Customer Reviews

Batman: Sword of Azrael (Prelude to Knightfall)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THE SWORD OF AZRAEL really plays out more as an unintended prequel to the events of Batman's KNIGHTFALL, and it's a far superior work of art. Jean-Paul Valley is troubled by his inability to master the control over his superhero impulses to become an avenging angel, until Bruce Wayne enters his life. This four-issue collected trade paperback is a must for any serious fan of the Bat, and, even today, stands as an example of one of the best works of Batfiction available. (As well, there was a BBC adaptation of KNIGHTFALL that covered some of the events of AZRAEL that's absolutely breathtaking!)

Honestly, I had no idea who Azrael was when I picked this book up. I knew who Joe Quesada & Kevin Nowlan (the artistic team)were. First of all, the artwork blew me away. Quesada's dynamic visuals & Nowlan's vast knowledge of shadows draw the reader in to every single detail on every single panel. But here's the kicker: They story also grabs you. O'Neil writes a tale of a troubled young man forced to pursue the life of Azrael due to his bloodline. His torment & tribulations are clear throughout the story, but Azrael comes through in the end. And to all the Batman fans out there, we know who took over the cape & cowl for a little while, don't we?

This is an excellent mini-series that intoduced Bruce Wayne's would-be successor to the mantle of the Bat. I have always loved Denny O'Neill's take on the exploits of the Batman family and the characters he has introduced in these pages are extremely well considered. This is a tale of a globe hopping adventuring Batman that very much brings to mind O'Neill and Neal Adams Ra's Al Ghul epics. The Azrael character and the order of St Dumas are also very interesting and mysterious. Some of the best Batman stuff of the last decade, and I didn't even mention the art which is breathtaking.

Sword of Azrael is a prequel to the outstanding Knightfall arc. Here we learn a little more about the order of St. Dumas and of the legendary Azrael figure (basically a killer). We are also introduced to Jean-Paul Valley, the guy that will eventually take up the Bat mantle when Bruce Wayne is snapped like a twig. Here we see Jean-Paul as a young man. He is a half-way decent guy with some morals but is compelled by powers he doesn't fully understand that have been lurking in him since childhood, he also seeks revenge for the death of this father. There is something evil in Valley that it will take him down the paths of darkness and ultimatley the the battle of his life with Batman (that's much, much later toward the end of Knightfall). This book is not essential for understanding the Knightfall Arc, but I recommend it to you if you'd like some back-story on Azrael.

I had been looking forward to starting the Knightfall saga at some point, but knowing that Azrael plays a major role in that, decided I would hold off until I had read this first, which is his introduction to Batman's universe. I was also intrigued due to the fact that it was written by Dennis O' Neil who is considered to be one of the great Batman writers as well as editors.

Azrael's origin is interesting, but wasn't as exciting as I would have liked. We are first introduced to the old Azrael at the start, the Angel of Vengeance, and his demise. He then passes on his legacy to his son, Jean Paul, as his father before him did, so he was predestined to become Azrael.

Batman gets involved and he and Alfred head off to Lucerno in search of Azrael. During this time, Nomoz, an ugly, despicable character, is training Jean Paul in the ancient order of St. Dumas. While I enjoyed having Alfred along for the ride and seeing him out of the bat cave for a change, I really detested Nomoz and his ongoing instructions to Azrael, but I suppose the point was that he wasn't meant to be a well-liked character.

To top it off the main villain, LeHah, left a lot to be desired. He seemed to take on the powers of the lord demon Biis, but I won't even bother trying to explain that aspect. His motives were pretty clear, but not very captivating. By the end, there doesn't seem to be much of a resolution, and the fact that as Azrael, Jean Paul murdered several guards doesn't seem to matter because now he's decided to change his ways. I figured this story would be a teaming of Batman and Azrael, but to my surprise, Bruce is not Batman for the majority of this story and is held captive. It is more accurately an Azrael story and Batman plays his co-star. Overall, I expected better things out of this one.

Batman comes into conflict with Azrael. This man is an agent of the Order of St Dumas. However, he is also rather unstable, and take that, along with superhuman type abilities and an overweening arrogance, and you end up with a lot of problems.

One of those almost supervillain type characters that doesn't mind a large bodycount.

Believe the 5 star reviews, this is an incredible book. The artwork is some of the best. So many comics have expressionistic style drawings, this one is drawn the way, as Joe Queseda says in his introduction, that makes a comic a collectible. The story is very good; Azrael is an interesting character, and this helps set the rest of the story. I really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone.

This book features the first appearance of Azrael, who later went on to be Batman for about a year. The story is slow and unintriguing, and Batman is way too slow-witted just to build up Azrael.

I love Batman, and I love Denny O'Neil. I reread this the other night and despite a fun story and good mystery I didn't love this book.

It's no coincidence that Spawn and Azrael made their first appearance the same year. Azrael's back story and particularly his troll like mentor seemed out of place in the Batman/Gotham corner of the DC Universe. At times the book seems like a sequel to the The Da Vinci Code.

Bruce Wayne adventuring as himself instead of Batman was a fun change of pace and good old Alfred get's in on plenty of excitement serving a role typically played by Robin.

The art by Joe Quesada is superb. I also thought the coloring was particularly good.

All in all even a hard core Batfan could take or leave this one.

not a bad read but not as good as i have come to expect and look forward too.But to understand other issues or should i say shed more light on future encounters you really need to read it.