Avatar: The Last Airbender -- Azula in the Spirit Temple

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More recently in the Avatar: The Last Airbender sequel comics, Azula has become obsessed with causing instability in her brother's Fire Nation through political turmoil and upheaval. You could argue that her lack of development is due to her own choices and refusal to recognize what she did was wrong which I could see but… come on, Azula deserves a Zuko level redemption arc! Overall the comic felt pointless besides Azula having a deep moment with the spirit disguised as her mother. Rule of thumb is never actually tell the audience a character’s fundamental wants and fears, because where’s the fun in that.

By the present day Azula openly denounces Ozai as nothing more than a hollow shell of his former self, however, and in her Motive Rant even resents him for turning her into what she is.

From there, it’s a conflict as much internal as it is against the spirit haunting the temple, as it’s never clear what’s real and what is an illusion designed to test her. While yes, some anime filler can feel tedious, the best of it often feels like we get much deeper insights into our characters so that when the big moments DO happen, they are that much more rewarding to experience. It's still not the end of her story, but contrary to the other entries in Hicks' comic-run, I'm willing to let this one slide.

I don't quite know what people were expecting from this but I thought it was a pretty great one-off character study of the Bad Girl we love to love to hate. Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: One of Azula's visions has Iroh, Zuko, and Ursa praising her for conquering Ba Sing Se, killing the Avatar and thereby ending the war, and becoming Fire Lord, respectively. Bad Boss: Azula is one to her Fire Warriors, completely ignoring how upset they are one of their own got captured.

It answers an age-old fan debate about whether a character can or should be redeemed in a way that stays true to all we’ve seen of Azula throughout the animated series, without falling into tired tropes. When reflecting on her mother's seeming disappointment when she first discovered firebending, Azula by the present at least understands that Ursa was scared for her as much as she was scared of her. In conclusion, I don’t know what will make Azula in the Spirit Temple a good story, but I know what will make it a disappointing one. One of the things fans love most about Azula is the fact that she is just so good at being a villain, representing a truly terrifying look at the power of obsession, familial pressure, and jealousy. We Have Reserves: Apparently, Azula hasn’t let go of this mindset even after losing the war since she doesn’t have a large army to rely on anymore to throw at her enemies.