New 'AVATAR' Comics in 2012

The Avatar: the Last Airbender universe, tightly packed with vast Asian mythology and likeable character drama, has a number of speech bubbles left to fill between now and the television premiere of Legend of Korra, now scheduled for 2013. Fortunately for fans of the action/fantasy franchise, Dark Horse Comics continues to make-good on their publishing program that will see new, continuing adventures of Aang and the gang following the events of the animated series' third season.

Avatar: the Last Airbender -- The Promise is scheduled to arrive early next year, kicking off Dark Horse's new line of digest-sized comics in the Last Airbender cartoon world. Originally announced this past February 2011, The Promise will be the creator-sanctioned content fans have been waiting for [recent A.I. news: "Dark Horse Schedules Series Continuation" (02/2011)]. According to the publisher, The Promise (volume one, part one) will run eighty pages and rest comfortably in the timeline of the animated series only.

Artistic contribution to The Promise begins close to home, so to speak, with co-creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko serving as advisers to award-winning writer and graphic novelist Gene Luen Yang on the comic's story.

Yang is a veteran writer and artist whose previous works notably include American Born Chinese (2006), which chronicles the uphill struggle of postmodern racial identity, and The Eternal Smile (2009), a collection of short stories co-authored with Derek Kirk Kim -- both are Eisner Award-winning titles.

Yang's Prime Baby (2010) was nominated as well; while his most-recent project, Level Up as illustrated by Thien Pham, was released in this summer.

Avatar: the Last Airbender -- The Promise, currently scheduled to retail January 25, 2012 ($10.99), is expected to begin what should be the canonical bridge between Avatar: the Last Airbender and Legend of Korra.

At said beginning, Aang is forced into a potential confrontation with the Fire Nation soon after the events of the TV animation.... a confrontation that reportedly threatens to plunge the nations into war all over again. Apparently, an avatar's work is never done. In any case, for Aang essentialists, it may also help to know that Yang isn't just a fan of DiMartino and Konietzko's cartoon, he's an Avatar: the Last Airbender purist.

The work of Japanese art duo Gurihiru will back up Yang's writing. Sasaki (ink and pencil) and Kawano (coloring) have contributed to a number of art and design projects in the comic book and videogame professions over the years.

Character designs under their belt range from Captain America, Thor, and Wolverine, to the personalities of Treasure Report, from Bandai Namco Games. Gurihiro was a key contributor to Avatar: the Last Airbender -- The Lost Adventures, Dark Horse's 240-page comics collection published June 2011.

"Bryan and I are excited for our fans to read about the further adventures of Aang and the gang," Michael DiMartino adds. "Gene is an amazing storyteller and Gurihiru's style is a perfect fit for the Avatar universe. It has been a great experience collaborating with Dark Horse once again."

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