Avatar The Last Airbender is one of the biggest franchises that I never really got into. I played the video game of course, but I couldn’t get into the show. I can’t say that I had high hopes for the comic, but it definitely under performed. I’m pleased to say that it wasn’t Avatar’s fault….it was the backups that were to blame!

The Avatar comic features two of the main characters as they head into a shop to collect some shells. The guy has always wanted to start collecting them, but he could never find the time (or money) to do so. Another girl walks in to inspect some shells, but the shop owner believes that girls cannot truly appreciate shells so she must be fake. The main characters stop the bullies and teach the girl the values of learning self defense. Will she take them up on the offer?

The first backup story is about Hellboy. It’s only about a page or two and there is really no point. Hellboy mocks his friend’s design as a ghost and then he throws him in a coffin. The comic wasn’t funny and it just wasn’t good. It definitely wouldn’t entice me to actually buy the series. The final backup comic was the worst as it was from the Juice Squeezers. I had never heard of the series and after this comic…I hope that I never hear about it again! The comic involves a kid who gets bullied by some other kids and they put ants in his pants. He decides to get revenge on them by infiltrating the lair of some giant Ants. His plan is to ultimately get the other ants to go in the pants of the bully. An eye for an eye after all…that’s what the main character goes for. By the end of the comic, you’ll likely be wincing.

The Avatar comic wasn’t bad. The art was solid, but the plot was a little generic and not very exciting. The main characters should have just knocked out the shop owner and just left with the shells. Teaching the girl how to fight is definitely a good move, but the shop owner does have fire powers so it’s still a little risky. Leaving him in business could have dire consequences. I can definitely see why I didn’t get into the show, but it’s not bad. I’m sure that a fight would have helped the issue.

There isn’t much to say about the Hellboy comic. The art wasn’t for me and Hellboy was a terrible main character. None of the jokes were funny and the comic just fell flat. The ant comic had so much that was wrong with it. I barely even know where to begin in that regard! It gets old seeing the main character get bullied. We’ve seen that in so many forms of media already. Then the “hero” gets revenge by doing something equally mean to the bully. Of course, his revenge affects the whole school team so hopefully he didn’t have any friends who were playing. Apparently, there are also giant insects that are around and the main character has his own super hero title. None of it made sense and the comic was boring and not cool. The art was also pretty sub par.

Overall, this is a comic that I definitely would not recommend. The Avatar comic may have been all right, but the Hellboy one was boring and the ant story was just terrible. I don’t think that you would walk away from this comic with high hopes for future issues. It’s best to just skip this one and read something a little more thought provoking like the Mega Man comics. I haven’t read a comic this awful in quite a long time!

Overall 2/10

Uncle Scrooge is typically a pretty intense character and who didn’t enjoy the TV show back in the day? I went into the comic expecting a fun adventure and while there wouldn’t be any real danger..it would just be a fun read. The comic fulfilled its purpose in that respect and while I wouldn’t say that it knocked me out of the park, it was enjoyable.

The main comic involves an old enemy of Uncle Scrooge’s. She infiltrated his house in broad daylight and casts a spell that makes Scrooge (and good ole Donald) stuck to the wall. See, their gravity has been altered so that they are sideways. It’s a pretty interesting concept, but it can also make some things a little hard to follow. You really have to try and imagine how you could navigate while sideways. Donald and Scrooge must now track down the magician and force her to undo the spell. It won’t be easy…but they are used to dangerous situations!

Meanwhile, we got a backup comic that tries to show how mean Donald can be to his friends. His friend’s birthday has arrived and Donald wants to publicly humiliate him in front of everyone. Unfortunately for Donald, the friend has other plans. He has notoriously good luck throughout his whole life, but his birthday is the one day where his luck works in reverse. He doesn’t want to get humiliated by the others so he decides to escape. He has succeeded in vanishing on all of his previous birthdays, but this one could be difficult as his luck is even worse than usual. Will he be able to keep this secret from his friends and family!?

The art was solid for both of the comics. I actually preferred the backup comic because the friend was a likable character and it was nice to see Donald being so mean once again. In the old comics, Donald could definitely be a really mean guy when necessary and he usually did it at the expense of others. He wasn’t a hero…but he never claimed to be. The second comic had some pretty huge stakes since we can definitely sympathize with the birthday boy. Who wants to look bad on their birthday?

The first comic was good as well, but the sideways gimmick could be tricky at times. I was suspending my disbelief, but some parts were definitely a little iffy. (The scene where the ducklings work to balance Scrooge and Donald comes to mind) The villain was pretty intense and she took most of these things in stride, but she wasn’t very interesting. I was glad that she got the last laugh against one of the heroes since he was being obnoxious. (in a good way)

Overall, this comic would definitely be fun for fans of the series. Scrooge and Donald have their usual banter and Scrooge looks pretty good throughout both comics. He comes up with the plans and he typically doesn’t care about the risks. (As long as the risks concern Donald’s safety) I may have preferred it if the comic had chosen a different plot, but the comic handled itself pretty well. In the end, that’s all that you can ask from a comic!

Overall 6/10