Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise
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Caution: Spoilers! (For both the TV series and the comic itself.)

This is a three-part series, released in 2012. It bridges the gap (or at least part of the gap) between the Avatar: The Last Airbender and its spinoff, The Legend of Korra, the first season of which also aired in 2012. The story is as good as any episode of the original series, IMO. All the same humor, drama, awesome bending, character interactions, moral conundrums, etc. And of course the artwork is pretty great. Part 1 starts out with a slightly modified version of the familiar opening narration from each episode of the TV series. There are then a couple of brief scenes set within the timeframe of the final episode, after Fire Lord Ozai had been defeated. The first scene introduces the fact that Avatar Aang, Fire Lord Zuko, and Earth King Kuei promised to restore the four nations to harmony. (One might guess this was the "promise" of the story's title, but one might be wrong.) The next scene is the final scene of the series, which as you know, ends with Aang and Katara kissing. However, the comic book scene extends just a bit further than the TV scene did... with Sokka showing up and interrupting their kiss. (The fact that Aang and Katara's new romantic relationship gives him "the oogies" will be a running gag. And the fact that Aang and Katara frequently call each other "Sweetie" doesn't help; though it's darn cute, IMHO.) But more importantly, the Gaang head out for a quick flight on Appa, while waiting for King Kuei's celebration (which marks the announcement of the Harmony Restoration Movement to the public) to begin. As our heroes enjoy the fireworks display from their aerial viewpoint (except Toph, of course, but she makes her own fun), Zuko totally harshes the mood by making Aang promise that if he ever starts to act like his father, Ozai... Aang will "end him." (This seems to be the real "promise" of the title.)

Anyway, the story then flashes forward one year. Apparently, there have been five attempts on Zuko's life already, by assassins who believe he's a traitor to the Fire Nation. On this particular night, Zuko captures such an assassin, a teenaged girl named Kori, whose father, Morishita, is mayor of Yu Dao, the oldest Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko and his soldiers take Kori back there, and Zuko intends to personally enforce the return of all Fire Nation citizens to the Fire Nation proper. (Some of the newer colonies have apparently already been evacuated of Fire Nation citizens, without incident.) But Zuko learns that the situation in the older colonies, like Yu Dao, is not as simple. There are Fire Nation citizens who have been there for generations; while they may see themselves as citizens of the Fire Nation, the Earth Kingdom is their home. (Some colonies were started over a hundred years ago, making them older than Aang himself.) So Zuko rethinks his position, and decides to withdraw his support from the Harmony Restoration Movement.

I should mention, by the way, that we also get a flashback to another scene from the series finale, when Zuko had gone to talk to his father in prison. That scene is also extended for the comic, and it sets up some troubling developments for the present story. But speaking of the present, Aang and his friends hear about what Zuko's done, so they head to Yu Dao to talk to him. But also, Aang has to be prepared to keep his earlier promise to Zuko, if need be... something he really doesn't want to do. Oh, we also find out that Toph has opened the "Beifong Metalbending Academy," in the Earth Kingdom. She joins Aang, Katara, and Sokka as they near Yu Dao. When they get there, they find a group of Earth Kingdom protestors outside the city walls, led by Freedom Fighters Smellerbee, Sneers, and Longshot. Aang and Katara head into the city to talk with Zuko. After a heated confrontation, Zuko explains his actions to his friends. Katara gets him to agree to a meeting with the Earth King, to decide what to do about the situation. So the Gaang head to Ba Sing Se, to arrange the meeting. Although the Freedom Fighters say they'll allow just three days for the situation to be resolved, otherwise they'll find their own solution. Meanwhile, Zuko heads back to the Fire Nation, where it turns out Mai has arranged for the Kyoshi Warriors to serve as Zuko's new bodyguards, in the hopes that he'll be able to get a good night's sleep for a change, without constantly worrying about assassination attempts. However, the final scene of Part 1 is... disturbing.

As for part 2, Sokka hangs out with Toph for awhile, trying to help inspire her metalbending students, who are pretty inept. They include a heavyset boy named Ho Tun, who's constantly worried about "doom"; a young girl named Penga, who's majorly into shoes, and who develops an immediate crush on Sokka; and a sullen boy who calls himself "The Dark One," and doesn't want anyone to call him by his real name. Then Kunyo, former master of the dojo where Toph's academy is located, returns with his firebending students, wanting to reclaim the building. Sokka arranges a tournament between the students for three days later, and in the meantime, there's a great deal of comic relief from Sokka and Toph's attempts to whip her students into shape.

Meanwhile, in Ba Sing Se, Aang and Katara hang out with the "Avatar Aang Fan Club," so there's more comedy there, but it ends on a very sweet dramatic note. And later on, it seems as if it will tie into the main story, about the situation in Yu Dao. However, I don't really want to spoil anything about that, just yet. But by the end of part 2, the situation seems to be getting much worse....

Part 3 has some deep and difficult questions about what is really meant by "harmony" between the nations, as well as between individuals. Aang has some very hard decisions to make about whether to keep his earlier promise to Zuko, and what to do about the conflict over Yu Dao. I won't say how it ends, exactly, but it ends quite well (and it essentially starts the path toward a new kind of world, which will be seen fully formed 70 years hence, in the "Korra" TV series). After the main plot of "The Promise" is resolved, the final scene sets up the next comic miniseries, The Search, coming in 2013.