Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

Author: Faith Erin Hicks, Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino
Artists: Peter Wartman, Ryan Hill
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Released: June 16^th, 2020
Received: Own

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Imbalance is the sixth 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!

Imbalance brings us back to a town and setting that fans of the comics will recognize – It’s the one introduced in The Rift! All of the advancing technology has created new problems, mainly problems between the benders and the non-benders, and that leaves Team Avatar desperately looking for a solution.

I really enjoyed Imbalance. It did a great job of showing how there are still so many problems in this world, problems that could require an Avatar to step in. In this case though, I would be curious to know if there were other solutions as well, just because of the concerns raised.

I feel like this plot in particular really pushed Aang to his limits, and I absolutely adore some of the pointed questions asked in his direction -mainly from Katara. As a bonus, it helped soften that saccharine sweetness those two have been clinging too.

Here’s the downside to my binging the series all at once like this – it’s getting a little fuzzy for me, the differences between The Rift and Imbalance. To be fair, the two do work together very nicely. I’m just struggling to remember where one ended, and the other began.

Anyway, back to the actual focus of this review! I love how Imbalance wasn’t afraid to go a bit darker. In many ways, I think that this was a necessary step for the series, especially as the audience keeps growing up. It also felt fitting, to actually bring up these discussions and allow room for them to grow as well.