The Legend of Korra S01E11 & E12

By: Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko

The Story: It may come as a shock to you that Amon is not a family man.

The Review: I’m a regular reader of Wired, the ostensible boutique magazine for geeks, and I find it, just like whatever that’s “boutique” anything, is a little prone to making broad, definitive judgment calls with no support.  Take Scott Thrill’s take on The Legend of Korra, in his eyes the “Smartest Cartoon on TV.”  Now, I didn’t quite do a spit-take on reading that headline, but I must say, with no offense to Thrill, that I respectfully disagree.

The last couple episodes have been solid enough to make me eager for the season finale, but halfway through, right around the point where Tarrlok spills the beans on every revelation you ever needed, I found myself turned cold.  Be forewarned, this next chunk of review will contain quite a few spoilers, so shut your eyes and move on if you’re not into that kind of thing.

The Legend of Korra S01E10 – Review

By: Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko (story)

The Story: The unemployed Lin seeks a new career in childcare.  Hey, desperate times…

The Review: Amazingly, we are nearly at the end of the show’s first season, and as we get closer to the finale, it becomes increasingly clear that the story we’re getting now is the only one DiMartino-Konietzko care to tell.  I always suspected the romantic sub-plot and everything to do with pro-bending were just brazen ways to commercially fill the time until the primary material could get going, but for now, let’s set all that behind us.

And as much as we would like to, we can’t.  We still have this totally uninteresting Asami-Mako-Korra triangle nudging its way into an episode when it’s not wanted.  Frankly, the show hasn’t done a great job defining Asami beyond her love for Mako and drag-racing, but here we get to see her no-nonsense attitude, which knocks directly into Mako’s strong, silent nature.  I, for one, think the non-bending debutante has the high ground on this one; all she’s asking for is some truth and explanation, and Mako refuses to give either, citing the Equalist chaos as excuse.

The Legend of Korra S01E09 – Review

By: Michael DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko (story)

The Story: Grown-up Aang = less cute, more beard.

The Review: In some ways, this show has been quite prudent in avoiding too many references to or guest spots from the original Team Avatar.  Obviously, DiMartino-Konietzko want the show to stand on its own to some extent, and give the new cast a chance to grow without distractions from already beloved characters.  Yet it would’ve been highly unusual if we didn’t get to see the old gang at some point; I’m certain there’d be some kind of protest if that happened.

Honestly, though, while it’s exciting to see the grown-up Aang, Sokka, and Toph, the only real resemblance they have to the cute kids we knew and loved are echoes in their physical features (with Aang, you don’t even get that; you can’t see a trace of the round-faced kid in this Amish-bearded, strong-jawed man).  But that’s to be expected; they couldn’t possibly be impulsive or silly children forever.  And on the bright side, you at least get a “Twinkle-toes” out of Toph and Sokka’s borderline creepy affection for his “trusty boomerang,” so it’s not a complete loss.

The Legend of Korra S01E07 – Review

By: Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko (story)

The Story: Even in the Avatar world, you can’t trust big corporations.

The Review: It gets increasingly difficult to talk about this series, not only because its strengths and problems are consistent across every episode, but also because there really isn’t all that much to talk about.  I mentioned last week how thin the plot seems to be, and for the sake of contrast, you should look to this week’s episode of Young Justice for an example of a packed episode.  I think it’s pretty clear that this show hasn’t delivered nearly that kind of substance so far.

To be fair, Legend of Korra has a much smaller cast than Young Justice’s bursting population of characters.  But it certainly doesn’t help that the show focuses so intensely on Korra, maligning her supporting cast to strictly that: support.  When you look at Mako, Bolin, Tenzin, or Lin, none of them have major plotlines of their own to help break up the episode; their stories invariably tie into Korra’s in some way, and that makes for rather stagnant storytelling.  Compare to The Last Airbender, where you can go a whole episode without seeing Aang.

The Legend of Korra S01E06 – Review

By: Michael DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko (story)

The Story: Ringside seats grow less amazing once terrorists take over the ring.

The Review: I don’t mean to sound like a downer, but I’ve found another point of dissatisfaction with this series.  It just feels like we don’t have much going on in each episode, making you feel as if DiMartino-Konietzko are trying to scrape a fairly limited plot across a whole season, filling in the gaps with as much bending tricks as they can dream up.  And while that’s entertaining enough in itself, it doesn’t make for a very driven or memorable show.

The show has a consistent problem of predictability.  At first, you think it throws you a curve ball when Tarrlok, of all people, is in total agreement with Tenzin on protecting innocent lives rather than confront Amon.  You start thinking he might have some good in his body after all, which would make him a more multifaceted character than your run-of-the-mill obsequious schemer.  And then he ruins it by immediately stepping back once he’s sure that someone else will take the blame should things go south.

The Legend of Korra Episode 4 – Review

By: Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko (story)

The Story: Korra learns it’s not easy to defeat the bending world’s Che Guevara.

The Review: No doubt one of the major factors which played into the original Avatar’s popularity was the irresistible charm of its star character.  Aang had such a joyful, happy-go-lucky nature (with just the right amount of pathos thrown it to keep him from being saccharine) that it was hard not to like him.  Since you naturally feel invested in anybody you happen to like, that made any change to Aang a little more intriguing and any danger a little more threatening.

So far I can’t really say the same for Korra.  While not totally unlikable in any way, she just doesn’t capture your heart.  Part of the reason is aside from her love of bending and a superficial desire to be Avatar, she doesn’t project many qualities you can get attached to.  She’s stubborn, strident, temperamental, and cocky, which doesn’t exactly make her the most appealing protagonist.  If not for her honesty and affectionate heart, she’d practically be grating.

The Legend of Korra Episode 3 – Review

By: Michael Dante DiMartino & Bryan Konietzko

The Story: Someone turn on Twisted Sister because the non-benders aren’t gonna take it anymore!

The Review: It seems pretty clear that this Avatar series won’t have the classically epic qualities of its predecessor.  The last show had all sorts of prophecies and symbolic elements running throughout the story, and the very concept of the Avatar had shades of higher powers within it.  Supernatural creatures abounded, from dragons to demons and even to demi-gods, of sorts.  Taken together, The Last Airbender was very much a spiritual tale.

Its sequel doesn’t have much to do with these rather ethereal themes, but the story it wants to tell is no less important.  Whereas the Avatar’s powers were crucial to bring an end to a senseless war driven by too much momentum to stop itself, no amount of power can really quash a war of ideas and principles.  The Equalist movement (which Tenzin foresees as a “revolution”) exists not on the basis of gaining power, but as an effort to gain dignity.

iZombie #4 – Review

by Chris Roberson (writer), Mike Allred (art), Laura Allred (colors), and Todd Klein (letters)

The Story: Gwen gets to know Amon, who explains the existence of monsters, while Horatio fights Claire the vampire.

What’s Good: After three issues of relaxed storytelling, it’s nice to see iZombie really lay down some big ideas.  Readers impatient with the slow pace should be somewhat appeased this month, as the book is given something of a new, or at least unexpected, direction and a great deal of information.

The core of it concerns the existence of monsters in this world and Roberson’s explanation is surprisingly intellectual and yet completely logical.  He brings forth the idea of the soul, but argues that every person has an oversoul and an undersoul.  How this ties into the various monsters who inhabit iZombie is very well put together and it’s great to see Roberson doing some world-building, crafting a kind of mythos that can be drawn upon in future.

The mummy Amon’s back-story is also explored a little bit as he takes Gwen on a tour through his memories, while introducing the above ideas.  I like Amon as a character; he adds a suave, mature voice to the comic that’s a good fit.  He’s a fun character and I look forward to seeing more of him.

Art-wise, this is another solid outing by Mike Allred.  I especially enjoyed his creative paneling, as Amon  inserts himself into his own memories while the page reflects the fact that he and Gwen have gone on mental walkabout.