The Last Airbender: Rumble

[sherkahn]

I feel I owe an explanation for an earlier small rant, as I seem to have irritated a sore spot. And to keep things light, I offer this token of good will behind the cut. From Nickelodeon Magazine #9... as the movie approaches, I offer you a true treat from the Last Airbender universe.

*note - not my scans.


After hearing how Bumi retook the mountain top city of Omashu all by himself, Suki casually comments that he must be the greatest earthbender of all time... just as Toph was walking by. And you know how Toph feels about that title.



In the canyon just outside the camp, they begin their friendly duel.



The sparring gets more intense, disturbing the rest of the encamped Order of the White Lotus on the eve of their liberation of Ba Sing Se. In order to stop them from drawing unwanted attention, the Order must stop the fight. Easier said than done, and it takes all of them to rein in the two great Earthbenders.



Want. Rematch. Now.

Mod note: 3 pages of 10. 1/3 rule.


Now, about earlier...let me clarify my rant. Feel free to skip from here on in if you don't wish to read it.

Being of one of the "brown" tribe (and with one of those names that requires an apostrophe in an odd place and a "z" you do not pronounce) I dig where you are coming from.

My swipe was at the name of the director/writer, not the family and heritage that precede it. The talented M Night Shyamalan I have come to know directed the "6th Sense", "Unbreakable", and "Signs" (which I liked). After "The Village", something horribly changed, and his art took a serious turn for the worse. He took himself too seriously and forgot the golden rule of story-telling: "Keep it simple, stupid." Since then the refreshing director that had a new voice and vision is now gone, replaced by a hack who turns great "gold into straw".

If Shyamalan had remained in his own kitty litt- I mean sandbox, had he only tinkered around with his ideas, then I would keep my trap shut. It's an individual following his own vision. I can respect that. What he's done with the "Last Airbender" film for me borders on religious blasphemy. "Fanboy rage" would be another term, but it is well deserved. This is more than just disappointment and bitterness. This story holds a very dear spot in my heart, which is something to say for an older fan who's seen them come and go. This filmshould have been the next "Star Wars", open to all ages, with cultural significance on that level would be felt for generations to come. Instead, it's almost as bad as 1998's Godzilla. The hints of epic greatness were there, but it was for naught.

The Last Airbender film should have been introduction of older, living traditions and beliefs the Western world doesn't know or understand much, but would welcome to learn and respectfully integrate. A new introduction to mythologies and philosophies older than Rome to an eager new generation. Something that would show that even kids can make the world a better place by having it's lead character practice tolerance, understanding, the willingness to grow and not remain trapped by the scars of time, and the value of families in any form they come. Does the film show this? Nope.

Also, what Cameron's "Avatar" did for visual effects the "Last Airbender" should have done for contemporary adventure-storytelling with genuine heart, because the goods were right there. It sure looks pretty and has some astounding visuals, but nothing that makes the heart beat faster or get the spirit excited. Golden rule: Don't "fix it" or alter it if it's not broken, something the director forgot.

The casting issues have been done to death, so I won't go there. I just know a lot of talented people who could have filled the roles were left out as they should have been.

Instead... well, I will let you judge it for yourself. What I will do is return "the kindness done", and abuse the only thing M Night Shyamalan can trade on: his name. His talent ... it doesn't live inside the man anymore.


suggested tags
title: Avatar the Last Airbender
character: Toph Bei Fong, the Greatest Earthbender in the world.
character: King Bumi
character: Katara
character: Sokka
character: Suki
character: Prince Zuko
character: Uncle Iroh/Dragon of the West
character: Master Pakku
character: Master Piandao
character: Jeong Jeong
group: Order of the White Lotus

creator: Joshua Hamilton
creator: Johane Matte

Comments

[mullon]

I'm not really sure this is a forum for such a rant. I mean, its not really comic book related.

[sherkahn]

Fair enough, but I thought I should open the door for dialogue.

I'll be posting more Last Airbender comic stuff soon (stuff beyond the Finale in terms of the story), and there will be eventual comparisons to the movie. Might as well start here.

[anothermoviegeek.blogspot.com]

One thing I have never understood about this kind of hatred...does a new medium version of a work of fiction really destroy your love for the original? Does it cause some major catastrophe by not being true to the original series in every way possible?

I mean...I am a huge Batman fan and the fact that I have never been happy with any Batman film has ever tainted my love of the comics.

Just for the record since it didn't seem clear to me in your "rant" but have you actually seen it already (ie an early screening or something)?

[nothingbutcake]

I am not going to speak for the OP, but for me, I am going to say that even if the film still maintained some of the poor storytelling methods it apparently has according to reviews, such as overuse of exposition and voiceovers and the failure to shoot effective action scenes, I would have paid to see it in theaters.

But: I am not going to support a film that so blatantly perpetuates the racist and sexist methods of cinema.  There is a different interpretation through a different medium, and there is...this.

[sherkahn]

*Something*. Can't talk before it's released without getting people in trouble. I may discuss further on another post.

Brandon Soo Hoo was robbed.

And oh, look, a funny and distracting page from another Avatar comic.

[khamelea]

"One thing I have never understood about this kind of hatred...does a new medium version of a work of fiction really destroy your love for the original?"

Sometimes, one adaptation is all that a work will get, so if one would want to see a good adaptation of it, a bad/unfaithful adaptation does nothing to help.

Also, a lot of film adaptations are sold as the definitive movie version, it's not nearly impossible for a very distinct adaptation to displace the original in pop-culture.

It also really depends on the work. Batman is already a multimedia megalith. It's much sturdier than something like Avatar (which is at an additional disadvantage in a culture that doesn't quite see animation as valid as live action.) Batman's many, varied versions are all already quite visible.

Not that Batman never was "damaged" by an adaptation. The Adam West TV series wasn't without effect on the comics, the public's perception of the comics AND future adaptations, at the time.

I've read that it had made Batman as a franchise hard to handle for a while.

[twigcollins]

does a new medium version of a work of fiction really destroy your love for the original? Does it cause some major catastrophe by not being true to the original series in every way possible?

Keanu Reeves as Spike Spiegel really is my own personal hell.

[stubbleupdate]

I'm not sure who it was, but an author was talking about bad adaptations that have "ruined" their original work and they said "Are the books on your shelf different?"

[janegray]

I'll be posting more Last Airbender comic stuff soon (stuff beyond the Finale in terms of the story)

NEED MOAR DETAILS! *_*

[octavius-rodens.livejournal.com]

And then Iroh and Toph had a Dance Off

http://rufftoon.deviantart.com/art/Sweet-Moves-46848139

[outlawpoet]

aww. Your ending is sad. Like M Night isn't around anymore. It reminds me of nothing so much as the end of Inherit the Wind, where Hornbeck dismisses Brady as irrelevant. "How do you write an obituary for a man who's been dead for thirty years?"

And Drummond, sad, ""A giant once lived in that body. But Matt Brady got lost. Because he was looking for God too high up and too far away."

[thehefner]

YAY. MORE AVATAR COMICS, PLZ.

Which reminds me, I managed to track down one of the old gems from s_d 1.0: a fan comic of Dr. Doom and Azula's married life!

http://voiceacting.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=random&action=print&thread=5697

[outlawpoet]

I love that fanfic so much. do you know if anybody managed to collect all the pieces after that?

[thehefner]

Was there more of Doomzula? I had a Fozzie of a Bear of a time trying to find as much as I did! I think he/she also did one of Azula meeting Spider-Man, but damn if I can find more than a couple pages.

[outlawpoet]

There was the spiderman thing, plus some Doom/Kid stuff after Azula leaves, and a SquirrelGirl cameo, which was pretty classic. There's also some one-offs of Doom doing various things with his daughter on his shoulders and such. Too cute.

All the links I have in my archives are dead now, one of the downsides of chan stuff, unless it gets on a tertiary website, it'll die because everybody uses free hosting on there.

[thehefner]

Dang it, why didn't the artist just do like everyone else and sign up for DeviantArt, where that awesomeness could be preserved?

[gargoylekitty]

The /coc/ thread still exists, which is good since it's for more long term stuff, here: http://plus4chan.org/boards/coc/res/2611.html

[thehefner]

Oh, awesome! Man, I feel like this should be too cutesy and saccharine, but when it comes from DOOM, it's somehow adorable.

When I saw you'd posted this, I initially assumed it'd be a collection of ALL of Anonymous' comics. While I'm still way happier to just have another one, I do have to wonder if he/she did any more, or ever completed those Azula/Spidey or Zuko stories.

[espanolbot]

From what I remember from an interview from some time ago, the reasoning behind the casting was that: the Northern Water Tribe were people of European descent,

The Southern were Inuit,

The Earth Kingdom was a mixture of people of East Asian and African descent,

The Fire Nation were Southern Asian/West Asian(?)

And the Air Nomads were a mix of the other groups as they moved around and intermarried a lot.

Which, although admittedly is more diverse than the original series, does seem like a lot of effort to go through to justify why they couldn't look a little harder for actors and actresses that actually fitted the roles better.

[turtlefu]

Except that doesn't really stand, because the two Southern Water Tribers are White, and the Northern ones are mostly White too.

[anothermoviegeek.blogspot.com]

Except that those two characters grandmother was northern water tribe.

Not taking either side of the argument but just throwing that fact out there.

[nothingbutcake]

Which is true, but also, most of their ethnic background is Southern.

Also also, they had no idea that their maternal grandmother was from the North, which becomes silly if the Northern Water Tribespeople have such clearly different phenotypal markers.

[nagaoka]

From the advanced reviews of the movie it would seem that this either isn't the case or is never brought up. Even if it were true I doubt that'd account for them being white if they're still 3/4 southern water tribe.

[shadowpsykie]

personally im still going to see it, i still have faith in shamayalan's talent, and think this film has potential (the explanation of the air nomads makes sense to me)

he said he felt inspired to cast the actress who played Katara based on a similar feeling he had abour casting osment in 6th Sense, if that is the case, i am eager since Katara is one of my favorite characters.

i am of the belief that one should not judge anything, particularly art, without first watching, hearing, or eating it (the eating i mean food, i didnt like sushi, though i never tasted it, a friend forced me once and now i sleep with spicy tuna rolls under my bed nom nnom :3

[star_of_airdrie]

I agree, I have to see it. I like M Night, he's a home town hero. The mostly unknown talent has worked before. Appa and MoMo look awesome in the trailers and that is worth the price of admission.

I think the series is wonderful, beyond almost anything in any other cartoon series: finite, internally consistant, no prisoners, no compromises.

But again, this is comic book forum and this is a title I am just to discover, as I am getting out to my LCS less and less (well getting out less in general).

But thanks for sharing the scans! More please!

[nothingbutcake]

Well, a warning is that some of the fan reviews of the early screenings is that Katara's role is much diminished and she is much less of a strong female character.  Mmm, I am not going to give away anything, but some of her accomplishments in Book One are given to Aang instead, for example.

[neuhallidae]

If the clip that's up of her fight with Zuko in the big battle scene are any indication, I'm not holding my breath for anything amazing. Never in my life would I have thought that one could make that fight, with all its awesome, boring. The parts of the fandom that compared the version from the live movie to a turn-based RPG were dead on.

*attempting to contain rage*

[pepperspray101]

Sorry, but I don't think the casting issues can be done to death. Maybe when Hollywood quits giving white actors an advantage over minority actors...but until then...*contains rage*...if someone has something to say about it, I think they should.

(Not that I don't appreciate this new opinion on the movieFAIL...but I dislike any dismissal of what I think is a more offensive, ignorant mistake...)

Looking up at this comic, I really gotta wonder what was the effing point of marking Katara and Sokka (and the whole water tribe) as a different skin tone as the others, if COLOR SHOULDN'T MATTER.

[pepperspray101]

anyways, to show no hard feelings, here's a Pre-screening review that just came out today and doesn't mention race or casting as an issue, but talks about the movie itself and compares it to the animated series.

WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE MOVIE

The Last Airbender: Pre-screening

[neuhallidae]

..... D: (spoiler) No Suki? Like, at all? Especially after how the production puffed up over her casting? That makes me so sad.

[magus_69]

... and the journey towards the Fail Side is complete.

[comicoz]

That's an extremely level headed list o' reasons why the movie is bad right there. Thanks for sharing.

[pepperspray101]

Yes and apparently the first ten reviews on rottentomatoes were all negative as hell. Yup, another miss for Shyamalan.

[neuhallidae]

It's now 31 to 2 in the negative vs. favorable camp. And one of the favorable ones was basically "Well, yeah, this one sucks, but based on it, I think M. Night could be a really good action director with some practice!"

[glprime]

Not even touching the discussion on the live-action feature (not seeing it, moving on)...

Bumi disputes Toph's claims of superiority? When he was the one who told Aang he had to find an Earthbender even better than him, who had mastered Neutral Jing?

Though the writers love "for teh lulz" more than "for teh canonz."

[sherkahn]

Bumi likes to mess with people. You know this.

:)

[shadur]

Better as in /more suited to train Aang/, not better as in "better at Earthbending".

Besides, how often do you think he gets a chance to throw down with someone who'll be an actual challenge?

[introverted_excavator]

I'm holding back a lot of venom when I say that I am never going to watch this movie willingly.

[janegray]

There are other ATLA comics? Really?

*_*

I thought there were only two. I MUST get the rest. How many ATLA comics are there in total? If this is issue #9, does this mean that there are at least 8 other issues with ATLA stories?

[goodfellow-puck.livejournal.com]

These are comics that were included in the now defunct Nick Magazine, drawn by Johanne Matte, who did storyboards for Avatar: The Last Airbender, and also her own alt-uni Avatar webcomic "Water Tribe" featuring Zhao ( http://noselfcontrol.deviantart.com/gallery/72695 & http://rufftoon.livejournal.com/tag/water%20tribe ). There are also Avatar comics that were included in limited edition releases of the single DVDs from season 2 & 3.

The ones in the magazines/DVDs were never collected. There are probably other scans out on the internetz, though.