ATLA: The Rift (pt 1) - Review and Impressions

I’ll be going into my impressions on specific details, so, ya know…if you’re wary of spoilers, might want to seek out the comic first.

I will warn when I start talking about spoilers, with images. The first part of the review is spoiler-free.

Thus far, we’ve gone through two three-part story arcs that take place after the 100 Year War. The Promise was a very scattered story that touched on a few different ideas and characters, which was fun but left most everything feeling a little undercooked. The Search was mostly about revealing new information about the history of Zuko’s family, what happened to his mother, and a little spiritual lore of the world.

I’ve enjoyed both, but have not really fallen in love with the comics yet. It’s very difficult to accomplish everything these comics have the potential to do in such short page lengths (about 80 pages per volume) without a laser focus. People want unresolved questions answered about both ATLA and things that led into LoK, and we also want to learn more about the world, and we ALSO want to see more of the Gaang and what they were up to inbetween the two animated shows. That leaves these comics with very large shoes to fill, and for us older readers who are outside of the intended audience (middle and high-schoolers) who crave so many details, it can feel a little underwhelming.

I’m happy to say that The Rift: Part 1 is something I would strongly recommend any fans of the series take a look at, though. More so than any prior issue, this volume really has found a great balance between what I mentioned: learning more about the world’s lore and history, learning about how the world recovered after the war and led into Republic City, and (what I personally care about most) character development between the four primary members of the Gaang. Zuko’s gotten more than enough development between the show and the comics, and it is an incredibly welcome change of pace to see a story going back and forth between Aang and Toph’s perspectives as they go on a journey alongside each other, with resident Water Tribe siblings in tow.

The writing maintains the tone of the cartoon. Yang has finally gotten a noticeably solid grip on how to write Aang more prominently, and also on portraying Toph’s flaws more plainly. Both characters take front stage here, and both are presented as equal and opposing personalities who still work together when the going gets tough, which I think is a very important theme in the series, manifested by Republic City itself. In other words, actually showing Aang and Toph having disagreements but not letting it ruin their friendship is a great way to embody the political goings-on in Yu Dao and the recovering world, but framing it in a personal way that is more meaningful for fans of these characters — and easier to relate to for the younger readers.

The Rift: Part 1 isn’t mind blowing, but it is the best volume of the Avatar comics so far in my opinion. Bear in mind that this is Act 1, setting things up for Acts 2 and 3 to follow. The very last page sets up what could finally be resolution for what I think has been a sorely neglected side plot. The wait for Part 2 will be hard, but after my relative neutrality on The Search, this volume has re-awakened my excitement for character development in the ATLA world.

Let’s go into some more detail, along with a few chunks of panels to back up my points.
Some IMAGES and SPOILERS after the break!

First, let’s get out of the way what I’m sure will be the talk of many fans:
Toph actually has a new love interest. Someone who is big into technology (meaning working with metal), and who seems to worship her and indulge her arrogance and is dismissive of everyone else around.

Sooo…Color me unsurprised. He’s the perfect catalyst to stroke Toph’s ego, filling in some of the checks that would match up with her old crush on Sokka while simultaneously worshipping her in a way Sokka hasn’t been, making him understandably appealing to her.

Their interactions are a little rushed, given the handful of pages, but it sells you on the idea that Toph would be at least attracted to this guy. He’s literally built to be a love interest for her. I’m curious to see if he’ll end up being a permanent fixture in her life, especially given their business proposal, or if it’s all just a self-contained thing for this story arc.

I’m glad that he’s not just there to be a romantic interest, though: the very logical problem of “Well, Toph, doesn’t your school need MONEY to teach more students?” is a question I’ve wondered since we first learned about Toph’s academy, and it seems like a good reason for her to enter a business pact with the refinery. Not to mention that Aang’s remark on being “blinded” by having a crush (got a chuckle out of me, by the way) along with many other things allude to Satoru not quite being all he seems to be.

Moving on to the main Gaang themselves…

While it’s still a little sad to see Katara and Sokka stuck on the sidelines — as they have been through all of these comics thus far — Katara is starting to feel more like ‘her.’ She’s more assertive in trying to keep her friends in check, scolding Sokka or Toph when they’re rude, or insisting that Aang not do something she feels is unwise. She’s also more decidedly taking girlfriend duties without it feeling like she’s just going with everything Aang says. Sokka, in the mean time, is a tough character to really nail down because he can be all over the place, but I think Yang really has a feel for him and basically has since he started writing these. To be fair, Yang consistently portrays more Book 1 Sokka than, say, Book 3 Sokka, but given the lack of war-time, it's reasonable to assume Sokka would mostly resume a more humorous consistency. I really hope that maybe next year we’ll get a comic about Katara and Sokka, as the two could really do with some sister-brother bonding time that could lead into how they get involved in Republic City or help rebuild the South or something.

That all being said, one of the most intriguing moments in the entire volume is a brief exchange between Katara and some Water Tribe teens she seems familiar with — one of whom gives her quite the glare before brushing her off. I really hope this gets more development going forward. Maybe it’s setting something up for later, possibly even the next story arc?

Next is Aang. As I said, he’s a lot more prominent this time than he has been before, and Yang finally has found ways to make his pacifistic nature fuse with the determination he’s grown over the course of his Avatar duties. Before, he felt a little too timid and childish — and that is part of who Aang is, and it’s still very much present, but it is now matched with more assertive attitudes about upholding his people’s culture. Even in his passiveness he’s aggressive, which actually feels more like the Aang we knew in Book 3.

Lastly is Toph, the fan-worshipped idol who seemingly can do no wrong. But she does wrong here. She’s the most bratty and inconsiderate of the bunch, and it’s brought front and center in this volume in as reasonable a manner as it can. Toph was always the least mature of the Gaang, and seeing as she’s still yet to confront her internal issues, it stands to reason that not THAT much would have changed for her. The same way she was taking out her daddy issues on her students in The Promise, she repeats that mistake toward Aang and his culture. Like Aang, Toph is presented in equal parts reasonable and flawed, when in the past comics she’s been more the source of comic relief and grouchy cynicism, a la Sokka.

In general, it’s fantastic to see both Aang and Toph being presented as equal but opposing forces, and both of their strengths and weaknesses get recognized through the narrative within the same volume. Toph is being rude and self-centered and stubborn, and Aang is being too attached to rituals and traditions without actually understanding their meaning.

The plot of Part 1 sets up mystery regarding Avatar Yang Chen, which I suspect will lead to us learning more about Air Nomad culture, and the very last page promises that we will, at long last, get some kind of closure or at least resolution regarding Toph’s parental conflict.

And NOW! Some images! Some spoilers abound, but you already should know that if you’re here.

Aang inadvertently reminds Toph of how frustrated she is with her parents, which predictably gets her acting like a little brat — all the while, making the fair point that it’s kind of rude of Aang to expect people to participate in his religious activities, and that Aang should know more about them if he’s going to make a fuss.

It’s a simple, seemingly unimportant discussion, but all the same, it’s a concise expression of Aang’s childishness - he skipped out on classes, which is why he doesn’t have knowledge, yet still expects everyone to go along with rituals - and Toph’s childishness - she’s pissy about her parents and so she’s being a b**** to Aang and disrespecting his people’s culture - both colliding in the same space, and neither really coming out as a clear moral “victor.” Though Toph is naturally being more a jerk about it than she needs to be, and Aang continuously trying not to create tension; but Aang grew up more in ATLA than Toph did, so the difference in maturity is sensible, and he does lose his cool a bit by the end.

Yeaaaa, this guy…
Satoru, Toph needs her ego knocked down a peg, not bolstered up. There’s a lot of great expressions going on in this comic, too.

Not only a funny moment, but also an example of Aang’s big flaw in this volume — trying to assert his beliefs on others without even understanding them himself.

I appreciated this moment since, again: it was not only comedic but also an illustration of Toph’s main flaw here, which is a lack of consideration for things/people around her.

Toph and Aang lash at each other a bit…

…but they make up afterwards.

I presume that this was a very deliberate use of the phrase “run away” given that this was the name of the last episode of the show that focused on Toph, and that was the main idea of it (that Toph runs away from her personal problems).

Of particular note, I find it…kind of selfish, actually, the way Toph phrases it. Like, ‘Oh, I have daddy issues and so it makes life so hard to deal with’ when she’s talking to a kid who lost his entire race and spent a year traveling the world putting everyone else’s problems on his back when he didn’t even want to. Toph wanted to go on a journey across the world to kick ass and be free, and now she’s extending that into bossing people around to teach metalbending.

And she has the gall to imply that she has it harder than Aang does.
I like it. It’s…very self-centered, even if that’s not how she’s intending it. It illustrates what has always been a problem for Toph: her lack of perspective of people’s experiences. She has had it rough, don’t get me wrong — all of her friends have just had it worse, and she refuses to acknowledge it because she’s too prepossessed with her own issues that she doesn’t even want to resolve.

And, of course, the moment I know I’ve been waiting over three years for…(which I saw coming since before I even read the comic)

This interpersonal conflict is the single dangling thread of ATLA that motivated me to get into the fandom in the first place, so I’ll hold no reservations that I am biased toward this story arc due to this (in the same way I’m biased against The Search since I never cared about Ursa’s fate).

The Rift: Part 1 has fantastic art, attention to detail even in the background of panels (Katara stealing Sokka’s meat was a cute detail), brings the four core Gaang members together in a way that feels organic with the show, alludes to connections that lead into LoK, and puts Toph and Aang right upfront with some character development.

Like previous comics, it’s not going to blow any minds, but it’s the most focused and consistent volume in Dark Horse’s comics so far, so I definitely recommend ATLA fans give it a read.