this. I wanted to correct the notion that this is pointlessly angsty, because it is not. I also wanted to reassure those who wondered about Zuko going evil or something stupid like that. Obviously, if you have seen the sequel series, Korra, then you know he did not go bad, but I wanted to make that point nonetheless.What I liked about this comic was that it, in a way, copied the show in a good way. The show managed to deal with some fairly serious and sobering issues, and yet, remain idealistic in nature. With the show, this could be seen periodically through the episodes, but especially in the second half of the second season, when things were surprisingly dark for a Nickelodeon series. Despite this, that cheerful, optimistic tone always remained.Here too, the issues were fairly complex and serious, and the stakes realistically high. Friends disagreeing and trying to fight with each other, cultural clashes, appropriation, and acceptance or rejection, possible war, so on, were some of the difficulties that the Team Avatar and various secondary characters (both new and old) had to deal with. Through it all, they were the same cheerful and hopeful people they were in the series.The only problem I had was that Zuko would have gone to Aang and the others, and not had his friends ambushed as happened here. Other than that, I can't think of anything to criticize. This was a mature, well-written, but still fun continuation to the Avatar canon, and one which I highly recommend.

Excellent!!!

A great ending to this 3 part story. Everything you could hope for in an Avatar yarn. Funny, charming, intelligent,a story where the characters set a great moral example and of course highly entertaining. The first two were excellent in capturing the spirit of the show so well and this one is no exception. Characters act how you think they should act and the story continues to process seamlessly from where the show ended. This feels like a natural and logical expansion of the story and the universe. Cannot wait for the next trilogy "The Search" where we will finally learn what became of Zuko's mother. So happy that author Gene Yang is returning.

This was a great end the the first trilogy. I read all three in one sitting. I’m still kicking myself for not knowing this existed sooner since I’m a huge fan of the animated series. But at least I didn’t have to wait for release dates. I can consume them in a sitting. If you want a nostalgia filled experience these graphic novels are worth picking up. I enjoyed them from beginning to end.

So glad Amazon has these!

Won't give any spoilers away. I'll just say that I liked the way the story played itself out and I'm super excited for The Search that will be released in April of next year. This isn't a stand alone comic so you have to read the previous parts in order to understand the story. Oh, and it does end on a cliffhanger, which is both exciting and infuriating at the same time. Haven't we had enough cliffhangers already? ;) The artwork is beautiful and the pages are glossy and shiny.The one gripe I do have with this is that I wish The Promise was released in one big comic as opposed to a three parter. Having to wait for each book to come out for months at a time is agonizing. It's not like getting an actual issue of a comic that is released every month. Also, it's a really fast read so it seems like it's really short.

Man, it would have been so easy to phone this one in (I'm looking at you, Shyamalan!).Gene Luen Yang is such a perfect choice for this book. Not because he's Asian (and the Avatar world is pan-Asian... kind of), but because the story is about the conflict of cultural integration, which Gene has done so well time and again. The artwork by Gurihiru is a perfect adaptation of the already great animation artwork with his own flair. A lot happens in these panels and not a moment is wasted, just like the series. Extremely satisfying continuation of this world. I can't wait to see the progression of the civilization that brings us nearer to Korra.