These are the images I made for the end of our NYCC panel last week. I know these have already made the rounds on the internet, but I thought I should share them here for posterity and for the folks who might not have seen them. Much to my surprise, even my improvised farewell/thank you speech was transcribed and shared along with the images, which was really nice. Here are those words as well, edited by me to correct what my mumbling likely made unclear for the transcriber and/or to represent what I meant to say:

“This is a really big deal for us. It’s been twelve years since we came up with this whole Avatar universe together. Avatar means so many different things to so many different people. To me, when I think of the creation of it, I just think of me and Mike sitting at my computer in this little house I rented in Burbank. And we would just share the keyboard and take turns. And just over the span of two weeks we cracked open this universe together. And twelve and half years later it’s just blossomed into something so huge. And it’s such a big part of our lives and people’s all over the world. These characters are real to us. Not in a delusional way, but in an emotional way. They really mean a lot to me and I know to Mike as well. And we just want to say thanks.”

The panel and the signing were an amazing experience and a fitting sendoff for the show, even though I agree with Janet, PJ, and Dave: this show will live on, beyond the release of its final episode, for a long time. And a huge thanks to you guys for all the awesome letters and gifts. The ATLA/LOK fandom is an amazing international community of thoughtful, warmhearted humans.

Love, Bryan