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It’s been almost 20 years sinceAvatar: The Last Airbenderpremiered, and the franchise is bigger than ever. Live action and animated projects are in development, and nd fortunately, TV isn’t the only way to experience it.
While the original series ended in 2008, starting in 2012,Avatar: The Last Airbenderhas continued its story through comic books on a near-yearly basis; many of them are just one-off stories, but in most cases,Avatar: The Last Airbender’s comicsare the most direct continuation of the adventures of everyone from the original series. Any fan ofAirbenderwould be remiss to pass them up, and there’s a perfect order to read those books, as well.
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Main Comics In Order
The Promise
2012’sAvatar: The Last Airbender:The Promiseis the first of five trilogies written by Gene Luen Yang.The Promisepicks up after the end of the Hundred-Year War with everyone trying to find the best way to right the wrongs of the Fire Nation. Tensions rise over how to best handle the Fire Nation colonies, however, and as things begin to escalate into another war,Aang has to grapple with his promise to kill Zuko if he ever showed signs of becoming like Ozai.
The Search
The Searchis the second of Gene Luen Yang’sAvatar: The Last Airbendertrilogies, released in 2013. After the events ofThe Promise, Zuko finally decided to search for his mother, Ursa, forcing him and the rest of Team Avatar to team up with a deranged Azula, the only one who knows where to find her. The quest for Ursa is inter-spliced with flashbacks to Ursa’s life to show how she got involved with Ozai and what she was doing during Zuko’s childhood, and sure enough,The Searchdoes ultimately reveal what happened to Zuko’s mother by its finale.
The Rift
In 2014’sThe Rift, Aang tries to celebrate an Air Nomad holiday with his friends, but meets resistance from Toph, as the traditional values of the celebration remind Toph of how strict her parents were. Coincidentally,Team Avatar discovers that Toph’s father is leading a mining operation destroying the ecosystem of the island they’re celebrating the Air Nomad holiday on, and as Toph tries to get closure with her father, Aang tries to stop the mining operation from unearthing one of Yangchen’s biggest mistakes.
Smoke And Shadow
2015’sSmoke and Shadowis the fourthAvatar: The Last Airbendertrilogy, the first part taking place concurrently withThe Rift.Zuko’s plans to spend time with his mother and his new sister are cut short by the New Ozai Society, a political movement led by Mai’s father seeking to put Ozai back on the throne by any means necessary. At the center of everything, however, are the Kemurikage, a mysterious group of spirits kidnapping Fire Nation children, and while they’re tied to Zuko’s position as Fire Lord, it’s not in the way anyone would have guessed.
North And South
2016’sNorth and Southis the lastAvatar: The Last Airbendercomic to be written by Gene Luen Yang. Sokka and Katara finally return to the Southern Water Tribe to find it completely changed thanks to the aid of both the Northern Water Tribe, and while Sokka is ecstatic about everything, Katara is more decidedly mixed, especially as it leads to unexpected changes with their father. The rest of the tribe is also divided on the changes, and sure enough,Team Avatar has to stop a potential civil war between the Northern and Southern Water Tribes.
Imbalance
2018’sImbalanceis the first series of comics written by Faith Erin Hicks, who has since taken over writing duties for all majorAvatar: The Last Airbendercomics. As the factory fromThe Rifthas grown to the point of a town being built around it, tensions have gotten high as benders protest out of fear of losing their jobs to nonbenders, and when the ringleader behind it all proves to not be someone whom Aang can just beat up to end the conflict,Aang is forced to grapple with one of his biggest moral quandaries since the original show.
Smoke and Shadow
North and South
Avatar: The Last Airbender’s Standalone Comics
Katara And The Pirate’s Silver
2020’sKatara and the Pirate’s Silveris the first standaloneAvatar: The Last Airbendercomic and the first installment in what would later be known as theTeam Avatar Treasury. Taking place sometime during Book 2,Katara is taken in by a group of pirates after a battle with the Fire Nation separates her from Team Avatar, and as Katara is thrown out of her comfort zone, she has to find her tough side to survive her new group as she finds her way back to her friends.
Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy
2021’sToph Beifong’s Metalbending Academyis the second installment in theTeam Avatar Treasury. While Toph’s metalbending academy is bigger than ever, that success has forced Toph into a life of repetitive mundanity that forces her to question what she should be doing with her life.A secret underground bending tournament ends up helping give Toph the answers she needed, but it’s in a way no one would have expected, both in-universe and out.
Suki, Alone
Suki, Aloneis the final installment in theTeam Avatar Treasury, released shortly afterToph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy. The story parallels the iconic Book 2 episode “Zuko Alone” as a solo story starring Suki that explores her past to further develop her character amid her current troubles, specifically in howSuki, Aloneshows what Suki was doing at the Boiling Rock before Sokka and Zuko went there and rescued her and Hakoda.
Azula In The Spirit Temple
2023’sAzula in the Spirit Templetakes place sometime afterSmoke and Shadowand sees Azula once again alone after a failed insurrection against the Fire Nation. Now at a crossroads,Azula ends up at a spirit temple that forces her to confront her past and her various shortcomings to force her to change her ways, but as one would expect, that’s not an easy thing for someone like Azula.
The Bounty Hunter And The Tea Brewer
2024’sThe Bounty Hunter and the Tea Breweris the most recent standalone comic and is focused on Iroh and June, the bounty hunter from Book 1. As Iroh investigates a shortage of deliveries to the Jasmine Dragon, he finds himself captured by June for a bounty from a mysterious benefactor, and as Iroh is dragged across the Earth Kingdom,Iroh tries to convince June to change her ways while simultaneously confronting his past as the Dragon of the West.
Katara and the Pirate’s Silver
The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer
August 13, 2025
Other Avatar Comics Fans Should Read
Beyond the major comics, fans can also readThe Lost AdventuresandTeam Avatar Tales, anthology stories that are mostly canon, andThe Legend of Korrahas its own collection of comics for people to read, whether it’sMichael Dante DiMartino’sTurf WarsandRuins of the Empireor the anthology collectionPatterns in Time. BothAirbenderandKorrawill also release new comics in 2025,Ashes of the AcademyforAirbendenderandMystery of Penquan IslandforKorra, so it’s safe to say there will be plenty ofAvatar: The Last Airbendercomics for years to come.
Ruins of the Empire
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Cast
Avatar: The Last Airbender, released in 2005, follows a young boy in a war-torn world of elemental magic as he reawakens to embark on a challenging mystical quest to fulfill his destiny as the Avatar and restore peace to the world.
