A complete waste of effort on the part of the creative team. I am not a fan of Ben...but he deserved better than this and the end of the Beyond storyline.
To me...having him come out of the Beyond Storyline relatively intact but depowered...and Janine with her record wiped clean (or at least commuted her sentence behind the scenes) with them moving off to live happily ever after in a non-super hero city/life would have been a respectful ending for the character.
All I wanted was to be unconditionally loved while never having to work on my flaws. Is that so much to ask?
"Has Sariel summoned you here, Azrael? Have you come to witness the miracle of your brethren arriving on Earth?"
"I WILL MIX THE ASHES OF YOUR BONES WITH SALT AND USE THEM TO ENSURE THE EARTH THE TEMPLARS TILLED NEVER BEARS FRUIT AGAIN!"
"*sigh* I hoped it was for the miracle."
Dan Watters' Azrael was incredible, a constant delight and perhaps too good for this world (but not the Forth). For the love of St. Dumas, DC, give us more!!!