Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by danilanglie
The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Library Edition by Bryan Konietzko, Michael Dante DiMartino
4.0
Here's what I'll say: the Avatar: The Last Airbender comic trilogies were absolutely stunning and brilliant and I experienced them like more of the TV show. With Turf Wars, I didn't get quite the same five stars feeling, but this was still very, very good.
The story was fine, but it's the thing that stops this from getting all five stars. It didn't quite hit as many relevant cultural points, and some of the points it was trying to make seemed a little muddied. The reasons for keeping the spirit portal open were a little vague, for example, and that's pretty much the cornerstone of the central conflict, so it's important to get it right. I get wanting the spirit and human worlds to interact, but since there are other portals elsewhere on the planet, I didn't quite get why keeping this one open was so important. At no point did I understand what would happen if Korra were to decide to close the portal, and why that would be so bad. Also, the battle between the triads lacked personal stakes, despite Mako and Bolin's history with the Triple Threats, and Asami's father's past dealings with a corrupt businessman.
Fortunately, the focus of the series is on Korra and Asami's relationship, and that is accomplished quite well. They are so freakin' cute I can't stand it. And honestly I keep getting weepy thinking about young kids picking up this comic and seeing this beautiful relationship between these two women. And it doesn't stop with Korra and Asami. Turns out, Kya (Aang's daughter) loves women, and Avatar Kyoshi loved both men and women. They didn't have to do this. They did it and it's so important to tell this story, and to tell it well.
Also, the subplot about Zhu Li is ADORABLE. What a surprising plot thread from the show, that continues into a lovely plot thread in the comics. She deserves success, and I love that Varrick is the same wild and crazy and slightly exploitative guy, but he's doing everything in service of his amazing wife.
That's all I've got to say - this was definitely worth the read, even if it didn't quite live up to the magic of the Avatar comics.
The story was fine, but it's the thing that stops this from getting all five stars. It didn't quite hit as many relevant cultural points, and some of the points it was trying to make seemed a little muddied. The reasons for keeping the spirit portal open were a little vague, for example, and that's pretty much the cornerstone of the central conflict, so it's important to get it right. I get wanting the spirit and human worlds to interact, but since there are other portals elsewhere on the planet, I didn't quite get why keeping this one open was so important. At no point did I understand what would happen if Korra were to decide to close the portal, and why that would be so bad. Also, the battle between the triads lacked personal stakes, despite Mako and Bolin's history with the Triple Threats, and Asami's father's past dealings with a corrupt businessman.
Fortunately, the focus of the series is on Korra and Asami's relationship, and that is accomplished quite well. They are so freakin' cute I can't stand it. And honestly I keep getting weepy thinking about young kids picking up this comic and seeing this beautiful relationship between these two women. And it doesn't stop with Korra and Asami. Turns out, Kya (Aang's daughter) loves women, and Avatar Kyoshi loved both men and women. They didn't have to do this. They did it and it's so important to tell this story, and to tell it well.
Also, the subplot about Zhu Li is ADORABLE. What a surprising plot thread from the show, that continues into a lovely plot thread in the comics. She deserves success, and I love that Varrick is the same wild and crazy and slightly exploitative guy, but he's doing everything in service of his amazing wife.
That's all I've got to say - this was definitely worth the read, even if it didn't quite live up to the magic of the Avatar comics.