The artwork is very detailed but admittedly it can be very hard to understand the action sequences. There are several scenes where things happen and people react - but it is very hard to tell exactly what the situation is/was. It could also be hard to tell the characters apart despite the level of detail; you really need to memorize clothing in that regard. The color scheme can be very monochromatic, often either all blues or reds (representing Na'Vi or Human worlds). I would have wished for even more depth of color in that regard to help clarify scenes. But on the whole, the illustration work is professional with interesting panels that contribute to the story. A deluxe collection of the full graphic novel adaptation of one of James Cameron’s original Avatar screenplay story ideas and a direct prequel to the film The Way of Water !

Brothers (2017) · Tsu'tey's Path (2019) · The Next Shadow (2021) · Adapt or Die (2022) · The High Ground (2022) · So'lek's Journey (2024) In an interview with Inverse to promote The Way of Water, producer Jon Landau explains why Cameron’s intended sequel to Avatar, titled Avatar: The High Ground fell through. Der erste Avatar Film (»Aufbruch nach Pandora« aus dem Jahre 2019) hat deshalb Geschichte geschrieben, weil er nicht nur eine emotionale Geschichte erzählte, sondern auch mit einer famosen Technik aufwarten konnte, die das 3D-Kino salonfähig gemacht hat. Der zweite Teil (»The Way of Water«) konnte da leider nicht mithalten und bot zu viel Action bei zu wenig Emotionalität. Und wenig verwunderlich gilt dies auch für den ersten Teil der Graphic-Novel-Trilogie »Das Blut von Pandora«, wobei weder das eine noch das andere deshalb schlecht sind. In partnership with Dark Horse Comics, James Cameron’s Avatar made a splash at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 to promote the library edition of Avatar: The High Ground, a deluxe three-volume collection of graphic novels drawn from James Cameron’s original screenplay that’s a direct prequel to the film, Avatar: The Way of Water. To Landau, The High Ground told a good story and has its own winning qualities. “It was more focused in its breadth and its scope,” he says.

CORINNA BECHKO: I was really excited to work in this amazing universe, but it was also a little bit intimidating because I know that Cameron takes so much care with everything he does. I wanted to get it right. So, I felt the weight of that, but it was actually good because it made me do a lot of research to get the tone right. Hopefully, I achieved that. Originally written as a film script by Cameron and his team, The High Ground is now a prequel graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics by writer Sherri L. Smith and artist Guilherme Balbi.

HEISLER: To be a part of Avatar and to have Lightstorm weighing in on everything is great. I’ve always been a fan of Cameron’s work and I can’t think of any of his movies that I don’t love. Just to be able to contribute to this universe is pretty awesome. Cameron and his team took some elements of “Avatar: The High Ground” and peppered them throughout the sequel that did end up being filmed, “ Avatar: The Way of Water,” and an upcoming third “Avatar” movie. He also brought elements that weren’t used into a new graphic novel, arriving Dec. 6. Meanwhile, Ateyo and Arvok, the father and younger brother of Tsu'tey respectively, are looking out at the remains of the Omaticaya's hometree. Having waited until Neytiri left, Ateyo introduces Arvok to he and Artsut's plan to overthrow Jake and make Arvok the new clan leader. Ateyo believes it is Arvok's duty to rule and that Jake is leading the Omaticaya toward ruin. Arvok, at first, disagrees, upset over the idea of defying his brother's dying wish and killing Jake. Ateyo assures him he will not kill Jake, but rather challenge him to non-lethal ritual combat, First Blood; to win First Blood, one only needs to draw blood from their opponent, and its outcome is non-negotiable. Arvok reluctantly agrees, and Ateyo leaves to inform his mate, Artsut. Without Arvok's knowledge, Artsut laces his knife with poison, so that when Arvok strikes Jake with the blade, he will inadvertently kill him. Plot [ ] Issue 1 [ ] It has been almost a decade since the humans were forced to leave Pandora - but now they're returning - with an armada of heavily-armed starships! After years of peace, Jake Sully has settled down with Neytiri and raised a family, so for him, the stakes are even higher than when he first went to war against the corporate might of the RDA. Because Avatar: The High Ground is ridiculous. It’s over the top, and even implausible at times. Not impossible - it’s reworked from an original James Cameron script, or script idea - but definitely implausible. But that doesn’t make it bad.

Avatar: The High Ground Volume 2

AVATAR.COM : On the note of research and adaptation — Michael, could you explain for Avatar.com what the role of a letterer is, and how the process was different for writing out the Na’vi language versus English? Jake and Neytiri talk about their upcoming plan to fight the RDA in space. Neteyam does not wish to remain at High Camp, instead wishing to fight, though Jake again declines the offer. As the Sully family prepares to go their own ways, Kiri can not be found. Although Max Patel insists Spider stay with the McCoskers, Kiri insists he come with them to High Camp. Nash McCosker finds the two and tells Miles to go with him. Although Jake and Neytiri think Spider is best with his foster family, Kiri is upset and flees. A third into the book we're in a large gathering of Na'vi when in the center of one panel, as if they're important to the scene, there are suddenly 3 humans dressed like Na'vi (meaning, they stand out very clearly) who we haven't seen before. And then they're never seen again. WTF?! I don't know if this was an art problem or a script problem, but it was weird and confusing. BECHKO: Honestly, I watched the movie a lot, and I watched it with different friends because I wanted to gauge how different people reacted to different things in the story. I watched with friends who were men, women, younger, older — I even drafted my best friend’s mom to watch it with me so I could get someone from a different generation. I also did a lot of research just looking at the types of animals on Earth to get more of an idea on ecosystems. After I did all that, I tried to forget it so that it would be in my subconscious, and then I sat down and wrote the story. There are hallmarks here of what will show up in the first movie, Way of Water: the dynamics between Spider and Kiri, the kids doing stupid things and putting themselves in danger, Neytiri's mistrust of Spider, plenty of action, the youngest child always needing to be rescued, and Cameron's trademark strong and able female characters. I imagine that Way of Water was rewritten to add in these elements once this original script was bypassed.

Two weeks after the assault on the Tree of Souls, Jake Sully visits the grave of his human body. In the process of digging it up to look at it, he cuts his hand on a thorny branch and reminisces about regret over his choices. Neytiri finds him and is concerned about his behavior, which Jake appreciates, feeling she understands him better than anyone. Neytiri tells Jake that she is leaving to meet with Ikeyni and visit the Olangi clan, who suffered the most casualties during the war. Jake feels that the other Na'vi clans trust Neytiri more than him. Jake has also moved the Omaticaya clan to a temporary setup near Hell's Gate. The story stays true to the movie; it is, after all, derived from an original script by James Cameron. This was originally meant to be the beginning of the next movie but instead was turned into a graphic novel prequel with high production values.The Way of Water briefly touches on The High Ground — Cameron said the latter takes place between “minute four” and “minute five” of the opening prologue — but a few pieces of The High Ground survive in the movie. “[We found] a way to restructure the elements that we needed to distribute across the first two of the sequels, and relaunched it in a completely different way,” Cameron said to Total Film. Set just after the events of AVATAR, the story continues as Jake Sully finds himself ill-equipped to defuse the internal conflicts threatening to tear the Omatikaya apart. Avatar: The Way of Water finally tells the next chapter in James Cameron’s ambitious saga. But a lot has changed in the 13 years since Avatar released, and we don’t mean the higher fidelity of Pandora’s lush scenery and bioluminescent creatures. I didn’t like Jake being so obsessed with war before the humans returned. That’s not the vibes I got from the movie (ATWOW). I mean, I get he may be concerned, but seriously they made him sound so paranoiac here. During Lo'ak's ikran training session, Lo'ak falls off a cliff, frightening Jake although Neytiri insists the danger is part of the trial. Neytiri is emotionally shaken and weeps in joy that Lo'ak is alive. Later, Jake and Neytiri have a discussion about their children facing and the dangers of the trial. Though they sympathize with each other's viewpoints, Neytiri mentions Jake has been breaking the Three Laws of Eywa by teaching their hunters to use guns made of metal. Jake insists even though he is not human, he still feels he is a marine and that he is still like the Sky People.

Issue 2 [ ] "With grievances of the past compounding and the Omatikaya refuge in unrest, an uprising begins! A member of the clan challenges Jake's claim to leadership--invoking a trial by combat!" The Exhibition (2011-14) · Toruk - The First Flight (2015-19) · The Exhibition (2016-) · 10 Year Anniversary (2019)But that’s exactly why the graphic novel is the perfect medium to explore ideas like this. It’s perfect, low-stakes, over-the-top AU fun. In addition, the art was gorgeous, though it wasn’t always easy to tell the children apart; they didn’t resemble their film counterparts as closely as their parents did, but that was my only gripe. The landscapes, flora and fauna were all distinctly and recognisably Pandoran, and the dialogue was fine, though not as tight, natural, and imbued with character as James Cameron’s is. In a council meeting, Jake insists the Na'vi fight and tries to convince Yeyatley to agree, but Yeyatley instead insists the Na'vi offer peace instead. Akwey supports Jake's choice, though before the group can continue debating, it is noticed that Jake's children are gone, with the exception of Neteyam. Eventually, Cameron decided to not turn the script into a movie. Instead, some elements of it were restructured into the first two sequels. It was decided to relaunch the Avatar: The High Ground script in the form of a graphic novel that tells the story of the Na'vi between Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water. [1]