The Last Airbender: Prequel: Zuko's Story [Paperback]

For those that couldn't tell, this book is really short and is a nice little manga about Zuko's banaishment. I'm guessing this is supposed to be for people who haven't exactly watched the series and want to know why Zuko is hunting for the avatar. But, if you have watched the series then this gives you a lot of new insight as well. A few things have changed though, one being the artists rendition of Iroh who looks more like his actor than are big old fluffy friend from TV. For the characters who have yet to be casted like Mai, Ty Lee, and Azula, they look like their normal TV selves. Anyways, this manga comic maps out the first days of Zuko's banishment where he goes around searching for the avatar in the air temples while also dealing with his emotions (which are really fired up....haha...) Different from the original series, this shows you how Zuko becomes the Blue Spirit. It's different from the tv show because it gives the hint that he's been the blue spirit for a long time. (Remeber Zuko is banished a full 2 years before he finds the avatar) All in all, it was a good read especially for a hard core Avatar fan like me. I expect the movie to be really good and I can't wait. 3D whoo!

This is a seriously charming, if slight, addition to Avatar for fans of the series. In fact, I suspect it's the only product associated with Shyamalan's racist, sexist, and apparently boring and incoherent film which is worth mentioning in the same breath as the excellent original material.

Unfortunately, it *is* tied in to the film, which is one of its substantial drawbacks. The film versions of Zuko and Iroh are actually much less of a distraction than I expected, thanks to Nina Matsumoto's fantastic work with expressions and the fact that the writers largely nail the characters' voices. Uncle Iroh works especially well, while Zuko, though rather generic design-wise, thankfully has a visible scar, and does look amusingly close to his season three self on occasion. On the other hand, the need for firebenders to have an outside source of fire to draw on, also a detail from the film, was more annoying than I'd anticipated: Matsumoto does her best to make it look as organic as possible, but there's always the niggling thought that it's just as well there was a lantern or whatever handy.

The other big problem is the length. The manga is largely a character piece, which is all to the good: the interaction between Zuko and his uncle was one of the great pleasures of the original series, and the creative team here manage to do it justice without slipping into sentimentality - no small feat given the subject matter. As such, though, it thrives on more meditative moments, which are just the kind of thing manga is great at providing. So it's a pity that there wasn't room for, say, a few pages of scene-setting, or of Zuko and Iroh drinking tea or eating together - the sort of thing the tv series got a lot of mileage out of whenever it was able to fit it in. As it is, the manga is really a series of brief vignettes, with not enough pauses for breath in between to properly ground the world and the characters.

Having said that, the world is very much that of the animated series - ironically, given the film's racebending, a lot of the Fire Nation incidental characters look even more specifically Japanese than in the original. Matsumoto's work is great - clear, energetic and unfussy, with a lot of solid blacks. Some of it does feel a bit rushed, but I'll definitely be seeking out her other stuff after this. And Matsumoto does a lot to keep the tone from getting too angst-ridden, as well: she has a great line in Zuko's trademark teenage stomping, and her Iroh is often hilarious.

All this adds up to a slightly odd artifact which certainly doesn't stand on its own, but which works very well as a footnote to the animated series - it's got some nice easter eggs for fans, and it does some particularly interesting work with the great villain Azula. There are also some 'making of' pages padding it out at the back, which are fun: it's especially good to get a look at the script. For a movie tie-in which deals with Zuko at his woobiest, it's a really solid piece, very much better than it needed to be. It's a pity that this creative team didn't get a chance to get to grips with this material without space constraints and the need to fit in with the movie holding them back.

Written much better than the film but occupying much less of your time, this short manga is still a better value than a ticket to The Last Airbender.

Zuko's Story centers on the eponymous prince, clarifying parts of his past and answering a few questions. It's cleverly written in a way to make it canonically feasible for both the series and the movie, and you'll even find the character designs mixing between the two. Zuko is written to be just as frustrating and angry as he is for the majority of the series. Azula is an evil little wretch. Iroh is a pleasant combination of his movie and series self - if he had his series design, you probably couldn't tell the difference. If you hate the movie and love the series, don't snub this book.

There are two irritating points though. The artwork is adequate but it's sparse and sketchy, very light on tones, and the artist has some problems rendering fire (or maybe she wasn't paid enough to dedicate time to punching up pages, I don't know). Finally, with a retail price of eleven dollars, the book is entirely too short to cost as much as it does. I would not pay that and recommend buying from Amazon.

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