Excellent story about a clash of ideals between an iconic legend (Batman) and Azrael, the Angel of Death. This story was very action packed and not as wordy as I would've liked, but full of many memorable moments. The insinuations towards ancient secret societies give this story a real world gravitas and if you like action, beautiful artwork, and a great character driven story, then read this. The chemistry between Batman, Alfred, and Azrael was pretty tight. Dennis O' Neal really loves these ch...

He's a character of his time and somewhat infamous but i think his design waa always quite striking. Joe Quesada demonstrates his skill and fluid storytelling (although you can see his version of daredevil several tines here). The main problem is that it misses out a huge chunk of Azrael's character development which was having a stint as batman and the story just jumps from his introduction as azrael to him handling no longer being batman. Just seems odd. I'd have probably put his first minseri...

Azrael's origin story. Pretty fun but completely skippable unless you are an Azrael fan or you want to read everything in and around the Knightfall arc.

I liked this, I didn’t love it as it felt a bit rushed, especially the ending. I suppose this was meant to be a quick introduction to Azrael before the next big arc Knightfall. I quite liked the art though, it reminded me of the stuff I grew up on in the 90s.

It was an alright volume tbh.(view spoiler)[ We follow this guy Jean-Paul who when he sees his father and what happened to him and upon his request goes to an island in Sweden and where he meets the guy Nomoz and learns of the Order of St Dumas and words transplanted in his head and the subliminal messages and his calling: to become AZRAEL, angel of vengeance and well there's that and Batman follows him there on a case and well trying to take down the enemy but what happens when one member of th...

This is the origin for Jean-Paul Valley becoming Azrael and Batman’s first encounter with him. It was interesting to see how much Azrael has changed from when he first becomes Azrael to when he is Batman! I liked this story, it was an enjoyable origin of the character and lays the groundwork nicely for the Knightfall story. It was quite fast paced and had a lot of action which suits the character nicely.Overall I think that this was a good story to read, but I think that this is more of a Azrael...

I actually read this in monthly installments when it came out, although I missed issue two or three. An above-average Bat-story, with Batman written as more cynical than usual (that’s my memory, anyway) and a droll Alfred along for the adventure to act as foil. The art was the real standout, though: Joe Quesada’s mainstream pencilling debut with inks by Kevin Nowlan. I was really blown away by what I thought to be Quesada’s style, only to be disappointed when I picked up an X-Men book in which h...

A miniseries with one only goal, introduce us to the disposable second protagonist of the Knightfall/Knightquest/Knightsend trilogy, and it shows. Wooden dialogue coupled with wooden storytelling, the protagonist -a power ranger with flaming swords coming from his hands - with no personality whatsoever except some monosyllabic dialogue, a disposable antagonist with big muscles and big guns because "the 90's! Pouches, oversized bodies and big guns!Rob Liefeld and Image you Rock!", art raging from...

Sword of Azrael is a miniseries published by DC Comics and introduces Jean-Paul Valley as Azrael, who becomes a prominent figure in the Knightfall crossover event and in some editions is included as part of Batman: Prelude to Knightfall. Batman: Sword of Azrael collects all four issues of the 1992 miniseries.This story is about Jean Paul Valley, the descendant of holy warriors. Jean Paul Valley is forced into using his ancestral super powers and abilities to become Azrael, the avenging angel of

The best line in the whole book is when Jean-Paul Valley reveals his name and how it was his fathers name also and then bloody DC retconned it and changed his dads named to like Ludwig or something after this was published???But anyway, this story was quite poor. It was all over the place- literally. I think Azrael is a cool concept but the artistic design was done before the character design and it shows. On to Knightfall!

Some of Quesada’s best work, not least due to the style of Nolan’s inks. A gorgeous book from beginning to end. The story stays on the right side of ridiculousness, with globe trotting adventures and plenty of fist fights. The debuting Azrael is presented as s much more complex and sympathetic character than he would go on to become.

A Komikon 2011 specialI bought this at Komikon 2011 from the Comic Odyssey booth, who had an impressive array of back issues and trades on hand available at a very tempting discount. My hardcover purchases and the commissioned sketches and original art was what broke my bank at the event.I picked this out from a pile of discount trades not knowing that this was signed copy. I bought it at a discounted price of four hundred pesos thinking it was a worthy price for a title with Joe Quesada art. I

Part of my Batman comic book reread project. Continued from Batman: Venom.Between that (mid 1991) and Azrael (early 1993), I have six comic books with random villains, none of the biggies. I think I got them because they relate to ongoing soap stuff. Batman takes on Harold as his IT man in the batcave. Tim Drake's father gets better, which means Tim has to join him. Luckily the mansion next to Wayne manor is for sale, and the Drakes buy it, which is incredibly convenient for Robin. Batman also a...

First of all, the 3 narrators were WAY too confusing, you cannot change narrators like that in a story and expect me to understand what's going on, ESPECIALLY when you're introducing literally an entire cast of new characters (with characters we know it could be at most acceptable, since I could maybe recognise them by voice). I do enjoy a good snow story however, so they do win some extra points for that, and I did enjoy seeing Batman struggling but not getting downed in one hit, which is somet...

2.5 Stars

A really good comic in the making of the Batman Mythology and all of there characters. The inception of Azrael opens up a new world where bats fight against a villain ancient as the Templars from the Cruzade times. If you want to understand in a deep and more complete level the great world of Batman this is one of the stories that you have to read.

This is Azrael's origin story and the prelude to Knightfall. I really like Azrael. It's a pity that Knightfall destroyed his character. I also like how Alfred's character was portrayed in this story. Lastly, Joe Quesada's art is really good.

Batman: The Sword of Azrael is a bit of an oddity in the Batman canon. Serving as a prelude to the mammoth Knightfall arc (which I will get around to tackling at some point) and an introduction to the mysterious Azrael, it’s not really a Batman story at all. In fact there’s not a whole lot of Batman in it. There’s lots of Bruce Wayne, but he’s captured for a large chunk. This is an Azrael story.Admittedly, I first learned about Azrael in the Arkham games (a different incarnation, voiced amazingl...

After reading the Knightfall and Knightquest storylines, I decided to go back and read Jean Paul Valley's origins as Azrael before continuing. I have to say, I am slightly disappointed. I think Dennis O'Neil is a really good writer, but his writing in this miniseries was wooden and even confusing at times. (The one really good aspect is the development of Alfred's bond with Jean Paul, which hardly returns in Knightfall and later storylines. Shame on you, later writers!) The villain in this minis...

The origin story of Azrael. I don't get the appeal of Azrael, a character who basically boils down to "I am angry some of the time and my sword is on fire most of the time, isn't this cool." The plot was generic and predictable. The characters - including both Azrael and Bruce/Batman - were so flat and generic that you could have removed them and pasted in any other superhero of your choice and it would not have changed the story, at all. The only real reason to read this is if you are a total c...