The Last Airbender - Mobile Edition

Manga
The Last Airbender
By Leroy Douresseaux
June 25, 2010 - 10:13

Del Rey Manga
Writer(s): Dave Roman, Alison Wilgus
Penciller(s): Joon Choi
Inker(s): Joon Choi
ISBN: 978-0-345-51855-2
$8.99 US, $10.99 CAN, 124pp, B&W, paperback

The Last Airbender cover image is courtesy of barnesandnoble.com.

Rating “Y Ages 10+”

Avatar: The Last Airbender was an animated series that first ran on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) has written and directed a movie adaptation of the series, entitled The Last Airbender, which will soon hit movie screens. Del Rey Manga is producing OEL manga (original English language) tie-ins to the upcoming movie. One of them, The Last Airbender, is the comic book adaptation of Shyamalan’s film.

The Last Airbender takes place in a world divided between four nations: Air, Earth, Fire, and Water. Fire Nation has destroyed the harmonious balance among the four nations. These dire times are just when the Avatar, the master of all four elements, is expected to bring balance to the world, but he has been missing for a century.

Then, teenaged siblings, Katara and her brother, Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, rescue a boy frozen in a sphere of ice. The boy, named Aang, is indeed the long-lost Avatar and the last airbender. Katara and Sokka must help Aang, whose training was not completed a hundred years ago, master the four elements in order to fulfill his destiny. But the Fire Nation and a determined prince of that nation stalks their every move.

THE LOWDOWN: As they did with the earlier release, The Last Airbender: Prequel: Zuko’s Story, writers Dave Roman and Alison Wilgus have scripted another engaging manga for young readers. The story starts slowly, but gradually builds to a crescendo – in the form of a massive invasion fleet attacking a good guy outpost. Artist Joon Choi has a clean cartoony drawing style, which makes for easy-to-read and decipher graphic storytelling. In fact, the manner in which Choi draws this manga makes it just look inviting and fun to read.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE: Young readers will like The Last Airbender, especially those familiar with Avatar: The Last Airbender.

B+