#toph beifong's metalbending academy

[thena0315]

ATLA Stand Alone Comics

[nothingxtosayx]

WAIT OMG THEY’RE DOING HORSE STANCE

[beifong-brainrot]

who's sun?? that one kid who might be suyins father

Sun is a lavabender who appears in the short comic "Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy", which is about Toph dealing with burnout and boredom due to the tedium of the routine in her metalbending academy.

She is eventually intrigued when she senses lavabending through seismic sense, and I find it really cool how it was visually signified in the comic.

Sun seemed to have grown up on the streets, and participated in underground fighting to keep himself and several friends of his alive. He seems to have developed lavabending very early, and he doesn't have full control of it yet.

Eventually Toph is able to convince him to join her academy, in hopes that she can help him get his lavabending under control.

I think he's pretty cool. It's interesting to see more lavabenders outside of tlok. And his yellow eyes imply that he may be of mixed Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom descent. He parallels Bolin, my special boy lavabender too, which I find very interesting.

I like that Toph immediately is intrigued by him and is ripped from her stagnation by him, it's cute. And I think it would paralel Suyin's arrest making Toph realise that she actually hates being a cop.

Also at one point she just yoinks him and I find that very humorous.

It's giving "That one. I want that one."

And I won't lie, I think a big reason I first started enjoying the idea of Sun as Suyin's dad is probably that it would be an absolutely amazing parallel to weilin and that would be so therapeutic and wonderful for my soul.

If I were to look at this objectively, I'd definitely theorise that Satoru is the likelier fit for Suyin's father. Since he has the same hair as her and is more obviously set up as a love interest for Toph.

But lowkey, that means that Toph, Suyin and Kuvira all fell for glasses wearing, nonbender engineer men and while that's really really funny it's also just a teensy weensy bit boring. We need at least one generational gap in the family kink.

Also I can't see Satoru as a distant father so if he wasn't in Suyin's life something awful happened to him and I don't want that for him, he's a cinnamon roll.

Honestly I hope they never tell us who Suyin's dad is and never elaborate on Kanto it would be funny.

Also here, have a funky edit I made months ago lol.

[zuko-always-lies]

Please put why you voted like you did in the tags and please reblog for more votes.

[loopy777]

Mini-Review: The Bounty Hunter & The Tea Brewer

Mid-to-light spoilers.

Well, so much for my idea of a fanfic where June goes on one last hunt, in a changing world, to either bring in the infamous Princess Azula or die trying.

I like the themes this thing is going for. It's kind of a Western in that it's about violent people having to deal with a changing world and the coming of civilization. I like that it acknowledges the tricky morality of formerly bad people earning forgiveness instead of punishment. And I like that it doesn't completely remove June's edge.

That said, I think the story was kind of aiming above its head and intended audience. This should be a messier story with some real tragedy in it. Acknowledging some tricky morality isn't the same thing as actually dealing with it or exploring it, and it ends up feeling rather shallow and pat. The end result is a fun little action adventure, but I feel like it was aiming to be more and fell far short.

I like all the new characters. The new bounty hunter characters are fun, and even the goofier ones don't overstay their welcome. I really like the villain; his transition from spy/saboteur to businessman/gangster is very Russian.

June gets some additional backstory, and thankfully no one felt the need to explain why she dresses like an old-school goth. But I'm honestly not sure the expansion was needed, other than adding a mother where one was conspicuously missing.

Speaking of representation and feminism, Iroh's awfulness to June in 'Bato of the Water Tribe' is acknowledged and brushed away with a, "I'm sorry about that, I was in my Season 1 characterization where I had some flaws and also people still thought that kind of thing was hilarious outside of anime for incels." So that's that.

Peter Wartman's and Adele Matera's art is as good as ever.

Ranking of the Faith Erin Hicks one-shot graphic novels so far:

Azula in the Spirit Temple

Suki, Alone

Katara and the Pirate's Silver

The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer

Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy

[fourthtimesthecharm]

Summary: Ten years after the war, Toph Beifong has a thriving metalbending academy, plenty of opportunity for adventure, and a self-made family that loves her. But when she joins Aang, Katara, and Sokka on a mission to help a village struck by natural disaster, Toph will meet someone who challenges those very concepts of adventure, family, and even the purpose of her Academy. As she considers her future, Toph must decide: is there more she could be doing?

Rating: T, for swearing, character death, and the grief/trauma that comes with that

[lilbagdermole]

what about her solo comic

Hey anon!

I think you might be referring to 'Imbalance' - which I really don't regard as a solo comic for her; it's more Gaang centric then it is Toph-centric. Plus, Imbalance is the best comic release - I love all the characters portrayals and overall dynamic (and the Taang in it, just 10/10)

You may also be referring to 'Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy' - TBH with you I have yet to read that comic, so I have no opinion on it. I had always thought it was just a re-write of the side-story in 'The Promise' but apparently it is it's own story, so I'll give it a read someday.

But yah, in my dissertation I'm mostly focusing on the comics published by Dark Horse Comics, as those are the most notable comics as well as the more controversial!

[elitheaceofalltrades]

2024 Reading Goals

Hello hello! Happy New Year to all!

Fun fact, by posting this at 11:00am GMT, 2023 has officially ended in all inhabited countries as UTC -11 is the last inhabited timezone.

I haven't been a resolutions person for a couple of years now but I admit I do love a challenge and goal setting. I also love reading. I'm sure you don't need the title to tell you where this is going. I've had goodreads since Sept, 2016 and have been taking part in their reading challenge since 2020. I've met my goal evey year except 2021 and I hope to make three years in a row this year!

2023's goal was an ambitious 48 books and I somehow managed to read 48 (I attribute a good 1/3 to getting a library card and access to libby). 18 of those books were comics/manga though and while I do believe anything with a ISBN counts, I'd like for comics & manga to only be about 25% of my books instead of the current 38%. I feel like I might be setting myself up a bit but I'm not going to be too upset if at the end of the year, I don't lower the percentage. This is just a bit of fun.

Anyways in no particular order, here's a tentative list of the 48 books I plan to read in 2024. This is subject to change due to availability, gifts, recommendations and new releases.

~Eli

Ace of All Trades, Pro at None😆

Atomic Habits by James Clear

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

The Lost Adventures and Team Avatar Tales by Gene Luen Yang & Faith Erin Hicks

Girls and Autism by Barry Cerpenter, Francesca Happé & Jo Egerton

Sense & Sensibility by Jane Austen

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

ATLA: The Promise by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko

Windrush by Mike Phillips & Trevor Phillips

In the Castle of My Skin by George Lamming

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

ATLA: The Search Omnibus by Gene Luen Yang

Queer by Frank Wynne

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

ATLA: The Rift Omnibus by Gene Luen Yang

This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson

ATLA: Smoke & Shadow Omnibus by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko

The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking

The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

ATLA: North & South Omnibus by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko

I Will Not Be Erased by Gal-dem

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Katara & The Pirate's Silver by Faith Erin Hicks

They/Them/Their by Eris Young

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Suki, Alone by Faith Erin Hicks

Let Me Tell You What I Mean by Joan Didion

The Turn of the Shrew by Henry James

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Abertalli

Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy by Faith Erin Hicks

How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore

I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Middlemarch by George Elliot

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

The Movement Vol. 1: Class Warfare by Gail Simone

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Hold Tight, Don't Let Go by Laura Rose Wagner

Saga Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughn

[prying-pandora666]

Ship polls are overdone. Let’s ask the real questions!

[mytly4]

you talked about those new atla comics... what about the toph one shot??

The Toph one-shot comic - Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy - is not bad. However, I personally don't care much for it, because I just don't care for the metalbending academy idea at all. The academy was introduced by Gene Luen Yang in his first comic, The Promise. It was nearly insufferable in that one, as the storyline mainly involved Toph constantly verbally abusing her three students, who were all one-note caricatures. Yang, unfortunately, clearly thought they were hilarious, and managed to keep bringing them back in several of his other comics, even when their presence made no sense (such as at the South Pole, in North and South).

Faith Erin Hicks takes up Yang's concept and characters in Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy, though she does a much better job of giving the characters a bit of depth (though that's a pretty low bar). The storyline is not bad either, and Hicks's Toph is at least not an asshole like Yang's. But still, IMO, nothing can really salvage the metalbending academy idea, and that's why I don't really like the Toph one-shot comic.

That said, obviously my reasons are pretty subjective, and if anyone doesn't mind the metalbending academy, they should check out Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy along with the other one-shot comics, Katara and the Pirate's Silver and Suki Alone.

[thena0315]

Avatar: The Last Airbender comics

Graphic Novel Trilogies

Standalone Novels

[aevyk-ing]

who do you think suyins father is???

I suppose you're talking about Suyin Beifong, from ATLOK. After reading the comic Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy, I think the character of Sun could be the father. He looks a lot like Opal and I like his energy, he could be a good match for Toph. She also showed interest on him, which is interesting.

[damnedance]

i feel all the feels when i think about bumi’s bond with lin, please bear with me while i share to little hcs for my portrayal and dynamics with lin:

- i hc that he’s been calling her topside ever since they were kids tbh bc he carried her on his shoulders whenever she was too tired of training (possibly at toph’s metalbending academy - i figure that just because she was toph’s daught that didnt mean she had thing easy for her - if anything more was expected of her). they’d eventually stop at uncle sokka for a meal before he dropped her off at the beifong manor and headed back to air temple.

- in the gap period where lin lost her bending bumi returned to spend what would be his last vacation in air temple (he was still pondering whether or not to retire back at that time) and got word of what happened to lin, deciding to help her out with whatever he could (after all, he could only image the drastic change it was for someone who has always relied on their bending to lose it so suddenly - adaptations were needed) while assuring her that the avatar would find a way to get the stolen bendings back

[jmesther]

Uhhhhhhh just don’t… I’m kidding I’d read The Lost Adventures, Team Avatar tales, Katara and the pirate’s silver (I seriously might love that more than imbalance), Suki alone, The promise(or don’t cause it sucks), The search, The rift, Smoke and shadow, North and South, Toph Beifong’s metalbending Academy, Imbalance, Azula in the spirit temple(sequel to smoke and shadow), and The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer. And then there is screen comix where it’s just the series except it’s presented as a comic.

A:TLA FANDON IN WHAT ORDER SHOULD I READ THE COMICSES?

[loopy777]

I apologize if you've answered this question before, but what are your general opinions on Faith Erin Hicks's writing vs. Gene Yang's for the Avatar Comics? Hick's seems to be significantly more faithful to the characters from my perspective, but I've only read a couple of her works(Suki Alone and Azula in the Spirit Temple). On the other hand, I'm not blown away with ideas behind these comics, with Suki Alone particularly failing to do anything remotely interesting with Suki's character.

You know, I don't think I've ever posted anything on Hicks's comics in general. I've 'reviewed' individual comics of hers, but never spoke on her overall level of writing, characterization, and/or style.

Basically, I think her work is infinitely superior to Gene Yang's in every way while never quite hitting a home run.

What's become an outlier to her overall body of Avatar work is the first thing she got to write for the franchise (although she'd previously drawn a short story that Yang wrote), the Imbalance trilogy. I think she absolutely nailed the characterization of the gAang, created intriguing original characters, wrote dialogue that sounds like something human beings would say while also capturing individual character voices, and successfully depicted a world that has progressed beyond the cartoon's finale. I also think it's the only thing in the franchise that successfully engages with the idea of Aang's ability to take away bending.

But that story was also hobbled by being an explicit prequel to LoK, saddled with that nonsensical Bender Vs NonBender conflict. Hicks did a fair job trying to explain it and manifest it, but it's still mostly nonsense if you stop and think about it for a second. We also have an eye-rolling moment where Toph discovers how great it is to fight with metal cables, but at least it's a quick moment that wouldn't have stuck out if the narrative hadn't stopped to call it out.

I also think the final act of the comic was a bit of a fizzle. I can't say anything is really wrong with it, and it doesn't try to resolve things by claiming all the problems are solved forever, but it still feels like it doesn't quite live up to the questions and conflicts it raises in the first two parts and ultimately ends in a non-surprising way. It's not bad, just a bit underwhelming. I never got around to reading the final part of Hicks's Nameless City trilogy, so I don't know if that's common for her. But, you know, it's far from the worst thing in the world to be a storyteller whose worst trait are endings that merely satisfy instead of wow.

Unfortunately, this is around the time the franchise decided that new cartoons are back on the menu and Avatar Studios is a thing, so all of Hicks's other work has been hit hard by the company mandate that Absolutely Nothing Matters Unless It Is Animated. So I can quickly zoom through the rest of her oeuvre with a + and - for each:

Katara and the Pirate's Silver + A cute little adventure that nails Katara's character. - There's not enough material here for the full pagecount, so a separate and very stupid subplot with the rest of the gAang is thrown in to absolutely no consequence.

Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy + There are some amusing gags here. - This is hit hard by the one-two punch of being saddled with a lot of characters created by Gene Yang and also dealing with lore created by LoK.

Suki, Alone + A great little character study of Suki. - Utterly pointless and even goes out of its way to provide absolutely no confirmed details about Suki's family.

Azula in the Spirit Temple + Exactly the story Azula needs at this phase in her arc with delightfully solid characterization. - So open-ended that the next Azula story can easily ruin her character again, thus it feels more like we're poised to take the next step rather than actually taking it.

When all we're getting is stuff designed to be as inconsequential as possible, not matter how well-characterized, it's hard for the stories to feel like they have an impact. Now, I'm not saying I'm against the concept of 'filler,' as they can be great episodes, but the problem is that these comics are dealing with characters whose arcs have already been fully detailed for us, the audience, and we've already seen the characters' best stories. We're treading ground that's already been covered, and it takes a very clever storyteller to really wow with that kind of setup. Hicks, while a good storyteller who gets the characters and franchise, has never shown (at least in what I've read of hers) that snappy kind of cleverness.

Ironically, Gene Yang has -- consistently -- in his original graphics novels that I've read. But he really did not bring it to his Avatar stuff.

So, overall, I like Hicks, and while her comics don't excite me in the way the novels do, I'm so traumatized by Gene Yang that I relish getting stories about the gAang with good dialogue and no stupidity like expecting me to believe that the Rough Rhinos pose a threat to post-finale Aang.