Avatar: The High Ground, Volume 2

Avatar: The High Ground #2

by Sherri L. Smith, Diego Galindo (Illustrator), George Quadros (Illustrator)

Humans have returned to Pandora—with an armada of starships—but Jake Sully and the Na’vi are ready for them!

Knowing this day would come, Jake has trained his Na’vi warriors with a plan that should make it too costly for the humans to try again . . . if the plan works.

But, any chain of events is only as strong as the weakest link, and in this case the weak link is human nature. As the plan unravels, Jake and Neytiri must race against time to return to Pandora and save their children before the starships land.

James Cameron’s epic original story “The High Ground” continues in this graphic novel adaptation written by award-winning author Sherri L. Smith (The Toymaker’s Apprentice, Orleans) and illustrated by Diego Galindo (Stranger Things: The Tomb of Ybwen, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers). Avatar: The High Ground Volume 2 takes fans to parts of the Avatar universe never anticipated!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Adult, Graphic Novels Manga

88 pages, Hardcover

First published January 10, 2023

About the author

Sherri L. Smith is the award-winning author of YA novels LUCY THE GIANT, SPARROW, HOT SOUR SALTY SWEET, FLYGIRL and ORLEANS. In October 2015, she makes her middle grade debut with THE TOYMAKER’S APPRENTICE from G.P. Putnam and Sons for Penguin Random House.

Sherri has worked in film, animation, comic books and construction. Her books have been listed as Amelia Bloomer, American Library Association Best Books for Young People, and Junior Library Guild Selections. FLYGIRL was the 2009 California Book Awards Gold Medalist.

She loves her family, travel, chocolate chip cookies, reading, and and a really good cup of tea.

Reviews

[Hannah Lovik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than the first volume since I could actually track what was happening (except for most of the battle since it would definitely make more sense on screen) and the art was a lot more consistent. Storyline definitely is getting better too!

[Hadeel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved learning more about the background of characters i'm already so invested in. It was interesting seeing them "pre" Avatar 2 and added another layer/depth to the story/characters. I really enjoyed them!!

[Sarali · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, let me tell you, the art is so much better than the first volume. Humans and Na’vi are in proportion. Tuk looks like a kid. You can tell all the characters apart, and they look like the characters in the movie. Even the second part, it’s clearly the change of artist, but still, you can tell who is who, the art is just dingier.

Now, about the story… I know Kiri has a connection to Spider, but she is pushing the “orphans” theme too much. I’m starting to think it would have been better if Jake and Neytiri didn’t tell her the truth in the first place. She is so stubborn to call Spider family when clearly her parents do not consider him their kid. I mean, it’s ok to love someone so much, but she is forcing her entire family to comply. I mean, I can’t believe Lo’ak here was the only kid with common sense. Kiri put herself and her siblings in danger. Lo’ak here is younger, so, yeah, no doubt why he’s the rebel one in The Way of Water, he’s just doing like Neteyam and Kiri.

Neteyam here is just so ready to prove himself. He goes beyond Jake orders, and goes to the mission as a stowaway. I love to see more of Neteyam, but Boy! I wanted to kill him and return him home. Poor Jake, he’s already under so much stress, and his kids do not cooperate. The good thing, is Neteyam is Neteyam, and once in the mission, he does as he was told (most of the time).

I don’t know what James Camero has planned for Spider in the future, but he has given him a lot of daddy issues. It’s not enough his biological father was the Colonel who attack Hometree, it’s not enough that his legal guardian neglect him, no, now the McCoskers have to be the snitches.

In general, the action is good, but it’s also borderline ridiculous. They fire guns to the windows of a space ship (like guns are more powerful that all the pressure of the take off) and go through them and he people there don’t die? Also Jake set himself free by chomping his handcuff! The same type of handcuff Kiri, Tuk, Lo’ak, and Tsireya were restricted in The Way of Water! Are you telling me the kids just need to chomp them and be free? (Because, if I remember correctly, Lo’ak tried!)

Finally, I just going to tell you how much I love stupid Jake. He gave the helmet to Neytiri, of course, but his plan was to hold his breath IN SPACE! That’s just plain stupid Jake, badass Jake, lovely Jake, and I just love Jake.

I liked Volume 2 more than Volume 1, I liked the story, and I think it would have been great to see it on the big screen, but at the same time, Na’vi in space is too much right now for me. It’s not believable.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ohhh they fucked the RDA up omg.

[itchy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If this made it to the silver screen it would have been epic, too.

[Bibliophileverse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avatar High Ground takes you on a journey full of action and adventure again which we witnessed in the movie. The plot takes us further where Jake Sully has a family, but he knows that sky people will be back. how he prepares himself and his family is the main crux of the story. It was really fascinating re living the story. Full of action and adventure gives you a an enjoying experience. Also, graphics are nice.

Definitely, a 4 star book. Thanks to Edelweiss and Dark Horse Books for giving me an opportunity to read and review the book.

Read more on https://bibliophileverse.blogspot.com...

[Sophia's Bookplanet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This second volume picks up the story right where we left the characters. It outlines the whole space fight and complex plot to send off the Sky People again. Although the plan was quite interesting and intriguing, I did not really like the whole idea of this story. I mentioned that before and I kept being thrown off by this space setting. The character interactions were the only interesting thing, and unfortunately, we did not get too many of them.

Once more, I experienced a lot of confusion due to the similarity of the characters. In this part, all good people were blue and all bad ones in human form. This part was easy, but to distinguish the Navi, I needed to look really close every time. With the second movie in mind, I moreover felt that the plotline in which Jake and Neytiri's children get captivated gets overused and annoying. I feel like this graphic novel does not really add anything to the world building. It offers fighting scenes but does not really engage with the characters, which I would have enjoyed to read way more.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always love Avatar media. Art is a vast improvement from the first one.

[iona · Rating 3 out of 5]

the drawings were better than the first one, i could recognise each character

[Morgan Ridley-Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok Navi in space?! Yes. Pretty cool. Not sure how they made their spacesuits but content to hold my questions and just enjoy the ride. Reading these comics (which are apparently based on a screenplay by James Cameron) I have to ask if this was Cameron’s first draft of a sequel before he landed on Way of Water. I could be wrong, but it really feels like a lot of the ideas here are in Way of Water with a new skin.



SPOILERS BELOW

A big reason for my suspicion that this was a first draft is the plot structure feels very similar to Way of Water. We start with seeing how good life is now for Jake’s new family. Then the human threat is back, threatening to take it all away. Jake’s family (and the whole clan in this iteration) have to leave home. Even the dialogue “this is like stones in my heart” is the same. There’s even the subplot early on of the kids going on a little side quest to an old war zone and having to be rescued. Not to mention, once the real conflict with the humans begins, there’s a lot of capture and recapture and “oh but we can’t leave so and so behind!” and the family has to stick together. There’s even the tension of Jake and his Navi wife running out of air during the conflict - but this time they’re in space, not underwater. And one of the kids brings a breathing apparatus.

The other reason for my suspicion is that some character things present in the movie are seemingly absent here. Like Kiri is just a war orphan and there is no mention of any link to Sigourney’s previous character, unlike in the movie. I assume this was a later development, when Cameron realised he wanted to work with Sigourney again and so cast her as Kiri and made that character connection. Spider is also portrayed as a generic war orphan and no link is made to his father being Jake’s old enemy, unlike in the movie, and I can also imagine this being a later addition.

The other thing is the first comic in this series I found it a bit hard to distinguish the characters and they didn’t quite look right (mostly the kids). In this second book, the visuals match much more clearly with those of the Way of Water, even down to costumes. Perhaps the first book was in development when the movie was in its earlier stages of visuals and didn’t have clear imagery for characters and costumes yet.

[Maben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Auch Band zwei der "Blut von Pandora" Trilogie ist mit knapp 92 Seiten wieder recht kurzatmig, was wirklich schade ist, da diese Comicreihe ein kleines Fest für alle Avatar Fans ist. Der Kampf zwischen Navi und Menschen bricht wieder aus und dieses Mal kämpfen die Parteien im Weltraum bzw. im Orbit von Pandora. Kämpfende Navi in Raumanzügen klingt erstmal abgespaced, ist es auch, aber macht umso mehr Spaß. Cineastische Umsetzung in Comicformat, das Lust auf das Finale macht.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was written by James Cameron as a prequel to the new movie coming out at Christmas. It's surprisingly pretty good considering how the original movie is all flash with little substance. Downgraded to a 3 though because much of this takes place in space and it's hard to follow the action in the 2nd half of this.

[Andrew Finch]

There’s kind of a disconnect between the end of the first movie and what happens in Avatar: The Way of Water. But this comic, despite only being the first part of a trilogy, helps to bridge that gap nicely. The tensions between the various factions feel real, leaping off the page as the writers intended, and the characters’ interactions feel as real as that of their on-screen counterparts.

[Joey Nardinelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are fine. The kids are almost as annoying as in the film. Some fun moments of action and others that were just confusing or closeups on someone screaming. This felt closer to a filmic prequel, setting up the RDA’s most recent conflict with Jake and the Na’vi. Just doesn't seem to bother with character growth and for God's sake, why are the kids captured AGAIN here?!

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part 2 of the 3 volume 'prequel/sequel'...

Set between Avatar and A:tWoW, this volume is the action bits. We've got the Na'vi in ...spacesuits? Jumping into shuttles to confront the Marine/Corporation combo that's back to mine that unobtanium.
---
With Cameron promising 5 movies through 2032, this is a look at what could have been (or may still be)

[Enrique Sebert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Algo que no me gusta de las novelas cortas de Avatar, es que, aunque explican más a fondo una cosa, a veces se pierden en eso. En esa explicación.

Aquí, me estresó nuevamente la forma tan intrépida y estúpida en que actúan los Sully. Me hace querer menos la secuela de lo que ya la quería.

Falta ver una parte más, pero de momento, es una decepción de complemento a la historia principal.

[_cantbe? · Rating 5 out of 5]

better drawing and the history is amazing and fun! I love this comic recommended 100% if you are an avatar fan this is heaven there is so much information a lot of background so you can understant avatar world as its best

[Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avatar in space

Second of three issues and brings the level of interstellar action you would expect from a James Cameron screenplay. Builds up the finale well for the last chapter of the series.

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not care for this. The art is messy and doesn't flow. The story of this entire volume is just a middling, stretched-out action sequence. When I read the premise of The High Ground I didn't think it would work as a movie, and this comic is proof of that.

[✿ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s acc so fascinating how James Cameron bought this beautiful world to life. Refusing to read the third volume because I don’t want it spoiled

[miha]

Je zanimivo in me zanima kam bo šla zgodba, sem pa zelo vesel da ni tole blo v filmu - ćeprav se mi zdi da je priredba v strip precej pobrala kvalitete...

[Ilayda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book!

[Grace Skinner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this one so quick, and really sad I don’t have the third one with me ready to go lol.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m so confused by what was going on during this fight.

[Sam Nicholson · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10

[Krystal Caloia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is really confusing and difficult to follow.

[geeg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art is a lot more consistent this volume! makes it a lot easier to follow the story- which, again, needs the heavy lifting of beautiful visuals (and film techniques) to work well.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a bit better than the first volume but nearly did not finish the book to how boring i found it.

[Zarina Ahmadzada · Rating 2 out of 5]

"let's be racist, whee" smh
At least the artwork was good 🙄

[✨Ebba✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5/5⭐️