Avatar's Next Comic Gives Azula the Spotlight She Deserves
Anyone who watched and enjoyed the original Avatar: The Last Airbender has a particular villain that’s their favorite, and for many, that baddie is Zuko’s sister Azula. The princess of the Fire Nation was remains pretty intimidating even today, and is part of one of the show’s best moments.
It’s been awhile since she’s been featured in the comics, but later this year, she’ll be headlining a graphic novel of her own. Azula in the Spirit Temple was revealed officially last year, but Screenrant recently revealed the book’s release date on September 26 and 27. Written by Faith Erin Hicks and drawn by Peter Wartman, it’ll pick up where 2016's Smoke & Shadow left off, with her on the run after trying to groom Zuko into a better Fire Lord in her own, weird way. When a mission with her followers doesn’t go as planned, Azula winds up in a forest temple inhabited by a single monk.
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“What first seems like a place to safely pass the night is quickly revealed to be something horrifyingly different,” reads Dark Horse’s description. “Azula is forced to confront her past and will finally face her chance at redemption…but will she take it?”
The Azula comic continues a trend of standalone focused on specific Last Airbender characters. Joined by series writer Tim Hedrick, Hicks and Wartman previously worked on graphic novels focused on Katara, Toph Beifong, and Suki in 2020 and 2021. Those have all been pretty good and captured the spirit of the show quite well, and it’s doubtful that trend will end with Azula’s. What’ll be interesting to see, though, is if Azula will get the redemption story that some fans have thought she deserved—after all, if her brother and uncle did, there’s no rule saying she can’t—or if she’ll just embrace that she’s evil as hell and keep menacing her family.
Avatar: Azula in the Spirit Temple releases on September 26 for bookstores and September 27 for comic shops.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
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