Azrael Vol. 1: Fallen Angel (Azrael: Agent of the Bat (1995-2003))

Azrael was one of the better spinoffs from DC’s Batman titles of the 1990s.The character of Jean Paul Valley, aka Azrael, was introduced in a four issue miniseries, titled 'Batman: Sword of Azrael’, in 1992; this miniseries is included in this compilation.Batman writer Denny O’Neil subsequently incorporated Valley into the 1993 – 1994 mega-crossover storylines known as ‘Knightfall’, ‘Knightquest’, and ‘Knightsend’. The Jean Paul Valley incarnation of Batman was meant to capture the darker, and more morally ambiguous, tone of the vigilante characters – such as the Punisher – that were rising in popularity during the early 1990s. When the character was expelled (so to speak) from the Batman lineup, he was depicted as adrift and psychotic (Showcase No. 94, included in this compilation) and his future seemed uncertain at best.However, DC decided to provide Azrael with his own series, the first seven issues (February 1995 – August 1995) of which are included in this compilation. In this initial story arc, Jean Paul Valley embarks on a journey to learn more about his origins, and the role played in these origins by the mysterious Order of St Dumas.Azrael – eventually retitled ‘Azrael: Agent of the Bat’ – lasted for 100 issues, up to May 2003, before being cancelled.O’Neil handled writing duties for many of the initial issues, and he kept the plots straightforward and accessible from one issue to the next, not an easy thing to do during the 1990s when overwriting and over-plotting plagued many comic books from both Marvel and DC.Where the first run of Azrael really stood out was the artwork by artist Barry Kitson. Kitson was one of the extremely talented group of British artists (such as Brian Bolland, Bryan Hitch, John Bolton, and Dave Gibbons, among others) who entered U.S. comics during the 1990s and early 2000s. For Azrael, Kitson provided artwork that recalled Art Nouveau in terms of its intricate, carefully crafted visual style. Kitson’s renderings of flames (and there are lots of flames associated with Azrael), icicles, snowbanks, fabric patterns, and crowded streets in North African cities shone despite the limitations of comic book printing technology of the mid-1990s. It’s worth noting that James Pascoe’s inks, Demetrius Bassoukos’s colors, and Ken Bruzenak’s letterings were the perfect complement to Kitson’s pencils.[When Kitson left the series with issue 30, it just wasn’t the same.]As other reviewers have noted, it’s too bad more of the 1990s run of Azrael comics haven’t been collected into graphic novel compilations, or the ever-popular omnibus format. Until that happens, ‘Azrael Volume 1: Fallen Angel’ is recommended for those who want to see what Azrael is all about.

90s comics has a certain attitude in common; this wasn't entirely a good or bad thing, just a specific flavor. This volume really encapsulates that time period, for good and ill. It's an enjoyable enough collection, but only read it if you're willing to take that nostalgia trip.

I love Azrael as a character. A driven man, not unlike Batman, that brings some religious undertones to the crimefighting genre. This book has two large sections, one is four-part origin story that is illustrated by Joe Quesada (both are written by Dennis O'Neil). His art is good and has its moments of excellence. The remains of the order of St. Dumas are established and the story splits between the Batman and Azrael parts. Batman is, surprisingly (and pretty rarely nowadays, I think), taken captive and it's up to Alfred and Azrael to rescue him. Overall, a good entry for the character.The other two thirds of the book is taken by the first eight issues of the main series. Taking place after the events of Knightfall, it deals with Jean-Paul Valley trying to find himself and his past in a journey all over the world and culminating when he finds the place where he was born. The book ends on a tragic cliffhanger leaving me wanting for more. Unfortunately, in the usual DC fashion, only a single volume has been produced so far (in 2016, no less, it's already been two years, DC!), so I would have to resort to buying single issues which I rarely do. The pencils here are by Barry Kitson and the team of penciller/inker/colorist does not change during the course of this volume. However, the art is uneven. The first issues are amazing but then it declines into mediocrity with some spikes of greatness here and there. A pity. Let's hope that it will become better later on.

For people interested in Azrael, my advice is always... pick this or Sword of Azrael. The plus of this one is that it includes a few issues of his solo series.Then read the Knightfall trilogy.After that I recommend people pick up some of the Azrael tradepaperbacks featuring Michael Lane.Regardless Sword of Azrael is one of my favourite storylines despite it's flaws just because it's so good at building up Azrael and developping Jean Paul Valley. A must have prologue to the Knightfall trilogy omnibuses.

As soon as u get to the Azrael comic the images are blurry. The character is also unregignizabe from his appearances in the nightfall/nightquest/nightsend story arcs. Not a fan.

If you are a Jean-Paul Valley fan, like me, then this collection is great to have, even if you own the individual issues. It makes it more portable, and the paper is very nice!It gives us the origin for Jean-Paul, from Sword of Azrael and then moves to Showcase 94 for a one off story that sets up Jean-Paul in a new status quo that makes him an official/unofficial member of the Bat family.He fights the order that spawned him, and Even Ra's Al Ghul! Great work by Denny O'Neil and his team of artists from Joe Quesada to Barry Kitson!Highly recommend for JPV fans!

The starts out very good for any Azrael fan.Stays that way until the end.

big fan of Jean Paul Azrael! glad finally it was reprinted. great story and can't go wrong with Joe Quesada art which this was his first DC work i think. a must read/have before jumping on Knightfall saga.

The images look blurry on some pages, but overall the story hooked me. Sadly, it ends on a cliffhanger and there is no second volume.

Bought as a present for a Batman fan and he loved it.

Reprint of some good stories with great art. Very 90's but at the time it was contemporary works so now its kind of quaint and interesting, but still very nice. Issue 7 ends on a cliffhanger however so I hope there's a Volume 2 that picks up after for new readers.

Great read

Very disappointed by this TPB. It looks like it was just scanned from old comics and slightly cleaned up, rather than made from proper art files. Results in really muddy looking art which does a disservice to the Joe Quesada art in particular.