Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

Authors: Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Artists: Gurihiru
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: February 11^th, 2015
Received: Own

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift is the third plot arc to stem from the animated series fans have fallen so in love with. After the popularity bump that came when Avatar: The Last Airbender moved to Netflix, I was inspired to read through as much of the comics as possible. So far, it’s been absolutely worth it!

The Rift once again brings fans back to Team Avatar, only things are changing. Pretty rapidly, in fact. Factories have been popping up, and one refinery in particular has grabbed the attention of the team.

They’re not the only ones who are paying attention to this new development, as benders and non-benders forge a conflict between one another, and certain spirits take notice of the land it is set upon.

Okay, so The Rift is not anything that I expected from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Maybe I should have been expecting it though. I mean, look at how far things progressed between when The Last Airbender concluded, and The Legend of Korra began.

When you put it like that, it does feel like The Rift is sort of bridging the gap between the two series. For better, or for worse. I didn’t get quite as into this story as the two previous ones, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.

Especially because it continued to show the conflicts in the world, and how the war did not end everything. Benders and non-benders will still have their conflicts, and technology is only ever going to make that debate more complicated. At least, in the short term.

It was intriguing looking at the world through this light, and thus I really appreciated The Rift. Thanks to the addition of certain new characters, it did feel like that classic Avatar spark that I’ve come to love and expect.

Oh! And credit to Gurihiru for making the entire comic look exactly like the tv series, only in comic book form. I knew that some things would have to change, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well they stuck to the core aesthetic of the world.