Avatar: The Last Airbender

Nickelodeon Comedy
Avatar: Battle of the Benders for Release This Month
Kris De Leon
Kris De Leon
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
From the highly rated Nickelodeon series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, comes a paperback series that follows Aang as he battles to save the world from the wicked Fire Nation.  Published by Golden Books, Battle of the Benders is a 24-page full-color book, which is set for release on Tuesday, January 8.

Described as the perfect way to introduce new fans to the exciting world of Avatar: the Last Airbender, Battle of the Benders comes with a lot of eye-popping 3-D images, activities, a 3-D panoramic poster plus two pairs of 3-D glasses.

For those who are not familiar, Avatar: The Last Airbender is an award-winning animated series set in Asian-influenced world of martial arts and elemental manipulation.  The story centers on the adventures of Aang and his duty to restore harmony and peace to a fantasy world divided into four nations, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nomads and the Fire Nations.

The release of the new Avatar paperback series is in line with Nickelodeon's efforts to tap into various types of markets and capture new audiences.  As reported previously, Nickelodeon expects consumers to spend about $121 million in 2007 to $254 million in 2009 on its assortment of Avatar merchandise.  With the mounting success of the show, the network has pinned its hopes to its spawned sensations the come in the form of magazines, video games, toys, DVDs, and now, the 3-D paperback series.  The positive hype from the release of the products has become an instrument of the network in appealing to young people's growing interest.

Aside from the aforementioned merchandises, the success of the Avatar series has also prompted the network to come up with scale action figures, a trading card game, stuffed animals and two Lego sets.  There is also the highly anticipated Avatar live-action film trilogy, the first of which will encompass the main characters' adventures in Book One.  The film is currently in production and is directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who is credited for The Sixth Sense and Lady in the Water.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist

Source: Golden Books
(Image courtesy of Golden Books)