What did you think of Azrael (the series) overall?

[Constantine Drakon]

Since his series is over and it doesn't look like he'll get another one soon, what did you think of the whole thing?

[carabas]

It started out rather well, and for a time was one of my favourite books each month.
Over time it got a bit boring though. And the later villains were... lacking, to say the least.
Finally, I think it was the costume change that killed the book stone dead. You just don't ditch o,e the coolest costumes in the history of comics for one of the most generic ones.

I dropped the book somewhere aroung #40, later picked it up again, and finally dropped for good shortly after No Man's Land.

[Agentum]

I like it, at least the first #40 or something before they changed the name to "Agent of the bat" , as it was a new character i think 100 books was a long run.


I agree that the costume changing was a bad desision, a stupid move.
They tried to take the old one back but it was to late.
And the ending was worthless like they wanted to get rid of the character because of Quesadas involvment or something:D

[TitoJones]

At the beginning when it was him against the Order of Saint Dumas, it was a cool book, one of my favorites.

But to join the crowd it began to suck right around the time of the earthquake in Gotham. And changing the costume was just plain stupid.

[Lester C.]

It started out well, which is no surprise as Dennis Oneal was one of the best writers ever and so instrumental in the development of the modern comic. That said after decades of work Dennis was cleary burned out and his book reflected that towards the end of Azrael's run.

I don't know if this matters but Azrael wasn't a member of the Bat family as he factored in very little, or at all in the varying big bat crossovers. As a fan I loved this because it meant the book was selfcontained which I think leads to better stories.

[Kara Zor El]

It started out rather well, and for a time was one of my favourite books each month.
Over time it got a bit boring though. And the later villains were... lacking, to say the least.
Finally, I think it was the costume change that killed the book stone dead. You just don't ditch o,e the coolest costumes in the history of comics for one of the most generic ones.

I dropped the book somewhere aroung #40, later picked it up again, and finally dropped for good shortly after No Man's Land.

I agree with you. although I dropped it at about 20.

I hated the costume changes. The art in the first few was great but then it suffered vwith change.

[Choppa]

Azrael was a victim of a character assasination just like Hal Jordan and Cassandra Cain were. None of his actions in Knightfall make any sense given what we know about him from Sword of Azrael. Even though the character was planned from the beginning to be a part of the story, falling under the influence of the System is completley random after we see that he previously had it under control.

[Kara Zor El]

Azrael was a victim of a character assasination just like Hal Jordan and Cassandra Cain were. None of his actions in Knightfall make any sense given what we know about him from Sword of Azrael. Even though the character was planned from the beginning to be a part of the story, falling under the influence of the System is completley random after we see that he previously had it under control.

But that's the same as someone having their mental illness under control and then reverting back to it. Or alcoholism under control only to fall of the wagon again.
Or depression or whatever.
Just because Azrael got the System under control doesn't mean he couldn't lose control.
Plus wasn't it dressing up as Batman and wearing a costume that brought it back out again.

[Agentum]

I don't know if this matters but Azrael wasn't a member of the Bat family as he factored in very little, or at all in the varying big bat crossovers. As a fan I loved this because it meant the book was selfcontained which I think leads to better stories.
I agree with you, i like the book because of that too, it was not so dependable on the batbooks.
I thnk that why it got to #100 really.

[carabas]

Azrael was a victim of a character assasination just like Hal Jordan and Cassandra Cain were. None of his actions in Knightfall make any sense given what we know about him from Sword of Azrael.

What we know from his origin mini is that he is a reluctant, mind-controlled assassin.
And that he was specifically created to play the part of Az-Bats in Knightfall.

[Choppa]

But that's the same as someone having their mental illness under control and then reverting back to it. Or alcoholism under control only to fall of the wagon again.
Or depression or whatever.
Just because Azrael got the System under control doesn't mean he couldn't lose control.
Plus wasn't it dressing up as Batman and wearing a costume that brought it back out again.

Yea that makes sense if you don't really remember what happened in Sword or didn't read it. Sword makes it perfectly clear at the end that JPV was able to differentiate between his true identity while wearing the suit. Why he was suddenly unable to do this when faced with that Medallion or another costume later doesn't make any sense. It's nothing at all like falling off the wagon or being depressed, because if it was something that could recur so easily then what was the point of Sword? It would totally negate the ending. Why show him overcoming that system at all?

[carabas]

Azrael was conceived to be the main villain in KnightQuest/KightsEnd.
The very purpose of the character was to become Batman and then go bonkers (at least Denny O'Neil seems to think so in his prewaord to the Knightfall trades).

[Rocket13]

I think that I read the whole run and have to agree with others that the character began very strongly, but by the end was merely a shadow of his former self. Once they lost the St. Dumas angle it really went down hill in my opinion.

[Damo]

I was one of the ones that loved this almost until the last issue (which definitely was a whimper, not a bang).

Great character, wonderful iconography, really deep background and internal struggles. Also: Flaming sword. Always a plus.

A hero at war with the monster indoctrinated into him, not sure of who he is. It's a great basis for the character, and I loved how O'Neil kept so many of his battles moral ones, not physical ones.

But there definitely was a downside. I loved Nicholas Scratch's men (a shame they were killed off in the end.) their appearance and motivation, but Scratch... oy, Scratch. Maybe if he had a better design originally I could believe this guy could manipulate both rebelious youths and conservative adults, but with the design we got it just felt wrong. It's a pity the Order of Dumas turned out to be so... small. The fact that the entire order was nearly wiped out by blowing up a single castle that seemed barely occupied was kind of hard to swallow. Still, much love for Sister Lilhy.

The costume changes were horrible decisions. Plain and simple.

That said I have more fond memories than bad ones. Ghost pirates? Awesome.

It's often said that it was a shame Denny didn't let someone else take over, but I'm not entirely sure anyone that would have done better wanted the job. Azrael wasn't exactly making a lot of guest appearances, which leads me to wonder how many creatives at the time actually wanted the book.

[DWEarhart]

I'm with the majority. Great beginning, and it suffered the longer it continued.

If this latest Crisis accomplished anything worthwhile, it would be bringing back the order of St. Dumas, with Jean Paul back in the armor.

[Nick MB]

The first 27 issues were really good. Developed the character, interesting cast around him, plot that made sense, nice use of Batman and showing what made him different to Azrael.
But, yeah, God knows what happened to it after that. They never really found any particularly interesting villains to replace the Order of St Dumas, to be honest I'm not sure O'Neil had planned beyond that point. I dropped it with the Agent Of The Bat namechange and the godawful costume change, but I was being generous giving it that long.