More Avatard Kit

And for all of you who have been wallowing in despair ever since M. Night's bastardization of The Last Airbender hit theaters, a ray of hope! Yesterday, Nickelodeon announced the greenlighting of an animated sequel series set in the Avatar universe: The Legend of Korra.

You can read the full press release and see the pretty promo picture here.

Now, normally I'd be worried about a sequel series, especially after what a certain director decided to do to one of my favorite TV series, but there is one very important aspect of The Legend of Korra that makes me really look forward to it: it's done by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, the creators of the original series. They have proven to put the quality of the story and the characters at the top of their priorities list. Perhaps just as importantly, they are willing to listen to their creative team's suggestions and use them to craft the best story possible.

They also have an excellent track record with creating strong female characters . I'll admit, I had a twinge of doubt when I read the description of Korra. Well, less of a 'twinge' and more of a bevy of alarms developed from years of reading urban fantasy, which is filled with so-called "strong" female characters who can be described as "hot-headed, rebellious," and "independent." None of which are bad traits, mind you. It's just that in the hands of a lesser writer, "strong + female" translates into a genuinely unlikeable character you actually want to personally drop off a cliff.

Good writers, on the other hand, don't think of characters as "strong males" or "strong females." They just think of them as "strong," without trying to figure out how they can try to play with gender. At the very least, a character's gender is not that character's defining trait. The Avatar crew probably could write books on how to create strong characters with depth and fully rounded personalities.

It's one of the reasons Avatar was so popular.

In any case, I have high hopes for The Legend of Korra. With any luck, it will stand alone as a good, high-quality story with more great characters and not be a shadowy imitation of the original.