In this case, Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, is taking on a new student in the mystic arts, and it's none other than Amaranth, the "New Champion" who first debuted on a variant cover 2023's Scarlet Witch #9 (part of the previous volume of the title) by artist Jen Bartel. 

Amaranth is coming to the Marvel Universe in November's Scarlet Witch #6 by writer Steve Orlando and artist Lorenzo Tammetta, and she's bringing Wanda's own teacher Agatha Harkness with her.

Here's a gallery of covers of Scarlet Witch #9 by Russell Dauterman, Meghan Hetrick, Iván Talavera, and Leirix:

"INTRODUCING AMARANTH!" reads Marvel's official description of Scarlet Witch #9. "The Scarlet Witch takes on a mysterious new pupil – at Agatha Harkness’ request. But where did the young sorceress known as Amaranth come from? And what could have spooked Agatha into giving up the chance to mentor her?"

Amaranth will actually be the second New Champion to make it into comics after debuting on a variant cover, with the first being Maystorm of Ultimate X-Men. However, Amaranth will have the distinction of being the first to come to the core Marvel Universe.

"Ever since she debuted in Jen Bartel's gorgeous variant cover, I've been intrigued by Amaranth. Who was she? What was her story - no, her mystery?" says writer Steve Orlando in a statement accompanying the announcement. "So, when the chance came to bring her into Scarlet Witch and explore those questions with the rest of the creative team, I leapt." 

"Bringing Amaranth through the Last Door gives us a chance to upend Wanda's dynamic with a scenario where Wanda's faced with a powerful, mysterious being she struggles to figure out - an inverse of her own dynamic earlier in her life," Orlando continues. "Amaranth's unique gifts hint towards an auspicious parentage and impressive power, but her life has been tinged with tragedy. There might be no one in the Marvel Universe that can help her, but if there was one - it would be the Scarlet Witch."

Who might be hinted at by Amaranth's "auspicious parentage?" Well, if we had to take a wild guess, we'd say maybe perhaps Agatha Harkness herself? Amaranth Harkness does have a certain ring to it… And she's also wearing Agatha's signature purple color.

We'll learn more when Scarlet Witch goes on sale on November 20.

Check out the best Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch comics of all time.

We've got a preview of Amazing Spider-Man #55/949, written by Zeb Wells with guest artist Emilio Laiso, color artist Bryan Valenza, and letterer Joe Caramagna, in which Shay completely reads Peter for filth for being late for yet another date - this time because he was fighting an all-new Stilt-Man, who manages to give him a big, ugly black eye.

Check it out, along with the issue's main cover by John Romita, Jr.:

"The last arc nearly killed Spider-Man (others weren't so lucky)," reads Marvel's official description of Amazing Spider-Man #55. "Peter hopes to take a breath but gets a new challenge to face in this, the 949th legacy issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN! This is the last domino to fall as we head into our next big centennial!"

Amazing Spider-Man just wrapped up the story of the Spider-Goblin, in which Peter Parker became possessed by the essence of Norman Osborn's dark side, the Green Goblin, which concluded with both Peter and Osborn now free of the Goblin.

With one final arc left in writer Zeb Wells' time on the title before a new creative team comes in, Spidey is getting ready to square off with Tombstone, the new big boss of New York's crime syndicates, in a clash that's been building since the start of the current volume of Amazing Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man #55/949 goes on sale August 14.

Stay up to date on all the new Spider-Man comics Marvel has planned for release.

Sweet Paprika: Open For Business is a five-issue queer romance comic that spins out of the short story, 'The Prince and the Queen,' published in 2023's Sweet Paprika: Black White & Pink #1. In that tale, shy and unfulfilled office worker Aubrey hooked up with handsome Persica. In the new series, the two have sparked an ongoing relationship, but it's one that's about to be thrown into a whole lot of turmoil... 

Here are the covers for the first issue, from Pilliu, Andolfo, Robbi Rodriguez, Godtail, plus a polybagged cover from Pilliu, and a Showgirls homage variant from Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière.

"When Steve proposed that we follow up on the story he and Emilio had done for Sweet Paprika: Black White & Pink #1, we didn't think twice," said Mirka Andolfo in a statement. "The more I read this comic, the more I think I'm a little envious because I would have liked to have done it myself... It's amazing, deep (no pun intended), funny, 100% Paprika-style. And Emilio is a fantastic artist and colorist. The Arancia team and I are lucky to have such great creators on board, and I can't wait for fans to read the story because I'm sure they will have as much fun as I'm having!"

"I've never had a blast working on a book like I have with Sweet Paprika: Open for Business – it's my favorite book to write, every month," added Orlando. "And not just that – I've never synched with a collaborator like I do with Emilio. He's subletted my brain and is elevating every single panel beyond my wildest dreams! Open for Business is raw, it's real, it's provocative, but most of all – it's fun! It's my first office comedy, and I've never loved working with a cast as much as this one! I can't wait for you to meet them!"

"I hope I do not sound pretentious, but Sweet Paprika: Open For Business is like it was tailor-made for me," said Emilio Pilliu. "The excesses, the romantic parts, the serious ones, the comic scenes, and the spicy ones... it's all perfect, and it's all that I love to draw. I don't think it happens often in an artist's life to work on something and feel totally comfortable!"

Here's Image's official synopsis for the new series:

"Sweet Paprika: Open For Business follows Aubrey Jean, a young employee at Infernum Press, as he tries to impress his hero and boss, Miss Paprika, and figure out his relationship with Persica, a friend with benefits who might want to be more. But just as Aubrey and Persica settle into an open relationship that's comfortable for them both, their relationship is thrown into turmoil by Kren. And on top of all that, Aubrey finally gets a chance to prove his worth to Miss Paprika by becoming the handler for Infernum Press's most challenging client – the dreaded, eccentric, and unstable author known as Durian. 

Can Aubrey deal with Kren and save his relationship with Persica? Does he even want to be with Persica? And how can he even figure any of that out when he's got to be on-call day and night dealing with Durian’s next insane request?!"

Sweet Paprika: Open For Business #1 is published by Image on November 6.

Find out about Somna, the spooky, sexy horror comic from Becky Cloonan and Tula Lotay.

Dog Man: Mission Impawsible is a new 2D side-scrolling platform game for Steam, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox Series X that sees players chase a thief across 50 levels and five different worlds. According to publisher Mindscape, "Players will explore eight iconic locations from the Dog Man universe, including City Hall, the Giant Marshmallow Factory, and various jails. Each location offers unique platforming challenges and puzzle-solving opportunities, ensuring action-packed and entertaining gameplay for fans of all ages." 

You can check out a selection of screenshots from Mission Impawsible below.

"This game is not just a playthrough," said Mindscape CEO Mark Huijmans in a statement. "It's an adventure that expands the Dog Man universe, offering all fans a chance to play with their favorite characters in a dynamic and interactive way." 

The most recent Dog Man graphic novel, The Scarlet Shedder, was published in March this year and quickly became the #1 bestselling book in the United States and Canada, as well as the #1 bestselling children's book in the UK. The 13th volume in the series, Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, will be published by Scholastic on December 3, and will offer a look at the origins of some of the series' beloved characters. Dog Man: Mission Impawsible will be released later this year.

Looking for another animal comic? Check out our review of sci-fi adventure Man's Best.

Written by Gail Simone with artist David Marquez, colorist Matthew Wilson, and letterer Clayton Cowles rounding out the creative team, the new Uncanny X-Men focuses around Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine as a trio of mutants trying to find their way in the post-Krakoa world. 

We've got everything you need to know about the new Uncanny X-Men #1 and its burgeoning team of mutants right here.

Spoilers ahead for Uncanny X-Men #1

The new Uncanny X-Men #1 opens with Dr. Corina Ellis, a new character introduced back in X-Men #700, storming into the former X-Mansion/Xavier's School with a cadre of soldiers, laying out her plan to destroy everything left there - including Cerebro - and turn the building into a prison for mutants. The jail's first prisoner then arrives, with none other than Charles Xavier apparently sentenced to live out his days in captivity in his own former estate.

From there we catch up with Logan, who is visiting an old friend in Mexico City on his deathbed, who passes Logan a bottle of whiskey that is seemingly handed from friend to friend as each person in the chain dies. Logan discusses his time being "dead" as a hole in his memory.

Just outside of Mexico City, Logan then meets up with Gambit and Rogue who are there to respond to the presence of a massive dragon atop the landmark known as the Pyramid of the Sun. Though they try to fight the dragon, it's actually Gambit who manages to get it to leave for Antarctica by striking a bargain with it. 

However, this may eventually come back to bite everyone's favorite Cajun mutant as their agreement only lasts one year. Before the dragon departs, it warns Gambit, Rogue, and Wolverine about something or someone called the "Endling," who it claims will be their downfall.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, a young girl with antlers, appropriately named Fawn, falls into the clutches of an eerie, unseen presence calling itself "Mommy," who tells Fawn that she was betrayed by mutantkind and that she will pay for their collective sins. We leave Fawn in terror as "Mommy's" claws grasp at her.

The trio discusses what's next for them, with Rogue saying she misses the X-Men and considering joining Cyclops and his team in Alaska. But Logan downplays the idea, saying it's not the kind of experience he wants with the X-Men. 

Nonetheless, the three answer a call from Beast, who is located at Scott's base, who requests they visit a young mutant who is in a terminal care ward, with not much time left to live. There they meet Nightcrawler, who also connects with the young mutant. But just as the visit is getting underway, Wolverine senses something wrong and calls the nurse, just as the young mutant has a stroke and passes away.

ogue, Gambit, and Logan travel to New Orleans, to Gambit's old stomping grounds. Struck deeply by the young mutant's death, Rogue vows to build a new way forward for mutants, saying she will never go back to what it was like for her and other mutants before Xavier's school and the X-Men.

But just as she's convincing Logan and Gambit of her idea, Wolverine shushes her, detecting something nearby. Then, out of the woods come four young people and a horse, begging for help from someone who is coming for them - presumably the "Mommy" we saw earlier.

And that's where things end for Uncanny X-Men #1, with a core group of Rogue, Gambit, and Wolverine coming together in Louisiana to create a version of the X-Men that will match their desires for a better life for mutants. 

We already know from advance solicitations that the rest of the team will be rounded out by Nightcrawler and Jubilee. We've also already seen a tease for who the newly introduced characters are at the end of the issue in the solicit for Uncanny X-Men #2, which identifies them as four young mutants called The Outliers.

As for what that means for Rogue and her new X-Men team, we'll find out more when Uncanny X-Men #2 arrives on September 11.

Stay up to date on all the new X-Men comics Marvel has planned for release.

Just as the story gets going in the first chapter - which you can read right now for free - Deadpool shows up in the most ridiculous way possible. And frankly, we really can't say any more than that without spoiling an incredibly weird and fun story that fans of the Merc With a Mouth really ought to check out, especially if you've been on the fence about dipping your toes into the world of manga.

Viz Media announced Secret Steward with a seemingly innocuous social media post that hides the story's true nature, to the point where there's not even an official synopsis for the story other than "Love hits you when you least expect it!" which is itself a bit of a pun (you'll get it when you read the story).

In Deadpool: Samurai, the Merc With a Mouth's big manga debut, Wade Wilson is sent to Tokyo, Japan to join the Avengers' new 'Samurai Squad,' with predictably madcap results that deliver all the usual Deadpool goodness with a delightful manga twist.

By the end of Secret Steward chapter 1, it's clear that Deadpool: Samurai Season 2 is officially on the way, but no date has been announced for its release. And again, we really can't say anything else about how Deadpool fits into Secret Steward, which is a title that also belies the nature of its big twist. 

But if you're a Deadpool fan, even if you've never read a manga, this is the perfect story to start with. You'll just have to trust us.

Check out the best Deadpool comics of all time.

Unfortunately, that all proves to be the calm before the storm, particularly for the Man of Steel who is already grappling with his son, Jon Kent, being missing in action.

Spoilers for Absolute Power #2

After Nightwing is elected as the new leader of DC's heroes, the Fortress of Solitude comes under attack from a squad of Amazo robots, led by the Braniac Queen and the missing Jon Kent, who has been cybernetically altered to serve her. This is a horrifying shock for Superman who is forced to fight his son. While he is eventually able to get through to Jon, at least temporarily, the Braniac Queen's conditioning takes hold once more and he tries to assimilate Superman Borg-style.

With the battle reaching something of an impasse, the heroes are forced to take two pretty drastic actions. As the Braniac Queen examines the bottled city of Kandor, Aquaman intervenes and smashes the glass, releasing the thousands of miniaturized Kryptonians contained inside, who immediately set about attacking the Queen. Kandor is no more, but there is now an army with the power of a thousand Supermen on the loose. That's sure to have some consequences further down the line.

The second is that Superman, horrified by what has happened to Jon, initiates a self-destruct protocol in the Fortress of Solitude to try and destroy the Braniac Queen. Nightwing has managed to establish a transportal exit, which the heroes use to escape, but Superman's home-away-from-homes goes up in flames.

Another casualty of all this chaos is apparently Dreamer. Recently, Nia Nal has been forced into working for Waller. When she sees what's happened to Jon, however, she snaps and turns on the Braniac Queen. By the end of the issue her status is unclear, though Waller believes that she's been killed in the destruction of the Fortress of Solitude. Hmm... we'll only believe that one when we see the body.

A big issue, then, and one that turns Superman's world upside down. By the end of Absolute Power #2 he's seemingly lost his son, and his traditional HQ. All that's left is the mission that Nightwing assigned him earlier in the issue, to go and look for help. Into the multiverse it is, then...

Absolute Power #2 by writer Mark Waid, artist Dan Mora, colorist Alejandro Sánchez, and letterer Ariana Maher, is out now from DC.

Find out more about writer Mark Waid's plans for Absolute Power in our in-depth interview.

Absolute Power #2 is out today and it's an absolute barnstormer of an issue, one that makes a few big changes to the status quo. In it, the global situation is looking dire indeed. 80% of the world's superheroes have been captured, drained of their powers, and placed in a detention center on Gamorra Island. The remaining 20%, including the really big hitters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman, are all still at large and currently gathered at the Man of Steel's Fortress of Solitude. There is still hope, but they're fractured and divided, not acting together as a unit.

Spoilers ahead for Absolute Power #2

Normally, this is the sort of situation that would lead Batman to take charge, but as Mister Terrific not incorrectly points out, Bruce isn't always the best at being a team player. They need a new leader, but as a frustrated Wonder Woman says, "We cannot afford the luxury of arguing! Whoever we choose, it has to be the right person."

Enter Nightwing.

Yes, the original Robin, Dick Grayson, steps up to the mic with a speech that immediately inspires new confidence in the remaining heroes. He points out that Amanda Waller's weakness is that she has underestimated how committed all of the superheroes are to doing good and working together and that that is a strength.

Nightwing immediately sets out a clear plan for what the heroes need to do next. The Titans will work as a defense squad. Batman is dispatched to find the Mother Box that Waller has managed to get her hands on (which is indeed the plot of this week's Batman #151), while Superman is sent on a multiversal mission to find new allies. Wonder Woman is put in charge of rescuing the imprisoned heroes, while Black Canary must put together a team to bring back Green Arrow – who appears to have taken Waller's side in the conflict.

It's a sensible plan and one that speaks to Dick's fearsome tactical nous. The current run of the Nightwing solo comic by Tom Taylor and Bruno Redondo has been a resounding success, bagging awards and really boosting the character's status in the DCU, so this feels like a fitting development and a well-deserved promotion. 

Nightwing as the leader of all of DC's superheroes won't last forever, of course. It's likely just until the end of this current worst-ever-crisis. But for now, Dick Grayson is Batman's boss, and Superman's, and Wonder Woman's. As Bruce Wayne proudly smiles at one point in the issue, "That's my boy."

Absolute Power #2 by writer Mark Waid, artist Dan Mora, colorist Alejandro Sánchez, and letterer Ariana Maher, is out now from DC.

Keep track of all the upcoming Batman comics and collections with our regularly-updated guide.

As difficult as it may be given the vast, inscrutable layers of in-universe and behind-the-scenes finagling that could be at play in putting RDJ in the Doom mask, it's time to set aside the ups-and-downs of the actor, and start looking ahead to the adaptation itself, which still has the potential to deliver a version of Doctor Doom that does the legendary comic character justice - without simply hollowing out his armor and putting a Stark inside.

If Marvel Studios is determined to make its Doctor Doom more than a publicity stunt, but a character who endures the same way RDJ's Iron Man has, these are five things straight from comics that the actor and the adaptation need to nail to deliver a pitch-perfect big screen Doom.

Sorcery AND Super Science

It's been said in comics that Doctor Doom is actually smarter than his hated rival Reed Richards, but that he's held back by his own arrogance and villainy. And Doom certainly has his share of technological marvels under his belt, from once building a machine that stole the Silver Surfer's powers, to inventing the time travel technology that would eventually go on to allow Kang the Conqueror to establish his era-spanning empire.

But there's one clear piece of evidence that Doom is smarter than Reed Richards: his mastery of magic. While Reed is quite often stymied by anything to do with the mythical and mystical, Doom embraces it, even blending it with his mastery of science. Doom is competent enough at magic that he is actually now the Sorcerer Supreme of Earth, having talked Doctor Strange into giving him the mantle (more on that later).

Doom has embraced his magical side before. In the Fantastic Four story 'Under the Skin/Unthinkable' (one of the best Doctor Doom comics of all time), Doom's connection to magic is explored through a flashback to his childhood sweetheart, who eventually becomes a sacrifice to Doom's magic in one of the most nightmarish schemes he's ever pulled off - turning her skin into cursed, magical armor.

Diabolical Schemes

Speaking of schemes, intricate plans that occur largely beyond the knowledge of the heroes until it's far too late to stop him are Doctor Doom's weapon of choice as a villain, with his home kingdom of Latveria acting as a staging ground for all manner of diabolical plans over the decades since Doom was introduced in Fantastic Four #5 in 1962.

Doom is such an evil genius that he even outwitted the demonic Mephisto in a dark pact to bring his own mother's soul out of Hell by tricking Doctor Strange into helping him and then trading his soul to the demon, as told in the graphic novel Doctor Strange/Doctor Doom: Triumph and Torment. But undoubtedly Doom's most intricate and successful scheme was his plan to save the Multiverse from the Beyonders, a strange race of cosmic entities who wish to destroy all existence, in the lead up to 2015's Secret Wars, which will lend its name and inspiration to the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars film.

Doom manages to save the Multiverse - but just bits and pieces of different worlds, which he stitches together as his own personal reality, known as Battleworld, in which, for a brief moment, Doom finally reigns supreme over all existence, before being thwarted by his most hated nemesis, Reed Richards.

The Rivalry with Reed Richards

Victor Von Doom Doom hates Reed Richards. Hates him more than he loves his own success. Hates him enough to give up a sure victory if it means he gets even a fraction of a chance to punish Reed Richards instead. Doom's hatred of Reed Richards is pathological, eternal, and all-encompassing. In other words, it's an absolutely essential part of who Doom is and why he's such a thorn in the side of the entire Marvel Universe.

Doom's hatred of Richards began all the way back in their college days, when they were both genius students studying the most bizarre and theoretical sciences. To wit, the young Doom builds a machine to contact the spirit of his dead mother - as one does. Noticing an error in Doom's math (whatever kind of arithmetic allows you to contact the dead I guess), Richards warns him of his mistake. 

Doom, believing Richards' intellect to be so inferior that he couldn't possibly correct him on anything, goes ahead with his experiment and activates the machine. But Richards is right, and Doom's machine explodes, leaving him with a massive wound to his ego, and a tiny scratch to his face. Even this tiny scar would prove too much for Doom's ego, leading him to return to his native Latveria, and eventually take up the menacing iron mask that would come to define him as Doctor Doom. And through it all, he blames Reed Richards as a deterrent to his own folly.

The Mask

This one is simple. Doctor Doom's iconic mask, designed by one of the legendary architects of the Marvel Universe, Jack Kirby, is one of the most striking, menacing, and instantly recognizable faces in all of comics. And as yet, no one's gotten it right in any of the big screen Fantastic Four movies. Thankfully, if the masks worn at Marvel Studios' big reveal are any indicator, they may be on the right track.

The mask is, admittedly, deceptively simple. The way the plates align and come together, especially in the jaw, is much easier to render in comics than as an actual three-dimensional object. But it's the most simple, elemental part of Doom's appearance next to his green cloak. If the mask is right and he's got his trademark hood and cape, the rest of his appearance has lots of leeway in how it can be designed.

Doom's mask isn't just a disguise for him, either. In Doom's eyes, it's his true face - the only one he wants the world to see thanks to his brutally burned flesh. What's that you say? Doom only had a tiny scar after his machine exploded? That's true. But Doom further disfigures himself by putting on his red hot mask directly after it was forged, choosing to forego his human face for a face of wretched iron - purging himself of physical vanity and vowing to become Reed Richards' doom.

Gravitas

Here it is. The most important quality Doctor Doom must have to come across as a true, fully-realized adaptation of Marvel's most malevolent villain: gravitas. The air of menace and seriousness that Doctor Doom commands as both a villain and as the literally iron-fisted monarch of Latveria is second to none in the Marvel Universe. Doom possesses such arrogance and profound entitlement that he can look cosmic beings in the face and make them blink, like when he rescued the entire Multiverse from the enigmatic Beyonders who wished to wipe it out in the lead-up to 2015's Secret Wars event 

Doom has wit, he has a certain kind of charm, but they're very much not the kind of snarky, often detached wit and charm of Tony Stark. Doom is perfectly capable of turning a hero's words around on him, but it's less like a sick burn and more like a lawyerly argument designed to perfectly manipulate his target. Take for example his most recent accomplishment - stealing the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme by literally talking Stephen Strange into handing it over to him.

How did he do it? All he had to do was viciously but sternly point out to Strange that the job of the Sorcerer Supreme is to protect Earth from mystical threats like the vampire insurrection that was sweeping the Marvel Universe at the time - and that only he, Doom, was truly capable of doing so. He then immediately addressed the people of Earth, informing them of his new title and bringing fear to everyone who heard his message. That's the kind of gravitas Doom requires.

2025 will bring the 'One World Under Doom' storyline to the Marvel Universe, with Doctor Doom once again serving as Marvel's top villain.

The protagonist of My Hero Academia is a teenager named Izuku Midoriya, a boy born without a Quirk (AKA a superpower) in a world where many people are granted one naturally. Though he remains deeply interested in the world of heroes and the ways in which Quirks work, it does render him an outsider and a target for bullying by the hot-tempered Katsuki Bakugo, a kid with the apt Quirk of being able to create explosions with his hands. This dynamic matures a little bit when both are enrolled in U.A. High School, an academy for training future heroes, but it does not diminish Bakugo's sense of loathing for Midoriya, especially when he acquires his own Quirk and is taken under the wing of All Might, the world's greatest hero, who both students idolize.

If anything, Midoriya (who takes on the superhero name Deku) being able to stand up for himself physically against Bakugo (who opts for the superhero name Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, but gets called Kacchan) makes him even more frustrated. Midoriya is everything that Bakugo isn't when it comes to heroism – a team-player who thrives in crafting strategy and is ceaselessly optimistic. Bakugo craves leadership, jumps into battle situations, and grows irate when plans don't go his way. While they do meet supervillains that are their opposites, it is perhaps My Hero Academia's greatest narrative weakness that they are often profoundly less interesting than the protagonists and all cut from the same, "The world doesn't need heroes, heroes aren't actually good, what we truly need is power, etc." cloth.

Midoriya and Bakugo, on the other hand, evolve with and against one another. Bakugo's ceaseless bluster causes Midoriya to become more forthright, and he eventually welcomes Bakugo's drive to force them into a rivalry (even after Bakugo defeats him in one-on-one battle). Meanwhile, Midoriya's attitude helps force Bakugo into a previously unforeseen habit of contemplation. If he isn't the strongest and he isn't meant to achieve immediate greatness, then what is his role? It's something that a Quirk-less Midoriya had to evaluate for many years as a child. What is his purpose in a world that seems destined to leave him behind? Can he still be a hero? 

Spoilers for the final chapter of My Hero Academia

Though the first half of the series is marked by Bakugo's hostile behavior, he actively begins to support Midoriya and his training (while maintaining his prickly personality). This culminates in a moment that sees Bakugo inspire Midoriya rather than the other way around – when Midoriya attempts to leave his team in order to prevent them from being caught in a potentially fatal war, Bakugo leads the way in pulling him back. He tells Midoriya that his childhood hatred stemmed from a deep well of insecurity. Midoriya's childhood embrace of heroism and what it meant to be a hero made Bakugo, who could not grasp it on the same level, jealous. All of the traits that Bakugo had claimed to hate – the relentless positivity and the never-give-up values – were the ones that he wished he'd had himself. Or at least had been able to empathize with at the time.

The two end up participating in the final battle together, and both are integral in the heroes defeating what seems like an endless wave of villains. Years later, in the final chapter, we see that Bakugo retained his impassioned temperament. Meanwhile Midoriya, his body damaged by both his Quirk and the years of heavy fighting, has made peace with a quieter life. However, Bakugo has been a proponent in crafting technology that allows Midoriya to potentially take a physically active role in superheroism again, meaning that the boy who once insulted a character without "powers" has now evolved into a man who wishes to find a way to bring those abilities back.

My Hero Academia is far from perfect – the aforementioned villains could be an issue, and the story often took thematic swings and painted with broad strokes in a way that didn't always pay off. But the backbone of the story was never Midoriya/Deku's trials against evil. Instead, it was his fight to connect with the good in Bakugo, a potential friend. And though the manga has ended, it's that relationship that will make it a worthwhile read for years to come. 

My Hero Academia can be read in the pages of Weekly Shōnen Jump and online at the VIZ Media website.

Keen to start reading manga? Here are 10 incredible ongoing series you should be reading right now.