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A review by rallythereaders
Smoke and Shadow by Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino, Gene Luen Yang
5.0
Also posted on Rally the Readers.
I’ve been rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender on and off lately, so I was totally in the mood to read Smoke and Shadow, the fourth graphic novel that follows the continuing adventures of the gAang, post-TV series. I was especially looking forward to this installment because HELLO—ZUKO! He was absent from the previous volume, The Rift, and he makes a most welcome return in Smoke and Shadow. Returns are a bit of a theme here, as Zuko’s mother, Ursa, sets foot in the Fire Nation’s Capital City for the first time since viewers of the show watched her leave a young Zuko and Azula behind and disappear. Mai is back for this story as well and features prominently in it, while Katara and Sokka head home to the Southern Water Tribe for the first time since the end of the war.
I know I’ve lavished heaps of praise on these graphic novels in previous reviews, but it’s because every bit of praise is absolutely well-deserved. What I continue to adore about these comics is how extremely well-crafted the stories are and the care that’s taken to keep the characters consistent with the characters we originally met in the TV series. The continuity not only between the show and the comics but also between the graphic novels is simply stellar. Thanks to Gene Luen Yang’s superb writing and artists Gurihiru’s lush, beautifully rendered illustrations, it’s like the TV series never signed off.
Although I love every member of Team Avatar, Zuko is my favorite. The transformation of his character is one of the best written arcs EVER. I love that he’s not perfect, and in Smoke and Shadow, we glimpse some of the impulsiveness that was especially prevalent during the first season of the show. To be fair, though, the New Ozai Society, a group trying to undermine Zuko’s authority and restore his father to power, often puts Zuko in a position where he’s forced to react to their plotting. AtLA story lines can be pretty intense, as is this one. Creepy spirits are kidnapping Fire Nation children, and the New Ozai Society capitalizes on the ensuing panic to bolster their claim that Zuko is too weak to be Fire Lord. Meanwhile, a subplot finds Zuko’s mother, Ursa, struggling with facing the past life she didn’t think she’d ever see again. There’s also a brilliant plot twist that’s bound to feature in future graphic novels.
As always happens when reviewing these AtLA comics, I could go on and on about how phenomenal they are. Before wrapping up, I just have to say how badass Mai is in Smoke and Shadow. I really liked seeing her in the spotlight here, and like everyone else in the Avatar-verse, she’s a wonderfully complex character.
Yet again, Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru have produced a homerun of a collaboration set in a world that I love so much. There’s typically a bit of a wait between graphic novels, but I’d wait forever as long as I knew there’d be another one eventually because they are just. So. Amazing.
I’ve been rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender on and off lately, so I was totally in the mood to read Smoke and Shadow, the fourth graphic novel that follows the continuing adventures of the gAang, post-TV series. I was especially looking forward to this installment because HELLO—ZUKO! He was absent from the previous volume, The Rift, and he makes a most welcome return in Smoke and Shadow. Returns are a bit of a theme here, as Zuko’s mother, Ursa, sets foot in the Fire Nation’s Capital City for the first time since viewers of the show watched her leave a young Zuko and Azula behind and disappear. Mai is back for this story as well and features prominently in it, while Katara and Sokka head home to the Southern Water Tribe for the first time since the end of the war.
I know I’ve lavished heaps of praise on these graphic novels in previous reviews, but it’s because every bit of praise is absolutely well-deserved. What I continue to adore about these comics is how extremely well-crafted the stories are and the care that’s taken to keep the characters consistent with the characters we originally met in the TV series. The continuity not only between the show and the comics but also between the graphic novels is simply stellar. Thanks to Gene Luen Yang’s superb writing and artists Gurihiru’s lush, beautifully rendered illustrations, it’s like the TV series never signed off.
Although I love every member of Team Avatar, Zuko is my favorite. The transformation of his character is one of the best written arcs EVER. I love that he’s not perfect, and in Smoke and Shadow, we glimpse some of the impulsiveness that was especially prevalent during the first season of the show. To be fair, though, the New Ozai Society, a group trying to undermine Zuko’s authority and restore his father to power, often puts Zuko in a position where he’s forced to react to their plotting. AtLA story lines can be pretty intense, as is this one. Creepy spirits are kidnapping Fire Nation children, and the New Ozai Society capitalizes on the ensuing panic to bolster their claim that Zuko is too weak to be Fire Lord. Meanwhile, a subplot finds Zuko’s mother, Ursa, struggling with facing the past life she didn’t think she’d ever see again. There’s also a brilliant plot twist that’s bound to feature in future graphic novels.
As always happens when reviewing these AtLA comics, I could go on and on about how phenomenal they are. Before wrapping up, I just have to say how badass Mai is in Smoke and Shadow. I really liked seeing her in the spotlight here, and like everyone else in the Avatar-verse, she’s a wonderfully complex character.
Yet again, Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru have produced a homerun of a collaboration set in a world that I love so much. There’s typically a bit of a wait between graphic novels, but I’d wait forever as long as I knew there’d be another one eventually because they are just. So. Amazing.