Batman Sword Of Azrael Review (Canon Read Through #37)

Jean Paul Valley is a bit of a controversial Batman Universe Character. I never really liked him just for his reputation. I also never really gave him a chance till now.

Batman Sword Of Azrael perfectly introduces the character into the DC universe and it is worth your time.

It's not perfect though and there certainly are some problems.

You can read my full thoughts on the link below.
[URL="http://deffinition.co.uk/batman-sword-of-azrael-review/"]
Batman Sword Of Azrael Review

[/URL]What did you think of the book if you've read it and if you haven't do you want to pick it up?

Let me know and thanks for checking out my thoughts on it.

Cheers!

Knightfall, Knightquest, and Knightsend are in my opinion some of the best work ever in the history of comics let alone the character of Batman. The Knightfall saga is truly a love letter to the character of Batman. The story set the bar for line wide crossovers as well as perfecting the legend of an all but beaten Batman somehow come back through pure adrenaline and somehow save the day. Bane's plan to take out the Batman when he was sick through letting all of the Arkham inmates escape was not only a genius plan but it truly was an innovative way to put a twist on the revolving door at Arkham Asylum.

This book was Hush before Hush, Batman Eternal BEFORE Batman Eternal, Batman RIP/Reborn before/Batman RIP/Reborn etc etc. However, without reading Sword Of Azrael and really taking in the pitch perfect tone of that story in regards to not only Batman is being portrayed but also Jean Paul Valley as a total nerdy hacker type gone total badass because of "The System" in his head. Sword Of Azrael is seriously some of the best stuff to come out of the early 90s an is very much on par with any secret agent 007 James Bond-esque material as there is always action and it traverses the globe in scale.

Sword Of Azrael was a great mix of gothicly/medieval pulp trappings/atmosphere, Bond-like exotic globetrotting, and the amazing art by Quesada. And O'Neill always did great with characterization.

Really wish they would include this with the Knightfall collections. But yeah, this series is a nice character showcase and some of Denny O'Neil's better work (not all of the later Azrael series would live up to that benchmark lol.) I finished reading the entire Knightfall saga recently and the thing that struck me is... it truly is completely unbelievable and baffling that Bruce thought Jean Paul was ready to take up the mantle of the Batman, and that things move so quickly toward that direction. His reasoning for not contacting Dick is actually sound, but good lord, look at this series - Jean Paul [I]slaughters[/I] people in this book, and then at the end it's like a switch is flipped and he's magically not a murderer anymore and Batman decides he's stable enough to recruit into patrols with Tim. And, in the leadup to Knightfall proper on one of Tim and JPV's outings, even [I]then[/I] we see Jean Paul's grip on his sanity loosening and he comes close to murdering someone again - it's just, yeah, you really have to do some astounding mental gymnastics here to remotely believe this part of the story. To clarify, I still think Jean Paul's a good character and has a decent arc in Knightfall. Incidentally, if all the stuff with Mother from B&R Eternal was in play in pre-Flashpoint continuity it would actually make Bruce's recruitment of Jean Paul prior to Knightfall a little more palatable, in my opinion.

*Also makes Batman's rejection of Huntress during this period downright infuriating...

[QUOTE=Deffinition;2884380]Jean Paul Valley is a bit of a controversial Batman Universe Character. I never really liked him just for his reputation. I also never really gave him a chance till now.

Batman Sword Of Azrael perfectly introduces the character into the DC universe and it is worth your time.

It's not perfect though and there certainly are some problems.

You can read my full thoughts on the link below.
[URL="http://deffinition.co.uk/batman-sword-of-azrael-review/"]
Batman Sword Of Azrael Review

[/URL]What did you think of the book if you've read it and if you haven't do you want to pick it up?

Let me know and thanks for checking out my thoughts on it.

Cheers![/QUOTE]

A few corrections for you after reading your article...

This book was written by Dennis O'Neil, pretty much the god of Batman writers, not a new writer trying to shake things up. It was also in the process long before the Death of Superman arc. Also, contrary to what the bloggers here at CBR would like people to think, Azrael (Jean Paul Valley) was never a hated character. Fans were actually excited and embraced him when he became Batman in Knightfall.

I always find it funny when people mention how there was a point in the Azrael solo series that was kind of meh. Prior to these huge arcs like the Knightsaga and those that followed, there were a lot of Batman stories that were just kind of filler as well. Tons actually. O'Neil wrote the whole series and when it started getting exciting again was towards the last 20 or so issues which was sort of the art imitating life part for O'Neil.

The new Omnibus hard cover edition of Knightfall (Volume 1) does a much better job by adding in the prelude issues leading up to the 19 issue story arc, unlike the cash in on the Dark Knight Rises editions released in 2012, it has the issues that introduce JPV. It also discusses Bruce's reasoning for training with him detailing how dangerous he could really be without the help. It is annoying though that, again, they included Vengeance of Bane in the Omnibus but not Sword of Azrael, which instead was included in the solo Azrael volume 1 that was released last year. Volume 2 was supposed to be released around this time a year ago but they cancelled it for some reason. My guess is that they were hoping that Azrael on Gotham would have bolstered interested (and sales) and it didn't happen. A shame too because most internet fair weather fans still don't realize that there's a huge difference between JPV from Knightfall, and Azrael from the Arkham video games. But I digress...

I cannot agree with you more. I don't like Jean Paul Valley too.

I have always loved Azrael but initially for purely superficial reasons. I remember seeing the solicit for Azrael mini series in the free DC comics preview thing back in the day and I loved the Joe Quesada drawn costume so I added it to my pull list. Really liked the story, I was mad when during his run in Batman he put the Azrael costume down for some generic meh costume. Then Bane happened and I really liked the initial Az-Bat armor, it eventually got too clunky, but I loved the way JPV weaponized the batarangs. Then Knightfall happened and he got his own ongoing. I really liked his own book especially with Barry Kitson on art. He might be my favorite to draw JPV even more than Quesada. The mythology of St. Dumas, the co-stars, the conflict with Ra's, and the rivalry with Bane.

I remember thinking it would be cool to set up a dynamic like one I remember in pro wrestling. Where T.Dreamer (good guy) could never beat Raven (the bad guy) who couldn't usually beat Sandman (the anti-hero type) who could usually never beat T. Dreamer. It would be cool if Bane just had Bruce's number, but there was something about JPV he just couldn't overcome, however JPV just never could beat Bruce either. Now DC couldn't let anyone consistently get the better of Bruce for long but if they did, it would set up a cool dynamic where neither of the three could never reign supreme because of matchup problems.

That being said JPV's position in Detective comics is why it is my 2nd favorite ongoing in DC right now right behind Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps.

I've always liked Az but for some reason this book didn't do it for me. I remember liking it but not loving it like I thought I would. Maybe I'll give it another shot one of these days.

[QUOTE=EmeraldGladiator;3018710]I have always loved Azrael but initially for purely superficial reasons. I remember seeing the solicit for Azrael mini series in the free DC comics preview thing back in the day and I loved the Joe Quesada drawn costume so I added it to my pull list. Really liked the story, I was mad when during his run in Batman he put the Azrael costume down for some generic meh costume. Then Bane happened and I really liked the initial Az-Bat armor, [B]it eventually got too clunky,[/B] but I loved the way JPV weaponized the batarangs. Then Knightfall happened and he got his own ongoing. I really liked his own book especially with Barry Kitson on art. He might be my favorite to draw JPV even more than Quesada. The mythology of St. Dumas, the co-stars, the conflict with Ra's, and the rivalry with Bane.
[/QUOTE]

I always assumed (I have nothing to back this up) that was on purpose. Like the crazier he got he started making the costume uglier and uglier.

[QUOTE=Darkseid Is;3018916]I always assumed (I have nothing to back this up) that was on purpose. Like the crazier he got he started making the costume uglier and uglier.[/QUOTE]

I believe so to because in the end JPV didn't fight Bruce, Bruce just crawled through a hole that the Az Bats armor was too clunky to get through forcing JPV to strip parts of it off as he went, which somehow freed him from the programming in his head.