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Avatar: The Last Airbender: Imbalance #2

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Imbalance, Part 2

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Aang and Team Avatar race to resolve rising tensions between benders and non-benders before a town is torn apart!

There's something fishy going on in Cranefish Town, and it's up to Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph to find out what, before the simmering conflict between benders and non-benders boils over into all-out war. But danger lurks where they least expect it, and uncovering the truth will reveal a threat unlike any they've ever faced--and a fateful choice for Aang he can never unmake!

Written by Faith Erin Hicks (The Adventures of Superhero Girl, The Nameless City) and drawn by Peter Wartman (Stonebreaker), in collaboration with Avatar: The Last Airbender creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, this is the ultimate continuation of Avatar!

80 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2019

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5405 people want to read

About the author

Faith Erin Hicks

117 books1,641 followers
Born in the wilds of British Columbia, the young Faith frolicked among the Sasquatch native to the province before moving to Ontario at age five. There she was homeschooled with her three brothers, and developed an unnatural passion for galloping around on horseback, though never without a proper helmet (because you only get one skull). After twenty years of suffering through Ontario’s obscenely hot summers, she migrated east, and now lives beside the other ocean in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She worked in animation for a bit, and now draws comics full time. She’s not sure how that happened either.

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5 stars
2,217 (52%)
4 stars
1,424 (33%)
3 stars
522 (12%)
2 stars
57 (1%)
1 star
25 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews
Profile Image for Manisha.
514 reviews90 followers
August 20, 2019
Actual Review: 4.5

This was a great addition into the story of ‘Imbalance’. Even though the ‘villain’ was predictable, I enjoyed reading about the changing dynamics between the main players of this story. Benders vs. Non-Benders was a conflict I was always interested in, and it’s great to see a story focusing on each point of view.

I especially enjoyed Sokka and his returning ‘costumes’ (Wang Fire might be one of my favourite disguises of all time), as well as Toph, and the beginning of her future as a policewoman.

Even though the writer has changed, I’m glad they are continuing with the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics. It’s great for my nostalgia.
Profile Image for Sophia.
2,740 reviews384 followers
October 7, 2021
I love Toph’s confidence however she might have a bit too much…

I’ve noticed these last couple of… volumes... parts… comics? feel a lot more like the classic show. I really hear the characters say what they’re saying!

It’s so crazy to me that people can still think and speak the way does. We don’t know why she thinks the way she does but the way she talks to her daughters tells me she is just NOT a nice person.

I’m interested to see what Ru does. I mean, I’m thinking it can go one of two ways, so we’ll see!
Profile Image for Alexandra Elend Wolf.
646 reviews319 followers
August 5, 2019
3.50 stars

I've said this before and I'll say it again, it's so interesting seeing how we went from the ending of Avatar: The Last Airbender to the start of The Legend of Korra and figuring everything out piece by piece. Like a puzzle.

I really like seeing how they handle the power struggle between the benders and the non-benders.

Seeing the gang in action, being just so utterly them and yet more mature and grown-up and wiser is delightful and fills my heart.

Yet, I still have that small problem of not completely liking the art style, which is kinda important in a comic. I'm, certainly, more used to it now than I was in the first issue but still not a complete fan of it.

I just liked the other one better.

Can't wait to see what happens in the last issue.
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I love the themes that are treated in this!

RTC!
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Time to catch up to this before I have to read many of them XD

I wanted to read it just as it came out, but, alas, life got in the way and it isn't until now that I have the time to do so. Which is a bit sad because now I don't remember all that well what was going on.

But well, comics are nice to read so I'm pretty sure I'll enjoy it.
Profile Image for Chad.
10.3k reviews1,060 followers
May 1, 2019
Faith Erin Hicks does a wonderful job continuing the series. The art looks like the next season you haven't watched yet. If you're a fan of the cartoon, you'll dig this.

Received a review copy from Dark Horse and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
Profile Image for Sophie_The_Jedi_Knight.
1,193 reviews
March 14, 2021
Ooh ooh.

Stuff is heating up - the stakes are rising. And the ways that this conflict is being presented between benders and non-benders is really good.

Also, Sokka actually got to be smart in this one, so I appreciate that fully. But I miss Zuko, where's he been? 4/5 stars.
Profile Image for Lilah.
293 reviews246 followers
October 19, 2020
Whenever Sokka pulls out his detective hat you know that shit is about to get real. 🤣
Profile Image for Saraí Elvir.
339 reviews14 followers
November 2, 2020
Me enfada que infravaloren a los no maestros, cuando ya todos saben que un NO Maestro puede ser tan talentoso y capaz, como es el caso de Sokka.
Profile Image for iyreads.
44 reviews12 followers
October 23, 2019
Dies ist der zweite Teil der „Ungleichgewicht“ Reihe, die am 15. Mai 2019 beim Cross Cult Verlag rausgekommen ist.

Aang und seine Freunde sind in die Kranichfischstadt zurückgekehrt, in der sie schon einmal für Ordnung sorgen mussten. Doch diesmal ist das Problem viel schlimmer und tiefer liegend.
Denn der Konflikt zwischen Bändigern und Nicht-Bändigern geht weiter und man bekommt nach dem Cliffhanger aus „Ungleichgewicht 1“ tiefere Einblicke, wie sich Bändiger gegen Nicht-Bändiger auflehnen und wer diese Unruhe überhaupt stiftet und eine große Bändiger Gruppe führt. Der Grund des Ganzen sind die Fortschritte in der Industrie und in den Raffinerien, die die Arbeitsplätze der Bändiger wegnehmen, da man mittlerweile auch ohne Bändigung, Dinge entwickeln kann. In den Aufständen merkt man auch, dass sich einige verhasste Bändiger als etwas Höheres und Besseres als Nicht-Bändiger sehen.
Eine Menge Wut hat sich in den Menschen in der Kranichstadt gesammelt und das von beiden Seiten. Ich finde diese Themen auch so interessant, weil man in der Serie von Nickelodeon diese vielleicht schon immer unbewusst bestehende Anspannung nie gesehen hat.
Das ganze wurde abgerundet mit den unglaublich toll gezeichneten Kämpfen, die trotzdem kindergerecht geblieben sind. Wer meine Rezension zum ersten ersten Band von „Ungleichgewicht“ gelesen hat, weiß, dass ich mich anfangs nicht so gut in den neuen Zeichenstil gewöhnen konnte. Bei diesem neuen Comic ist es mir gar nicht aufgefallen sondern im Gegenteil ich mochte es viel mehr!
Wie immer kriege ich nicht genug von Aang und seinen Freunden und muss mich jetzt bis Januar gedulden für den letzten Comic dieser Reihe.

Fazit:
Ich kann nicht oft genug sagen, dass Avatar: Der Herr der Elemente stets gesellschaftskritische und aktuelle Themen anspricht, die dann aber so perfekt in eine faszinierende und spannende Geschichte eingebaut werden. Ob jung oder alt, jeder sollte diese Comics gelesen haben.



Ich gebe der Geschichte 5 von 5 Sternen.
Profile Image for Marc *Dark Reader with a Thousand Young! Iä!*.
1,501 reviews312 followers
June 7, 2019
Great volume, it has all of your favorite hits: a Toph-heavy story, Sokka's investigator hat from the Avatar Day episode, Sokka's Mr. Fire disguise from the Fire Nation dance party episode, and NO Aang-Katara smoochie-smoochie. A little Sokka-Suki smoochie-smoochie though.

The gang gets to the bottom of the bender vs. non-bender conflict simmering in Cranefish Town, and the tension builds. It got awfully dark with the inclusion of the phrase "They will not replace us". I don't think I have seen the Avatar series reflect current sociopolitics quite so resoundingly as this. I will chalk that up to Faith Hicks' excellent writing.

Looking forward to the release of volume 3 later this year! At some point I hope that the series of graphic novels will end; as much as I love more time with these characters, I really don't need a complete accounting of the decades in between The Last Airbender and Korra. The final page brings up a big issue bridging the two series, possibly pointing to a planned end to the written series? Who am I kidding, as long as there are sufficient readers/buyers, they will probably keep putting these volumes out. I am supremely grateful that at least they are faithful to the original show, in tone, character, and quality.
Profile Image for m i l o u ✨ (Grumpy Hobbit).
464 reviews34 followers
October 3, 2019
Some months have passed since I read the first installment in this series, but that didn't seem to matter because as soon as I started to read this I was sucked back into this universe as if no time had passed at all. For some reason that always tends to happen whenever the Avatar the last Airbender universe is involved because it has been playing such a large part in my life for nearly half of it.



I had to chuckle when I saw that Sokka's intrusted detective-hat made a reapearance and I immediately got flashbacks to that episode where Sokka and Katara try to prove Aang's innocence.


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The story in the second installment of this series has definitely quickened after the factory of Toph's father has been attacked and it creates turbulance in the small Cranefish Town. A rift between benders and non benders is being created and of course it's up to Team Avatar to stop this rebellion before it gets out of control.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but there were a couple of things that I as a devoted Avatar fan want to point out because they made me proud and happy okay.





Suki is back! I had actually been complaining about the lack of Suki in the comics so I wasn't prepared for Suki to suddenly make an appearance in this one, but I'm not complaining because what's not to love about Suki. She deserves more appreciation.

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There is a point where Team Avatar has to go undercover and when I saw Aang's disguise it made my whole day! I'm not even joking. It's always an incredibly hilarious sight to see Aang with hair.


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Toph plays a vital point in this comic we and we are rewarded with plenty of illustrations where Toph displays her displeasure about the whole situation. To this day Toph is still my favorite character in the avatar series and Korra in the Korra series


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Also whenever Katara and Aang were exchanging judgemental looks with each other I went :)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


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So overall I liked Part 2 a lot more than I did the previous one and that's maybe because the story was finally kicking off in this one and the rift between benders and non benders is increasing.


Books in the series:
Avatar The Last Airbender Imbalance, Part One (Imbalance, #1) by Faith Erin Hicks Avatar The Last Airbender Imbalance, Part Two (Imbalance, #2) by Faith Erin Hicks Avatar The Last Airbender Imbalance, Part Three (Imbalance, #3) by Faith Erin Hicks



1.) Imbalance, Part One ★★★



↠ Genre: Comics, Avatar the last Airbender
↠ Pov: Multiple
↠ Type: Book 2 out of 3 in the Imbalance series
↠ Rating: 4 stars



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Profile Image for Lindsey.
844 reviews16 followers
June 8, 2019
These felt like the characters from the show. Well done!
Profile Image for Sarah.
289 reviews86 followers
September 4, 2019
While Momo wasn't a prominent in this book, he was there a little, so I think it counts.


ATLA Readathon: AirNomads
-Appa- Read a book with a lovable pet.
Profile Image for Gail Bullard.
76 reviews14 followers
July 15, 2019
These stories have not grabbed my attention as well as the past stories did.
Profile Image for Blckrose.
452 reviews4 followers
August 9, 2019
¿Acaso esta segunda parte nos relata sobre el capitalismo?

Yo digo que si, habla sobre la competencia que parece no tener fin, el sentido de supremacia por poseer habilidades que algunos no tienen o se les dificulta. Es triste saber que la sociedad se basa en quienes están por arriba y abajo de ti. Sin embargo ¿cómo borras los límites cuando el trabajo de la sociedad es mantenerlos?

Espero tener una idea al leer la tercera parte.
Profile Image for Gretal.
1,037 reviews85 followers
July 3, 2020
Sokka's hat! And the Wang Fire beard! I appreciate that he kept those sooo much. Also Aang and Katara being judgy about Suki and Sokka's affection for each other was super annoying. They're not constantly being gross and calling each other sweetie.
Profile Image for Mica.
295 reviews30 followers
January 7, 2021
i love toph so much



i’m not made for children’s books my first thought when she started the speech about bender supremacy was that top should make the cave collapse on all of them, i would clearly be a villain 🙄
762 reviews2,235 followers
July 23, 2022
THE ENDING…..
Profile Image for Paul Decker.
853 reviews17 followers
February 20, 2019
*I received this book as an eARC from Dark Horse Books via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review*

This second part in the Imbalance story finds Team Avatar dealing with a conflict in Cranefish Town between the benders and non-benders. Non-bender owned businesses have been attacked and Toph has some ideas about who was involved.

I love the dynamic of Team Avatar. That classic humor is present. It's also cool to see the designs beginning to grow up, showing the youngsters aging. Suki is back in this volume! And Toph is an awesome badass.

I give this comic volume a 4/5. I always love stories continuing Team Avatar's adventures post-tv series. The animosity in this volume parallels well with modern politics and discussions about privileges.
Profile Image for holly.
603 reviews20 followers
February 4, 2019
Thank you to Dark Horse Comics, Random House, and Edelweiss for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Things are starting to pick up! I love how this newest graphic novel in the series continues to bridge the gap between The Last Airbender and Legend of Korra. As such, there are more gradually developing political tensions than fast-paced bending fight scenes and action sequences, but I don't think that's a bad thing by any means (and honestly, the illustrations are so lovely I'd devour them regardless of the story).

I knew where this instalment was heading for the cliffhanger, and I'm excited to see that once again Aang is faced with this choice - particularly because of the ramifications that could come from it in this new political/economic climate. I can't wait to see how things conclude in the final issue!
Profile Image for The Artisan Geek.
445 reviews7,298 followers
March 30, 2019
25/3/19
THE GANG IS BACK Y'ALL. I have missed Avatar so much, that's why I was so happy to receive a copy from Dark Horse, thank you so much! :D

30/3/19
Good! This was a very nice comic! Although I didn't read the first part, it was very easy to follow. I think despite this being a comic for kids, it touches on some important topics such as supremacy and how to deal with a community that has been infected by this condition.

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Profile Image for Online Eccentric Librarian.
3,400 reviews5 followers
May 16, 2019
More reviews at the Online Eccentric Librarian http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

One thing I can definitely say about all these Avatar books (for both Korra's and Aang's stories) is that they are very high quality, true to the Avatar world, and with brilliant illustration work. They are a great way to continue the series and enjoy more tales from our favorite characters. With Imbalance, our Team Avatar must confront the dissonance between benders and non benders - and those willing it create a supremacy on one side, once and for all.

Story: Toph's father's factory was blown up - with Toph inside! She escaped injury but she's mad and she needs Team Avatar's help to solve the mystery behind the sabotage. A meeting with a friendly City councilwoman in Cranefish turns up new clues and unearths a conspiracy to subjugate non benders to bender will. Can the team create peace and fix this unbalance?

Imbalance #2 does feel like a middle book in that it starts off where another book ended - and then finishes with a cliffhanger to lead into a third in the series. But that's ok - there is a clear story arc here and the last pages leave us looking forward to more.

Although the illustrations do make everyone seem around age 13 or so, they are clean and bright and nicely match the original tv series. Sokka's impishness, Toph's aloofness, Aang's earnestness, and Kitara's drive are all perfectly captured in the artwork. I can almost see it animated.

The story itself has all the great personality quirks - Sokka lost none of his fun and for once, feels less buffoonish here. If anything, he and Toph take center stage in most of the story as he does detective work and Toph just rushes right into things. Aang, Kirara, and Suki are along for the ride, but it is a fun one and captures all the spark of the original TV series writing.

In all, a great story that is true to the Avatar world and wonderful fun. It's not as serious as Korra's world but that playfulness makes for a very fun read. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.
Profile Image for Gregisdead121 .
267 reviews4 followers
March 15, 2024
It was ok.
Strange how bender vs non bender bigotry should be such a compelling topic to confront in this world but as it's currently being explored...I'm not invested.
Also the cliffhanger doesn't really leave you at the edge of your seat as Aang always chooses to compromise. He would never take away a benders bending so quickly. Too him ages with Yukon in Legend of Korra S2 also Azula was allowed to keep hers despite how chaotic and dangerous she was,SHE KIDNAPPED CHILDREN AND INCITED A RIOT.
Profile Image for Cathy.
466 reviews5 followers
July 8, 2020
The tension builds between the benders and non-benders in volume 2 of the Imbalance story arc. The whole plot mirrors a lot of real life issues of discrimination, oppression, and supremacist thought. I’m enjoying having Faith Erin Hicks at the helm. Her writing is true to character and I love that she dropped some nuggets from the animated series into this volume (detective Sokka!). I love the clean, crisp, flawless art, too.
Profile Image for Lucía Colella.
286 reviews53 followers
November 26, 2019
No tengo mucho más que decir de esta parte que ya no haya dicho en la 1 o la 3. Me encanta cómo se abarca el problema y cómo se inicia esa transición de una civilización sin tecnología o muy poca a una civilización que comienza a desarrollar los avances y que empieza depender mucho más de ella. Creo que este comic es uno de los puentes más grandes entre lo que sucede en La leyenda de Aang y La leyenda de Korra.
Profile Image for Isaac.
464 reviews
September 13, 2020
Se que este el principio de lo que se volvera Ciudad Republica, y que los problemas entre maestros y no maestros no se habrán resuelto para la epoca de Korra; pero es emocionante como este equipo Avatar lidia con los problemas más adultos de su época en un mundo que crece a pasos agigantados
Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews

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