The final volume of Legend of Korra: Turf Wars has dropped!
In Part 1 and Part 2, Korra and Asami were rudely interrupted on their vacation in the spirit world by the intrusion of a greedy real estate developer on the spirits’ domain, a humanitarian aid crisis being mishandled by the Republic City government and a violent gang turf war. All of which had it been written in 2014, might have seemed absurd happening all at once but, in 2018, feels a bit on the nose.
Because this is a 3-part American YA comic that was meant to be a sequel to a popular cartoon, the plots and any and all emotional complications were wrapped up relatively quickly and neatly. Any discomfort family and friends had with the idea of Korra and Asami as partners is wiped away in a panel or two per complication, long traditions of homophobia are declared “need to be changed.” The greedy real estate developer – after having been saved more than once by Korra – comes around to the only actual sensible idea. Asami asserts her corporate power, Zhu Li takes over the Republic City government (and I weep with joy at the idea of a world in which police, military, corporate and political power are all held by women with a sense of responsibility, wrested from the grasping hands of selfish and greedy men.)
Art is once again handled beautifully by Irene Koh, who has reported on her Tumblr that a sequel series is in the works, although she won’t be working on it.
It would all be perfect, except for one nagging thing. Several times this volume Korra and Asami agree that they “should talk.” I understand that thin page count means that neither plot nor development get the time they deserve in this comic, but the thing that annoys me most is that they never have that talk. A panel or two where they agree that they work better as a team isn’t really the talk they need, and while I deeply appreciate that the final pages are focused on their love for one another, I really wish we had seen them have that talk. ^_^; On the one hand, I think it’s that I’m just more used to manga, where longer page counts means that talk takes two chapters, and on the other, I’m old and that talk is really an important tool in terms of healthy relationships. ^_^
On a lot of levels, though, I’m not unhappy that we get the end we wanted from the cartoon here in the comic, with Sato Asami and Avatar Korra saying “I love you” to one another, as they celebrate the victory of peace and progress in the city they love. There’s a bunch of young readers out there, for whom this will be a life-changing comic.
Ratings:
Art – 9
Story – 8
Characters – 9
Service – 0
Yuri – 10
Overall – A very solid 9
Thank you very, very much to Okazu Superhero Eric P. for his sponsorship of this series!
If we do indeed get a sequel, I’ll be really interested to read it. (And I look forward to whatever Koh has planned, as well. She’s definitely someone to follow.)
What did you think? Let me know in the comments!
>Because this is a 3-part American YA comic that was meant to be a sequel to a popular cartoon, the plots and any and all emotional complications were wrapped up relatively quickly and neatly.
This is a similar problem I have with comics pertaining to this series as many of the legitimate issues surrounding the post-war and reconstruction (such as territory disputes and should progress get in the way of cultural tradition) is constantly raised but answered with “just hope for the best and it’ll work out in the end”.
It’s similar to why Korra and Asami never have ‘the talk’ as the authors usually leave it up to the fans and the fans are willing to fill in the blanks.
I enjoyed the comic but like you, I wish there was ‘more’ to it instead of just easy wrap up.
Exactly so. In the real world we have has poor success with war refugee resettlement, for instance. It’s a complicated situation and there is little way for a comic like this to address it beyond “Airbenders will handle that.”