Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Lost Adventures

Aang and the gang are back in this 230-page compilation of mini-comics of their mis-adventures, as they made their way to fight the fire lord. Chronologically in order, the book was separated into 3 chapters: the water, earth and fire kingdoms. The length of the mini-comics ranged from 2 to 6 pages long. Every comic were stand alone reads and showcased quick adventures that happen "behind the scenes" of the cartoon. Humor, that the show was famous for, was evident within the panels. They were witty with a little bit of irony thrown in. Even if you don't laugh out loud at the gangs' antics, you will definitely smile. The pages are tight and glossy. Paper quality is similar to textbook pages. The colors and lines are sharp, clear and defined. The artwork was similar to the original style from the show but there were a couple of comics were slightly different. For most people, the font was a decent size and comparable to the standard size of comic books. If you have a hard time reading smaller font, it might be an issue. In the back, there are a few pages dedicated to the people, involved with the show, with a quick bio and some sketches (if you have the artbook, it was just a reprint of some of the pages).If you are like me and came into "The Last Airbender" late, and never got a chance to read the comics, now is your chance to get the reprint. Even if you have read them, this is a great way to keep the comics in one place in one slim book. Even if you aren't a fan, this book is entertaining enough to hold its own. It was a fast read but you will definitely go back to your favorites and read it over and over again. Should you get it? Definitely.

Originally published as short comics in magazines or as bonus features packaged with DVDs of the animated series, the stories in <I>The Lost Adventures</I> supplement the main story of the cartoon. They are created for people who are already watching the show, and would be a very poor point of entry for someone unfamiliar with the series because readers are expected to already know the characters and basic principles of Bending 101.Most of the short stories are pretty humorous, bordering on silly. One story shows the funny (but disastrous!) effects of a bad head cold on an Airbender, while in another Sokka decides that the best way to get food for their troupe is to sell their services as monster hunters, only to have the plan backfire when the “fake” monster turns out to be a real threat. These are entertaining, but forgettable. Like the show, however, some of the stories take a more serious turn, and fill in small gaps in the main storyline. A Fire Nation general explains to Aang exactly how his people were able to destroy the Airbenders one hundred years in the past after using the same strategies to trap the Avatar. We learn what convinced Zuko to return to the Fire Nation at the end of the second season, which is hinted at but never explicitly stated in the show. But even if the comics temporarily turn serious, they still return to humor before long.The artists vary in style, but they all do a pretty good job of capturing the look of the animated series. There are a couple of stories that don't look like they were scanned at an appropriate resolution, because the panels are slightly blurred and the linework isn't as crisp as it should be. But the differences are only noticeable when the stories are gathered into a single book like this; I bet that if I was reading these in the original magazines, I might not have noticed that the artist was different each time because the changes in style are pretty subtle.I really liked the book, but then I was a huge fan of the cartoon. Like I said, the book expects you to be familiar with the <I>Avatar</I> world, so your ability to enjoy these stories is directly tied to what you thought of the show.

When Avatar was on the air and my little butt was planted in front of the TV every day for new episodes and re-runs, I didn't even know about things like these books. By the time the series started I no longer had a Nickelodeon Magazine subscription, so I didn't get to see any of the comics when they were published the first time around. When I found out this existed, I bought it right away!Just about every Avatar comic that was published before this book's release date is in here (more recent bits, like the just released "Rebound", are not, and things like The Promise and The Search have been released on their own), and it showcases many different art styles. Some are so close to the anime that I thought they were done by the actual show's artists, others are a bit like a wacky fanart. All, however, are entertaining. Some are even a bit sad.If you're just getting into Avatar, wait until after you watch the series to buy this, as some bits take place during the show, show subsequent events from things that happened, or simply would not make sense unless you watched first (such as Sokka posing as Wang Fire in the Fire Nation army.) After you've taken that last dvd out of your player, come straight here and buy this! You'll definitely be in for a few laughs.

I greatly enjoyed the Avatar: the Last Airbender televised series and this comic book provided excellent bonus material to whet my appetite for Avatar goodness until the new series The Legend of Korra comes out. The stories in this comic vary in length and artistic style, but they pack all the humor and fantasy action that defined the TV show. A few of the stories feel rather pointless but most of them are great fun, and they focus on various characters and settings -- mostly Aang and his group, but there's a story for Zuko as well and a story that has a Toph vs. King Bumi earthbending match. Any Avatar fan could get a kick out of this.