Well . . Azrael is back. Kind of. Obviously Jean Paul Valley is dead, and the guy who recently inherited the Suit of Sorrows was ultimately consumed by it. So the Order of St Dumas was forced to rescind their decision and 'recall' the suit. Well, not actually the Order of St Dumas, but rather a splinter group of it calling themselves the Order of Purity. They're the one that actually forged the armor in the first place. After the recent set-back, they'd been wondering which direction to go in when the answer falls in their lap. Michael Washington Lane was one of the 3 men picked by the GCPD, and the government, to train to replace the Batman . . should he fall in battle. He was also a major component in his downfall. So he goes to a Father to confess his sins, "I helped kill the Batman." This Father is also part of the Order of Purity and he shares his findings. Since the man has already trained to be the Batman, and has the proper psychological motivations, they decide to ask him to wear the suit. They have all their conversations and arguments planned out but Michael's response is . . . "Lose the Bat symbol. Call me when it's ready." But he's not about to get any acclimation time. When he leave the church, Talia has her assassins ready to retrieve the suit. They fail to take him down, but the old men inside are easy targets. In the confusion, he rushes in, puts on the suit, and using the blood of one of the victims paints a cross on his chest. As he begins to fight the assassins, he tells them " . . I am the Dark Knight of God! I am Azrael!" With his Sword of Sin he feels that he's ready for the confrontation. However, Talia slips in from the shadows and strikes him with the Sword of Salvation. He didn't think it was going to be that easy, did he? I thought this was a great reintroduction of this character. And it was only logical that the Order would choose Michael as their next agent. It'll be interesting to see how he changes when he assumes this identity. I thought Fabian Nicieza did a great job with this first issue, and I love Frazer Irving's art. And thus steps up the next bidder in the Battle for the Cowl.
Although the new Azrael seems like a very interesting character, I am kind of hoping that the original Azrael returns because I would love to see what his response would be to Lane-Given the fact his body wasn't recovered, it is possible that he will return at some point.
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