The new Legend of Korra comic pick up where the series left off. Read on for details.
Nearly two years ago, Book Four of The Legend of Korra came to a close, marking the end of the series itself. Having defeated Kuvira and turned her over to the authorities, Avatar Korra earned herself a much needed vacation and, after Varrick and Zhu Li’s impromptu and likely obscenely expensive wedding, decided to take it with her friend-turned-lover, Asami. With one of the most emotionally moving music cues in television history, Korra and Asami joined hands and stepped into the Spirit World for a little alone time.
“And then what?” many of us wondered.
Well, that question will finally be answered in a three-part graphic novel from Dark Horse titled The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars, which picks up not too long after the end of the series with Korra and Asami returning to Republic City from the Spirit World. How much time has passed (read: how long Korra and Asami were off indulging in some sightseeing and metaphysical lovin’) isn’t yet known.
Upon the girls’ return, they find that Republic City is facing several new threats, some obvious (the triads warring with one another, putting innocent citizens in the crossfire), some less so (government officials attempting to seize the city for themselves). Korra, as well as its mother series, Avatar, has never been shy about including the politics of their world in its storytelling, exploring it just enough that it never becomes slow or boring. In fact, the political undertones of both shows have been one of the most crucial elements (no pun intended) of the world building that’s made it such a commercial and critical success.
The ramifications of having a spirit portal open in downtown Republic City will also be addressed as a pompous developer attempts to turn the new spirit portal into an amusement park (and presumably a tourist attraction), as if the city’s relationship with its resident spirits weren’t already strained enough! And as for the triads, their eponymous turf war at the borders of the city threaten hundreds of evacuees, likely those who fled during the Kuvira’s siege of the Republic City in her scary Miyazaki/Gainax hybrid mecha. As if that weren’t enough, how will Korra and Asami’s relationship work now that the honeymoon is over and they’re back in the physical world? And… is that a Republic City PD uniform on Bolin? What?
Turf Wars will be written by Korra co-creator Michael Dante DiMartino, with consultation by co-creator Bryan Konietzko. And to that, I say thank GOD. Because, look, while the Avatar comics certainly haven’t been bad, the writing very much comes across as someone trying (and more or less failing) to approximate Mike and Bryan’s style. They certainly mapped out the story and set its bones, but it’s always read like apocrypha, rather than a legitimate continuation of the series. With Bryke at the keyboard, perhaps the Korra comics will cleave a little closer to the voice of the series.
Artist Irene Koh (no relation to the Face Stealer), colorist Jane Bak, and cover artist Heather Campbell will be handling the visuals.
Turf Wars is slated for a June 2017 release, and if you want a taste, you can feast your eyes on some official art below!