My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has been loud and proud about its connection to Western comics, even more so than its parent series. This tie to Western comics reached a high in the latest episode, however, as it actually featured art from a real Marvel Comics artist.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes has, so far, leaned in quite heavily into the comic book style for its animation, with big sound effects written out just like they would be on a comic page. This has given the series a bit of a different feel than the original My Hero Academia, even though it also dabbled in written sound effects at various points. Vigilantes, however, has now taken this to a new level, as a history lesson on the origin of heroes and vigilantes in this world was accompanied by some art by Marvel artist R.B. Silva, as confirmed on the series X (Formerly Twitter) .

Marvel Artist R.B. Silva Sketches My Hero Academia's Earliest Heroes

The Series' Past is Brought to Life by a Western Artist

in My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, it's revealed that the first people to become vigilantes with their Quirks were actually located in Rhode Island, of all places. The hero system which Japan and the rest of the world use in My Hero Academia was thus pioneered in the US in-universe, so it made some degree of sense to get a Western artist to draw these scenes. The images appeared as a new character, Makoto Tsukauchi (who is herself very Western comic-inspired), narrated the past and origins of the vigilante, and how they gradually fell out of favor when the hero system was created.

R.B. Silva's artwork for the episode is distinctly Western-looking, standing out from the anime style that the rest of the show uses, but befitting for a story about heroes in the US. Many of the characters featured in the images look vaguely familiar, as if they're pastiches of existing heroes. One in particular bears a distinct resemblance to DC's Robin, while another resembles Marvel's Moon Knight. It's interesting to note that these images did not exist in the manga, and were created especially for the My Hero Academia: Vigilantes anime.

R.B. Silva Has Worked on Many Big Name Comics

Silva's Work Includes The X-Men and Captain America

R.B. Silva was an interesting choice for the Vigilantes sequence. His past works at Marvel include The X-Men (particularly the Hellfire Gala storylines), Captain America, and the One World Under Doom crossover event. The artwork provided for Vigilantes appears to be top-notch work, with a high degree of detail given how relatively brief their time on screen was.

Marvel and My Hero Academia have certainly been close in recent years, with All Might's appearance in the Deadpool manga, official art depicting Deku and Spider-Man together, and now this collaboration in Vigilantes. Hopefully, the two superhero worlds will maintain , as both have benefited greatly from working together. Who knows what other surprises may lie in store for My Hero Academia: Vigilantes fans as the series continues?