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Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Reading Order

Let’s bend the elements with Aang and his friends! Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar: The Last Airbender is an animated television series that aired on Nickelodeon between 2005 and 2008 and the first series in the Avatar Legends franchise.

It takes place in a world divided into four nations: the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation and the Air Nomads. Some people, known as “benders,” can control their nation’s element. The Avatar is the only person who can bend all four elements and is responsible for maintaining balance in the world.

At the start of the series, twelve-year-old Aang is the current Avatar and the sole survivor of the Air Nomads. Together with his friends Katara, Sokka and Toph, he sets out to end the Fire Nation’s war and defeat Fire Lord Ozai before he conquers the world.

Although the animated series ended after three seasons, the Avatar Universe continued to grow through adaptations, sequels, video games, books and comic books! More specifically, the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics officially published by Dark Horse continue the original Nickelodeon series, exploring events before, during and after it. Today, we take a closer look at these comics to help you read and collect them!

🌀 Navigating our Avatar: The Last Airbender Reading Guide

Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Collection

Note: Avatar: The Last Airbender is part of the Avatar Legends franchise. This name was given to the franchise only in 2021, but is used retroactively. You’ll find it written in almost everything now! 

The Last Airbender: Library and Omnibus Edition

The Library and Omnibus Editions are two Dark Horse Comics collections that compile previously released material with bonus material such as extra sketches. 

🌀 The Last Airbender: The Library Edition (hardcover). Exclusive to this edition are the footnotes and annotations by the creative team.

🌀 The Last Airbender: The Omnibus Edition (paperback)

A box set of omnibuses consisting of the complete stories written by Gene Luen Yang and with art by Gurihiru, created in collaboration with series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, was released in 2025:

Avatar: The Last Airbender – Graphic Novels and Short Stories

Published by Dark Horse, the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics are a continuation of the popular animated series, exploring the world of Aang and his friends beyond the television series. Prior to the Library and Omnibus collections, Dark Horse initially released these stories as individual volumes, taking place before, during and after the animated show.

🌀 The Last Airbender: Graphic Novels Trilogies

The Promise — Set mainly one year after the conclusion of the original series, the Promise trilogy recounts the adventures of Avatar Aang and his friends in the aftermath of the Hundred Year War.

The Search — What happened to Fire Lord Zuko’s mother? Finding a clue at last, Zuko enlists the aid of Team Avatar—and the most unlikely ally of all—to help uncover the biggest secret of his life.

The Rift — Avatar Aang and friends honor an Air Nomad holiday that hasn’t been celebrated in over one hundred years. But when cryptic visits from the spirit of Avatar Yangchen lead Aang to a refinery operating on land sacred to the Airbenders, they soon find themselves in peril as a dangerously powerful ancient spirit awakens with vengeance and destruction on its mind!

Smoke and Shadow — The Fire Nation is threatened by a prophecy told by the Kemurikage, mysterious figures thought only to exist in legend: remove Zuko from the throne, or the country will perish!

North and South — When Katara and Sokka return home to the Southern Water Tribe, they are shocked to find that it has gone from a small village to a bustling city! Malina, a Northerner, is behind the change and plans to unify the Water Tribes, but Gilak, a Southerner, leads a fierce rebellion to stop her. In the face of these two opposing tribes, Katara will have to make peace with her nostalgia and mistrust to save the home she loves from being permanently torn apart.

Imbalance — When Aang, Katara, Sokka, and Toph return to Earthen Fire Industries – the factory owned by Toph’s father – Aang is surprised when their arrival is met with a cold shoulder. As soon as the team is asked for help at a business council meeting, the reason for the slight becomes clear: a massive bender-versus-non-bender conflict has gripped the town and is threatening to turn violent.

The Kyoshi Warriors — This series is a little bit different from the previous ones. This is the first being released in three comic issues and not directly into a trade paperback. A follow-up has been announced, indicating this is possibly going to be a trilogy. So we’re placing it in this section for the moment. This is also not a follow-up to the animated series but a story taking place during Book One and Two.

🌀 The Last Airbender: Standalone graphic novels

Avatar: The Last Airbender continues to expand, but with those standalone graphic novels that explore unseen events before, during and after the series.

🌀 The Last Airbender: Short Stories

The first Avatar short stories were published in Nickelodeon Magazine and the Avatar: The Last Airbender DVD collections between 2001 and 2005. Since 2011, new short stories have been released for Free Comic Book Day. Dark Horse has reprinted these stories in anthology volumes also containing all-new short comics.

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Lost Adventures
    An anthology of comics collecting out-of-print comics previously published in Nickelodeon Magazine and with the Airbender DVDs, plus over seventy brand-new comics pages. That’s twenty-six stories set in Airbender continuity:

    • Stories set during Book One (Water): Bee Calm, Water War, Don’t Blow It!, Relics, Fruit-Stand Freestyle
    • Stories set during Book Two (Earth): Sleepbending, Lessons, Sokka the Avatar, Dirty Is Only Skin Deep, Divided We Fall, Reach for the Toph, It’s Only Natural, Going Home Again, The Bridge.
    • Stories set during Book Three (Fire): Private Fire, Night Animals, Boys’ Day Out, Ember Island Arcade, Monster Slayer, Combustion Man on a Train, Swordbending, No Benders Allowed, Love Is a Battlefield, Dragon Days, Game Time, Bumi vs. Toph, Round One
    • Bonus Stories (Non-canon): New Recruits, Gym Time
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender – Team Avatar Tales
    One-shot anthology comics collecting stories depicting unseen events during and after the series, including The Substitute, Sokka’s Poem, Toph and The Boulder, Origami, The Scarecrow. Rebound, Shells, and Sisters were previously released for Free Comic Book Day.
  • Avatar Legends: Masters of the Elements Volume 1 [2026]
    Collects short stories from beyond the confines of a single Avatar Cycle, including the previously published during FCBD Beach Wars, Team Toph: Lost and Found and Ramen Rumble. And more stories!

For the moment, the “Matcha Makers” story released in 2021 as part of Free Comic Book Day is still uncollected.

More Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics

Chibi — Avatar adventures for little fans! The following comics are chibi, or stories specifically for very young readers and considered non-canon.

Zuko’s Story — Graphic novel prequel focuses on Zuko, 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!)

Screen Comix — Comics retelling the original series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, with full-color images and dialogue from the series, published by Random House.

Avatar Legends: Novels

Beyond the comics, discover the history of previous Avatars and other stories set before or during Aang era with the following novels.

 

Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Chronological Order

This is not an exhaustive chronological order, but a simplified one that offers a beginner-friendly comics reading order with minimal interruption. Rather than providing a detailed timeline for the placement of each short story, it provides information on where the trilogies, stand-alones, and anthologies fit. This part of the guide does not include the books, as most of them are prequels that new readers can read at any time once they are a little bit familiar with the universe.

Before the Animated series…

  • Wisdom — Short Story Comic part of Patterns in Time set around 3,829 BG
  • Light It Up! — Children’s book focused on a group of youngsters from Karr Lok Island who take part in a Fire Nation bending tournament during the era of Szeto. (he died in 500 BG)
  • The Dawn of Yangchen — Young Adult Novel taking place in 483 BG.
  • The Legacy of Yangchen — Follow-up novel taking place in 482 BG
  • A Quiet Flame — Short Story comic part of Masters of the Elements Volume 1 and set during the era of Yangchen.
  • Shelter — Short Story comic part of Masters of the Elements Volume 1 and set during the era of Yangchen.
  • The Rise of Kyoshi — Young Adult Novel set in 305 BG.
  • The Shadow of Kyoshi — Follow-up novel picking up about a year after the events of The Rise of Kyoshi (304 BG)
  • Off Duty — Short Story comic part of Masters of the Elements Volume 1 and taking place around 299 BG.
  • The Reckoning of Roku — Young Adult Novel taking place in 66 BG (Roku is 16 year old in the story).
  • The Awakening of Roku — Follow-up to The Reckoning of Roku taking place takes place three years after (63 BG)
  • Earth & Water — Short Story comic part of Masters of the Elements Volume 1 focused on the training of Avatar Roku.
  • Jet: Rebels and Rhinos — Stand-alone graphic novel taking place before the series (around 95 AG or earlier).
  • The Last Airbender Prequel: Zuko’s Story — Graphic novel prequel focuses on Zuko. It ends in the same place as episode 1.

Avatar: The  Last Airbender Book One: Water 

  • The Last Airbender Book One: Water Episodes 1 to 3 
  • Don’t Blow It! — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • The Last Airbender Book One: Water Episodes 4 to 6
  • Bee Calm — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • The Kyoshi Warriors #1-3 — Comic series covering the activities of the Kyoshi Warriors between their TV appearances. The story starts after their first appearance in episode 4.
  • The Last Airbender Book One: Water Episodes 7 to 16
  • Water War — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Relics — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Fruit-Stand Freestyle — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • The  Last Airbender Book One: Water Episodes 17 to 20

Avatar: The Last Airbender Book Two: Earth 

  • The Last Airbender Book Two: Earth Episode 1
  • Origami — Short story comic part of Team Avatar Tales
  • The Last Airbender Book Two: Earth Episodes 2 to 7
  • Lost and Found — Short story comic part of Masters of the Elements Volume 1 and taking place during the events of “Zuko Alone” (2.07)
  • The Last Airbender Book Two: Earth Episodes 8 to 9
  • Katara and the Pirate’s Silver — Stand-alone graphic novel set between “Bitter Work” (2.09) and “The Library” (2.10).
  • Sleepbending — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Lessons — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Sokka the Avatar — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Dirty Is Only Skin Deep — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Divided We Fall — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Reach for the Toph — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • The Last Airbender Book Two: Earth Episodes 10 to 20
  • It’s Only Natural — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Going Home Again — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • The Bridge — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Avatar: Escape from the Spirit World — Online Game covering events from the end of the second season to the beginning of the third.

Avatar: The  Last Airbender Three: Fire 

  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 1-2
  • Private Fire — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Night Animals — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • Boys’ Day Out — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 3-4
  • The Substitute — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episode 5
  • Ember Island Arcade — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures taking place during the stay on Ember Island.
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 6-7
  • Monster Slayer — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures taking place after the events of “The Runaway”.
  • Combustion Man on a Train — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures taking place between “The Runaway” (3.07) and “Nightmares and Daydreams” (3.09)
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 8-9
  • Ramen Rumble — Short Story comic part of Masters of the Elements Volume 1, set during the events of “Nightmares and Daydreams” (3.09)
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 10 to 14
  • Swordbending — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures.
  • No Benders Allowed — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures.
  • Suki, Alone — Stand-alone graphic novel set from “Appa’s Lost Days” (2.16) to “The Boiling Rock” (3.14).
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 14
  • Love Is a Battlefield — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures and taking place while Sokka and Zuko are at the Boiling Rock (3.14 & 15)
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 15
  • Dragon Days — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures featuring Aang recalling a story set around 0AG.
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 16
  • Game Time — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 17-19
  • Bumi vs. Toph, Round One — Short story comic part of the Lost Adventures takes place during Sozin’s Comet Part II: The Old Masters (3.19)
  • The Last Airbender Book Three: Fire Episodes 20-21
  • City of Echoes — Young adult novel focused on Jin and happening concurrently with The Last Airbender, from before The Tales of Ba Sing Se (2.15) 15 all the way to Sozin’s Comet (3.21).

After the television series…

  • The Promise — A graphic novel trilogy.
  • Rebound — Short Story Comic part of Team Avatar Tales taking place in 101 AG, after The Promise.
  • The Search — A graphic novel trilogy.
  • Sokka’s Poem — Short Story Comic part of Team Avatar Tales.
  • The Rift — A graphic novel trilogy.
  • Smoke and Shadow — A graphic novel trilogy.
  • North and South — A graphic novel trilogy.
  • Shells — Short Story Comic part of Team Avatar Tales.
  • Sisters — Short Story Comic part of Team Avatar Tales.
  • Azula in the Spirit Temple — stand-alone graphic novel set after Smoke and Shadow.
  • Matcha Makers — Short Story Comic (uncollected).
  • The Bounty Hunter and the Tea Brewer— stand-alone graphic novel.
  • Ashes of the Academy — stand-alone graphic novel.
  • Imbalance — A graphic novel trilogy.
  • The Scarecrow — Short Story Comic part of Team Avatar Tales.
  • Toph Beifong’s Metalbending Academy — stand-alone graphic novel
  • Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender — animated film focused on Avatar Aang and his friends in their young adult years.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender: Legacy — The memoirs of Aang looking back on his life after the Hundred Year War through stories and various mementos
    • Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender: A Novel — the official novelization of Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender film with new scenes and additional story details

Not yet placed is Enter the Blue Spirit, a stand-alone graphic novel taking place in the early months of Prince Zuko’s exile (Set before or during TV series).

‏🌀

Next in Avatar Legends: 
The story continues with… The Legend of Korra.

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23 thoughts on “Avatar: The Last Airbender Comics Reading Order”

    4. Amber Redstone
      Reply

      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

  7. Michelle Rose Glady
    Reply

    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?

  9. Sabrina
    Reply

    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?

    1. .
      Reply

      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)

  12. Amy
    Reply

    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.

    1. Carole
      Reply

      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!

  14. Carole
    Reply

    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.

    1. Somebody
      Reply

      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.

      1. Carole
        Reply

        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.

  16. Aang
    Reply

    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?

    1. Carole
      Reply

      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.

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