Azrael (comic book)
| Azrael | |
|---|---|
Cover for Azrael #1 (February 1995)
. Art by Barry Kitson and James Pascoe. |
|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date |
(vol. 1) February 1995 - May 2003 (vol. 2) October 2009 - May 2011 |
| Number of issues |
(vol. 1): 100 + 3 Annuals (vol 2): 18 |
| Main character(s) | Jean-Paul Valley followed by Michael Lane as Azrael |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) |
(vol. 1) Denny O'Neil (vol. 2) Fabian Nicieza |
| Penciller(s) |
(vol. 1) Joe Quesada Barry Kitson Roger Robinson (vol. 2) Ramon Bachs Guillem March |
| Creator(s) |
Denny O'Neil Joe Quesada |
Azrael was an American comic book ongoing series, published by DC Comics based on the character Azrael. The name, inspired by the Islamic Angel of Death, is primarily associated with two characters: Jean-Paul Valley and Michael Lane. Valley was primarily featured between 1992 and 2003, while Lane was the star of a comics series which ran from 2009 to 2011.
Azrael made his debut in a limited series called Batman: Sword of Azrael, in which he was introduced as a mild-mannered college student named Jean-Paul Valley, who becomes an assassin and acts on the will of a religious cult known as The Order of St. Dumas. His father Ludovic Valley had carried out the duties of the role until suffering severe gunshot wounds at the hands of a weapons-dealer named Carlton LeHah, at which point he was able to contact Jean-Paul and on his deathbed reveal that he had been brainwashing his son in preparation for the role since birth, unbeknownst to Jean-Paul himself. Jean-Paul is then escorted by a dwarf named Nomoz to a property in Switzerland which belongs to the Order, where Jean-Paul is to be more fully prepared to assume the role his father had failed. Jean-Paul's entire personality disappears as soon as he places Azrael's helmet on his head, and he begins to believe he is an actual avenging angel, as opposed to a man dressed like one. He is sent by Nomoz on an assassination mission, but over the course of the mission Jean-Paul gradually gains more and more control over the Azrael mindset, which Nomoz calls "The System". At one point, he finds Batman in a life-threatening situation, and actually risks his own life to save Batman's. Nomoz is angered and claims "Azrael does not protect", to which Batman replies "Maybe this one does." Although Azrael is an assassin, Batman recognizes his potential as a crime-fighter and attempts to dissuade him from taking lives. At the end of the series, Batman offers Jean-Paul the opportunity to join the Bat-family and return to Gotham to be trained in the Batcave.
Prior to Knightfall, Azrael has accepted Batman's offer and has been accompanying Robin on missions around Gotham City. When the villain Bane frees all the inmates from Arkham Asylum, Azrael assists with the clean-up effort. Batman eventually becomes so exhausted by fighting villains throughout the city that he is finally defeated by Bane in combat, and suffers a broken back in the process. After suffering such a severe injury, Batman realizes that he will not be able to carry on his duties as the protector of Gotham, but that Gotham needs a Batman, especially in the midst of a crime wave. Reasoning that the current Robin (Tim Drake) is too young to protect Gotham on his own, and that the original Robin (Dick Grayson) is now acting as Nightwing in the city of Bludhaven and would be unwilling to return to Gotham to play the role of Batman, he turns to Jean-Paul and asks him to fill in as Batman, under one condition: He must avoid taking on Bane. Azrael agrees, and begins wearing the Batman costume while patrolling the city with Robin. Over time, Azrael begins to display a violent recklessness and a willingness for independence from Robin's guidance. Under the influence of "The System", Azrael designs vicious new gloves for the Batsuit, which feature sharp metal claws and a mechanism for launching Batarangs at high speed. Robin does not approve of the brutal fighting methods which Azrael is employing, and Azrael responds to the criticism by choking Robin and telling him he is no longer welcome in the Batcave. Now acting on his own, Azrael becomes increasingly violent and seems to be losing his sanity, experiencing hallucinations of his father and of St. Dumas himself. Azrael becomes quite conceited and believes himself superior to the original Batman, even directly disobeying Bruce's only condition by fighting Bane one-on-one, and actually manages to defeat him by utilizing an all-new Batsuit which features heavy armor and a Bat-signal spotlight on the chestplate. His defeat of Bane gives him a false confidence in his abilities, and erodes his conscience as he believes himself above any questions of morality as long as the job is getting done, leading him to actually begin killing villains. Bruce hears news of this from Tim Drake while assisting the Justice League with rescuing Drake's father, who had been abducted. Bruce is shocked and disgusted that the name of the Batman is being used this way, and determines he must return to Gotham and take the title back from Azrael. When he has finally recovered and trained his body back into physical fitness, he returns to Gotham and asks Azrael to give up the Batsuit. Azrael refuses, and they resort to combat. Bruce is finally able to defeat Azrael by forcing him to remove his mask, at which point the Jean-Paul Valley personality regains control and expresses contrition, acknowledging Bruce as the one true Batman. Bruce forgives him, but claims he can no longer trust him so he cannot stay in the Batcave. Jean-Paul then leaves the Batcave in shame.
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