Eywa Has Heard My Prayers!

Today, the news broke: I’m writing a new comic series for Dark Horse called, AVATAR: TIPPING POINT. The six-issue mini-series, with art by Salvatore Porcaro, colors by Michael Atiyeh, and letters by Michael Heisler, debuts in October and has been more than two years in the making.

Just as is the case with my STAR WARS work, this tale is part of the official canon of the AVATAR saga.

In fact, TIPPING POINT reveals some major developments during the one year gap at the beginning of the film, AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. What happens in the pages of this comic series matters to the overall saga. There’s a very cool new villain ready to make life very interesting and very dangerous for Jake Sully and Neytiri.

What made this book even more special, though, is that I have been getting guidance and notes from the source itself.

No, not Eywa. James Cameron.

Jim has been my favorite director ever since my father took me as an eleven-year-old to see the first TERMINATOR in theaters. ALIENS made as much of a formative impact in my life as STAR WARS and JAWS.

In the summer of 2023, I had the chance to make a pilgrimage to Lightstorm Entertainment with my family, taken on a personal tour by Joshua Izzo, the studio’s head of franchise and an all-around great guy. Aside from my niece, Shizuka, the world’s biggest Titanic fan, getting to wear the Heart of the Ocean, nobody could have been happier there. That’s where I got to meet the Alien Queen from one of my all time favorite movies. As you can see from the photo above, she is as regal in real life as she was on the screen.

My chest is, ahem, bursting with pride now that I get to play in one of Jim’s sandboxes. To say it’s a career highlight is no small exaggeration. And as I have gotten older and I have become a climate change activist, the themes of AVATAR have resonated with me on a deep level.

Cameron’s notes are detailed and incredibly well thought out, but there’s nothing better than getting an, “Okay that’s f—-ng cool,” comment from a childhood idol for a planned action beat. Or to get emails with top-secret test animation.

The resulting story is one of the best comics I’ve ever written, and I can’t wait for you to see more. It felt magical, like atokirina were landing on my laptop as I wrote the scripts. I’m grateful to editors Freddye Miller, Rose Weitz, and Judy Khuu for the leap of faith in entrusting me with this opportunity, and to the great George Mann for the recommendation that landed me the gig.

I can’t wait to show you more in the coming months.

For now, feast your eyes on this stunning cover for Issue #1 by Porcaro and Atiyeh.