Week 52 Reviews: Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy, Azula in the Spirit Temple

From Goodreads:

Set in the post-series comics era of the beloved Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise, fans will get to see a new part of the original timeline that they've never seen before. A stand alone comic about the best earthbender and inventor of metalbending, Toph Beifong. Written by Faith Erin Hicks (The Adventures of Superhero Girl, The Last of Us: American Dreams) and illustrated by Peter Wartman (Stonebreaker, Over the Wall) and Adele Matera, the same team behind the Imbalance trilogy.

From Goodreads:

A brand new stand-alone comics story from the world of The Last Airbender!

Azula continues her destabilizing campaign against the Fire Nation and her brother, Fire Lord Zuko.

But after a failed attack on her latest target, Azula finds herself in a mysterious forest temple inhabited by a solitary monk…or is it something more mysterious? Azula must confront her past, and finally face her chance at redemption.

Written in consultation with Avatar Studios, the veteran team of Faith Erin Hicks, Peter Wartman and Adele Matera is back with a new story in the world of The Last Airbender.

My Review:
I had such a great time reading these stories! Toph is such a beloved character, and Azula is a really interesting one, and I had a great time with these one off stories (and I can't wait for the Uncle Iron story, which I hope we see Zuko in, since we haven't seen him in a while!) and I'm so glad that we got this time with these characters!

Toph is bored, she's done well with the school, but her first students can handle instructing the new students. But since she's a part of Team Avatar, people are scared of her and think that she would report rule-breaking. So she's bored. I had such a great time with her meeting a lava-bender, and dealing with nomad band of secret tunnel fame!  

Azual in the Spirit Temple, yeah, was really interesting. Because she's powerful, but she's also villainous (not because she's a girl, but partially who she is as a person, and part how she was raised) and she's not right in the head, and has some mommy issues. 

I am a bit confused as to what was going on, with the caretaker of the temple, and what they were making Azula see. I don't know why they let her go, but she does show a bit of growth through this issue, which was great to read. But I'm still a bit confused. 

These were really fantastic to read and I can't wait to read more from this world!

Authors: Faith Erin Hicks, Illustrated by Peter Wartman and Adele Matera
Series: Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics #7, 8
Read: December 29th, 29th, 2023
Source: Online
Reason Why: Love this world and these graphic novels, and they're Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2023 Books! 
Publisher: Dark Horse Books
Published: February 16th 2021, October 24th 2023

Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars

Azula in the Spirit Temple:

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars