Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Between the Show and Korra, in Order

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Avatar: The Last Airbender ended in 2008, and The Legend of Korra picks up 70 years later. For a long time, the only way to find out what Team Avatar did in between was a set of Dark Horse comics. I've read all of them, and they're the closest thing we have to Book Four of the original show.

Six trilogies cover the years right after the war, and the first five were written by Gene Luen Yang and drawn by the art team Gurihiru. Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko have story credits on some of them, and the books are considered canon (Wikipedia). Here's the order I'd read them in.

What happens in The Promise?

The Promise (2012) starts right after the finale. Zuko and Earth King Kuei clash over Yu Dao, a Fire Nation colony inside the Earth Kingdom, and Aang and Katara's new relationship gets tested along the way. It plants the first seeds of the United Republic you see in Korra.

What happens in The Search?

The Search (2013) goes after the question fans asked most after the finale. Zuko goes looking for his mother, Ursa, with Team Avatar and Azula along for the trip, and it finally gives everyone an answer.

What happens in The Rift?

The Rift (2014) is Aang's story. A factory has been built on sacred Air Nomad land, which angers the spirits and forces Aang to balance his people's traditions with a world that's changing fast, while Toph gets a big storyline with her father.

What happens in Smoke and Shadow?

Smoke and Shadow (2015 to 2016) heads back to the Fire Nation capital. A prophecy pushes Zuko to give up the throne, children start disappearing, and Azula turns out to be behind it (she keeps a very full schedule). It's one of the darker trilogies and a great one for Zuko fans.

What happens in North and South?

North and South (2016 to 2017) takes Katara and Sokka home. The Southern Water Tribe is growing fast, and the fight over its future sparks a rebellion, which makes it a smart look at what rebuilding after a war actually costs.

What happens in Imbalance?

Imbalance (2018 to 2019) is written by Faith Erin Hicks and drawn by Peter Wartman. Tension between benders and nonbenders at a booming factory town forces Aang to find a middle ground. If you've watched Korra, you'll see the Equalists coming a mile away, and that's the point, since it's the clearest bridge between the two shows.

What about the standalone books?

Four standalone graphic novels from Hicks and Wartman are also set after the war:

• Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy (2021), set between The Rift and Smoke and Shadow
• Azula in the Spirit Temple (2023)
• The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer (2024), with Iroh running his tea shop in Ba Sing Se
• Ashes of the Academy (2025), with Zuko reforming the Royal Fire Academy for Girls

The last three are collected together in the Fire and Family Treasury omnibus. Katara and the Pirate's Silver and Suki, Alone are great reads too, but they take place during the show itself, so we left them off this list.

Where should you start?

Start with The Promise and read the trilogies in order, because each one builds on the story and the politics of the last. Every trilogy is also collected in a single omnibus from Dark Horse, which is the easiest way to read them.

Where can you buy the Avatar comics?

These are the editions we'd grab, in reading order. Each omnibus collects a full trilogy in one book.

• The Promise Omnibus (here's our full breakdown of The Promise)
• The Search Omnibus
• The Rift Omnibus
• Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy
• Smoke and Shadow Omnibus
• North and South Omnibus
• Imbalance Omnibus
• Fire and Family Treasury Omnibus (Azula in the Spirit Temple, The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer, and Ashes of the Academy)

My read is that these comics deserve way more attention than they get. They're funny, they take the characters seriously, and they fill in the 70 years between the shows better than any recap could. We'll be breaking down each one in its own post, so tell us which one you want first.

More of our features are right here.

Header image is the cover of The Promise Omnibus from Dark Horse Comics.