Cover to ‘Avatar: Tsu’Tey’s Path’ #6. Art: Doug Wheatley/Dark Horse Comics

by Jarrod Jones. Rivals are just people who want what we want. Their want isn’t greater, or lesser, than our own. They are not our enemy. But we don’t see that when the want is there. All we see is somebody in our way, instead of a person stuck in the same cycles as us. Tsu’tey didn’t see that, and Jake Sully couldn’t, either. They wanted the same thing too much.

For us, the audience of James Cameron’s Avatar, the perception of Tsu’tey was skewed somewhat, lost in the skirmish of the film’s Joseph Campbell-esque opera of colonialism, romance, and war. We think to ourselves, “Oh, he’s the rival.” But in the world of Avatar, Tsu’tey was so much more. And thanks to Sherri L. Smith, Jan Duursema, Dan Parson, Wes Dzioba and Michael Heisler, Tsu’tey can be more. In Tsu’tey’s Path, the 6-issue mini-series that delves into the events that led to 2011’s blockbuster, we come to appreciate a character who always had the potential to be more than a mere rival.

Dark Horse Comics has asked DoomRocket to share this exclusive first look at Avatar: Tsu’tey’s Path #6, the final issue in this prequel series. What happens here won’t lessen the shock of what’s to come for Tsu’tey, but at least those who love Avatar will be heartened to know the Na’vi who once made Jake Sully sweat, just a little bit.

$3.99 | AUGUST 21

AVATAR: TSU’TEY’S PATH #6

Written by Sherri L. Smith.

Penciled by Jan Duursema.

Inks by Dan Parson.

Colors by Wes Dzioba.

Letters by Michael Heisler.

Cover A by Doug Wheatley.

Cover B by Shea Standerfer.

From Dark Horse Comics: Tsu’tey and Jake Sully prepare for war against the Sky People. As the Omatikaya advance into battle, Tsu’tey must embrace his role as olo’eyktan-and confront the reality of the inevitable changes to come.