An American animated television series for three seasons, Avatar: The Last Airbender follows the adventures of Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating Fire Lord Ozai and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation.
Now, you can continue the adventure in comic book form. Some depict events and situations unseen during the series’ run, while most comics follow the characters after the conclusion of the show’s official run.
What to read before the comics Avatar: The Last Airbender?
More than reading, it is better to go for a rewatch of the TV series, before or in parallel with the first comics, as you prefer. But it’s also the perfect place to acknowledge Chronicles of the Avatar, a series of novels chronicling the lives of previous Avatars.
- The Dawn of Yangchen
- The Legacy of Yangchen
- The Rise of Kyoshi (takes place 396 years prior to the events of Avatar: The Last Airbender)
- The Shadow of Kyoshi (two years after the events of The Rise of Kyoshi)
Taking also place before the events depicted in the television series, you can read more about Zuko in a graphic novel detailing the years between his banishment and the reappearance of the Avatar. It has been released as a tie-in for the 2010 movie, but it still fits pretty well inside the canon (thanks to Somebody in the comments!)
Finally, you can revisit the animated tv series, with a Screen Comix retelling of the original series with full-color images and dialogue from the series, published by Random House.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water Volume 1 (Screen Comix)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Book 1: Water Volume 2 (Screen Comix)
- Zuko Finds His Way (Screen Comix)
- The Power of Toph (Screen Comix)
Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics in Order
Avatar: The Last Airbender comics depict events and situations unseen during the series run. The comics first published while the series was airing depicts events occurring during and between episodes as a means of supplementing the series. Most of the comics released after the conclusion of the TV show are a continuation of the story (and take place after the end of the Hundred Year War).
- The Lost Adventures (anthology)
stories of adventures that took place during the original TV series, in the middle of random episodes of the television show. To avoid any spoilers, we suggest reading them after each season.
- Book One: Water – Between Season 1 and Season 2
- Book Two: Earth – Between season 2 and Season 3
- Book Three: Fire – After Season 3
- Katara and the Pirate’s Silver
follows Katara as she gets separated from the rest of Team Avatar during the events of Book Two: Earth - Suki, Alone
follows Suki as a prisoner in the Boiling Rock prison during the events of Book Three: Fire - Team Avatar Tales (anthology)
Includes the previously published Free Comic Book Day issues as well as brand new mini-comics that are set during and after the series’ run. Better read together.
- The Promise (graphic novel trilogy)
The Promise details the events that occur immediately and one year after the end of the television series. - The Search (graphic novel trilogy)
Zuko’s quest to find his mother Ursa with the help of his sister and a few old friends. - The Rift (graphic novel trilogy)
Continues the storyline established in The Search. - Matcha Makers
Uncle Iroh’s tea shop is the center of some strange spirit activity in this one-shot part of Free Comic Book Day 2021. - Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy
Toph discovers something that just might put the sparkle back in her eye
- Smoke and Shadow (graphic novel trilogy)
Aang and Zuko attempt to resolve conflicts both physical and spiritual. - Avatar: The Last Airbender—Azula in the Spirit Temple
Azula continues her destabilizing campaign against the Fire Nation and her brother, Fire Lord Zuko in this stand-alone comic set after ‘Smoke and Shadow’ - The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer New
Standalone graphic novel centered on June and Iroh. - North and South (graphic novel trilogy)
Focuses on Katara and Sokka who discover that their village has become a bustling city with Hakoda in charge. - Imbalance (graphic novel trilogy)
Aang and Team Avatar race to resolve rising tensions between benders and non-benders before a town is torn apart - Avatar: The Last Airbender—Chibi Vol. 1: Aang’s Unfreezing Day
a chibi comic for very young readers. Aang doesn’t know his own birthday date. Luckily his friends Katara, Toph, Sokka, and Zuko have a plan to surprise him with a new special day to celebrate. But they’ll have to be careful while they prepare–it’s a surprise! A preview for the graphic novel was released in Free Comic Book Day 2022: Avatar The Last Airbender/The Legend Of Korra.
Coming in 2025… Avatar: The Last Airbender – Ashes of the Academy, standalone graphic novel featuring Kiyi, half-sister to Fire Lord Zuko, as she enrolls at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls.
Other Collected Editions
Every comic trilogy is first released in three paperback and digital parts. After a time, Dark Horse republishes those trilogies in other editions, offering another way to collect those stories.
The Library Edition
Library Editions are a format comic book collection from Dark Horse Comics and collect three parts of a story into one book. They are hardcover editions (a a heavy protective cover) with page-by-page sidebar commentary by Gene Yang and the Gurihiru team (something exclusive to that edition to my knowledge).
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Lost Adventures and Team Avatar Tales Library Edition
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise Library Edition
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search Library Edition
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Rift Library Edition
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – Smoke and Shadow Library Edition
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – North and South Library Edition
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – Imbalance Library Edition
The following book collects three standalone graphic novels – Katara and the Pirate’s Silver, Toph’s Metalbending Academy and Suki, Alone – in one oversized hardcover and Includes exclusive commentary from the creators!
Paperback Omnibus Edition
The Omnibus edition also collects the three parts of a story in one book, but with a softcover (a cover that can bend) and for a cheaper price.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise Omnibus
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search Omnibus
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Rift Omnibus
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – Smoke and Shadow Omnibus
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – North and South Omnibus
- Avatar: The Last Airbender – Imbalance Omnibus
Coming in 2025… Avatar: The Last Airbender Omnibus Boxed Set collects the stories written by Eisner Award Winner Gene Luen Yang while another omnibus will collects the previously published short stories in The Lost Adventures and Team Avatar Tales.
- Avatar: The Last Airbender Omnibus Boxed Set new
Collects The Promise, The Search, The Rift, Smoke and Shadow, and North and South - Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Lost Adventures and Team Avatar Tales Omnibus new
Collects short stories from The Lost Adventures and Team Avatar Tales, and includes the work of fan-favorite creators like Michael Dante DiMartino, Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru, Faith Erin Hicks, Kiku Hughes, and many more!
What to read after Avatar The Last Airbender?
What to watch would be more precise as it is the moment to binge Legend of Korra before reading The Legend of Korra comics (Reading Order).
Also, this reading order is dedicated to comic books. For the books, go check out Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise reading order (on our sister site howtoread.me).
Zukos story isn’t canon, it’s a prequel to the movie, it’s not related to the show or the graphic novels.
Hi Cody, thanks for your input! I added in the reading order that Zuko’s story is a prequel to the movie.
Do you read these before or after Avatar The Last Airbender?
Sorry if you already mentioned the answer.
Yeah :/
Can you be more precise, what story in particular?
you should read them the animated series of avatar:the last airbender
I suggest after because most of the books are a continuation of the story but what ever you prefer just you might be confused and there is a lot of spoilers
you guys are good.
there isn’t any other comics after North And South? it’s finished? I was hoping to understand what happened to zuko and mai’s relationship
not yet
Imbalance
Thanks so much this was super helpful! I’m buying them one at a time through thriftbooks.com
Isn’t the ending of Smoke and Shadows a bit abrupt? I mean they didn’t give any answer for the last question about what Zuko would do now that Azula’s back and also about what happened to the dilemma of Cranefish town..so is a new sequel bound to get released following the both of them?
Are these all the comics or are there more and these are just the main ones?
What is the difference between the hardcover and softcover? I know that the all the parts of each series is combined in one for each, but are the pictures the same throughout the book?
What do you mean by omnibus?
omnibus means all the parts in 1 book. For example: The Search has 3 parts, you can buy part 1, 2 and 3 separately but you can also buy the 3 parts in one book. (the omnibus is smaller but it’s better in my opinion and also cheaper)
Hi, where do the Earth Kingdom Chronicles, the Lost Scrolls Collection, and The tale of Azula fit into this list? My daughter checked out a bunch of Avatar books from the library including these, and we found this list after she tried to read one and it referred to things that must have been in previous books.
Hi Amy, thanks for checking the website!
This list offers a reading order for the Avatar comic books/graphic novels.
Earth Kingdom Chronicles, the Lost Scrolls Collection, and The tale of Azula are all books, so not listed here (I will look more closely into it to offer information for the reading order on that subject).
But right now, The Earth Kingdom Chronicles are a 6-book series based on the second season. Each book takes the form of the diary of a different character and relate the event of the second season (or book two) from that perspective. The Tale of Azula is part of the Earth Kingdom Chronicles.
The Lost Scrolls Collection recaps a lot of stories from the character’s point of view about the events of the first season, and give new information regarding each of the 4 nations. It’s sort of a novelization of certain episodes of the first season of the show, with more background information.
Hope it helps!
A recent update:
– I deleted Zuko’s story from this reading order (as Cody pointed out, it’s a prequel to the movie).
– I also added the two volumes from Random House in the “before” part, as it is a retelling of the animated series (so not an original story and not from Dark Horse).
– At the end of the list, I added Avatar: The Last Airbender—Chibi Vol. 1: Aang’s Unfreezing Day, coming in february 2022 from Dark Horse for younger readers. I placed it at the end, as I have no idea for the moment where the story takes place.
I’d say Zuko’s story should still be included on the list, just with a note that it’s technically connected to the movie. While it may be questionably canon, it’s still worth reading and the only actual connections it even has to the movie specifically are that a small number of character designs like Iroh’s are different and they make sure to show torches in the background anytime someone firebends. Those things aside, it easily *could* be a canon backstory for Zuko without contradicting anything that is canon, and it is genuinely good.
Thanks for your comment! Thinking about it, I decided to put back “Zuko’s story” in the article (in the What to read before? section). If you think I forget something, don’t hesitate to tell me.
I don’t feel like putting my real name but anyway how many Avatar: Comics are there in total? And is there a place where you can buy all of them that are out so far for a kinda cheap price? or just buy all of them in a bundle at all?
sorry, but what was Zuko’s story and will there be an omnibus version of imbalanced released?
Zuko’s story is a graphic novel and a prequel to the 2010 The Last Airbender film centered on Zuko.
As having an omnibus version of Imbalanced, sure! There’s no reason for not doing it. The North and South Omnibus will be released in February 2022, so we can imagine that Imbalanced could be released later that year. For the moment, they just didn’t announce that far away, that’s all.
Thankyou!! And your website is really helpful!!! I can’t wait to start collecting them all!
Aang’s Unfreezing Day got delayed to July. I wonder what keeps holding it up; it was originally supposed to come out months ago.
It has now an August release date! I updated the reading order with that info.
They apparently pushed back again the release of Aang’s Unfreezing Day as Dark Horse announces February 01, 2023, as a publication date on its website.
I noticed a spelling error at the Aang’s Unfreezing Day. The editor wrote “Aang don’t know his birthday” instead of “Aang doesn’t know his birthday”
Just a small spelling error, no worries.
I missed the spelling error! Thank you for your comment, I made the correction.
Add The Dawn of Yangchen to the “what to read before” section! It’s a good book I can confirm 🙂
Also there is another screen comix edition called “Zuko finds his way” that has been released as well as one about Toph (i’m not sure if it is released or TBD)
Thank you for your comment, Ken!
I totally missed those releases. I added “Dawn of Yangchen” as well as “Zuko finds his way” and “The Power of Toph”. The latter will be published in January 2023.
Hi. I noticed that at the start you did include the novels that happened before the series, but in the main list you did not include any books that tell events that happened during the series. Such as The Lost Scrolls. Is that because of a certain reason? Is there maybe another article that covers all books>
Hi Valentin,
I think my logic, at the time of writing this guide, was mostly to include original stories and not retelling if it was not in the comic book format. (Maybe I missed some original stories? Tell me if that’s the case!)
We also have a sister site, howtoread.me, dedicated to books where there is a listing for the Avatar books: https://www.howtoread.me/avatar-the-last-airbender-franchise-books-in-order/