I remember being really late to the party when it came to Azrael. By the time I learned about the character, he was already on his way to becoming the new Batman. This meant I’d missed his first appearance by quite a bit. So, rather than spending tons of my parents’ hard-earned cash on backissues, I did what any other cheap comic fan does, I bought the trade paperback. To say I was impressed with the character was an understatement! But you don’t want to read me droning on about the “Avenging Angel”. Let’s begin my look back at the miniseries that started it all with “Batman: Sword of Azrael” #1…..

The knight stood within the expensive Gotham City high-rise apartment. He had his flaming sword at the ready. His prey sat, clothed in nothing but a robe, in a leather chair. Considering the threat that stood before him, the man didn’t look afraid in the slightest. In fact, he looked mildly amused! The knight proclaimed that the man’s life was forfeit. He had been judged and the punishment was death by firey sword! The man smiled and replied that this wasn’t so. He pulled a handgun and aimed it at the knight. This was a shock. Surely he saw that the knight was armored. But shots were fired anyway in quick procession. To the knight’s surprise, the bullets passed straight through his chainmail and into the muscled flesh beneath! Blood sprayed the window behind him as he sank to the floor. He was mortally wounded. He knew it. The man rose and advanced with the weapon still drawn! He meant to finish the job! That’s when the knight swung upwards with his flaming sword and cut into the man’s arrogant face! Other men with automatic weapons burst into the room and fired! But rather than take further damage, the knight threw himself through the window, shattering the bloodied glass! (Wow! That was an action-packed beginning! I don’t blame the knight for not fearing the gun either. I was more afraid of that robe coming untied instead. Shudder!)

Controlling his fall as best as he could, the knight spied a large parade going on below him. It was for the city’s annual Founder’s Day if memory served him correctly. Seeing a banner hanging over the street, the knight grabbed hold and used it to swing onto the back of a horse marching in the parade. The horse nearly threw him as it reared up! People in the crowd panicked and began running. The scene was total chaos! The injured knight rode the animal a small distance before falling off near an alleyway. Gripping his bloody wounds, he entered the confined area as quietly as he could. He was seen by a homeless beggar that ran off, afraid of the knight’s flaming weapon most likely. (Yep. That’d do it for me. Man with a flaming sword spotted? Me walking hastily in the other direction. I’m way too pretty to die after all.) He continued along the alleyways, his blood flowing from his many wounds until he passed a concerned couple. They offered him their help when they saw the amount of blood. He waved them away with a blessing and continued along his path. The knight reached a door and knocked on it as he fell. He pulled off his helmet as the door was answered by a blonde youth in glasses. The boy exclaimed one word, “Father?!”

The young man stood vigil at his father’s side as he lie, very close to death, in the boy’s bed. The boy offered to fetch a doctor but his father refused. No-one must learn of the existence of Azrael. The boy will have to leave his corpse to be discovered by others. The knight’s son must find a package left for him and continue where he had failed. Before any more questions could be asked, the knight passed away. The youth cried out in horror and anguish as he was left alone in the room. Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne’s butler, Alfred, questioned his employer and friend. Usually the Batman didn’t concern himself with riots. What was different this time? Bruce replied that fourteen people lie injured while four others had perished. Bruce approached the grandfather clock and turned the hands. This opened the entryway to the Batcave. He continued that an angel had been spotted dropping into the parade from above, inciting the ensuing madness. Alfred recanted his earlier statement. This was in fact very much a Batman case. Bruce ignored the butler’s sarcasm as he walked to his large computer setup. He brought an image of a bullet-riddled armor plate that a police officer had found in the streets. It was soaked in blood. The second fact that interested Bruce was that the apartment above was owned by Carleton LeHah, a little-known manufacturer of exotic weaponry and ammunition. Ammunition that could even penetrate an “angel’s” armor. Bruce began suiting up. (Yeah. Just drop your drawers in mid-sentence there, Bruce. Honestly, poor Alfred.)

The young man opened the package as he was instructed. There was a phone number within. Calling it, some men arrived and took his father’s body away. Next, there was around fourty thousand dollars in the different currencies of several nations. Lastly, was a note that instructed him to go to a small airfield in Switzerland. After taking a plane from there, he was picked up and taken to a secluded cabin nestled within snowy mountain peaks. He knocked, unsure of what was to happen next. A dwarven man answered. He was called Nomoz and he would be the boy’s new teacher. A teacher of something he called “The System”. (Is this a sex thing? This sounds like a sex thing.) The beastly man who drove him there then struck him. The boy recovered and demanded to know why he’d been assaulted. He was struck again. He was then answered. It was to show him how weak he was. His father had been a member of a secret order that dated back to the fourteenth century. He was called Azrael. And the boy would now take his place. Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Batman investigated the apartment that the “angel” had fallen from. He found new glass had been recently been installed. Outside, he found the clue he’d been hoping for, spent armor-piercing rounds. The Dark Knight then left a high-tech listening device behind in LeHah’s apartment to pick up anything else of interest. It didn’t take long. There were mumbling about someone or something named Dumas, an upcoming attack, and suitcase-sized warheads.

Nomoz dangled a medallion on a chain in font of the boy’s face. It was very intricately detailed. Nomoz told him that this was the crest of the ancient Order of Saint Dumas. His father and those that came before him had spent their lives in service to this order. But first, they must recall a type of training that had been implanted in the boy’s mind by his father since birth. (Can you imagine a baby pulling off extraordinary Kung-Fu moves while inside the womb? The poor mother! ) He would remember this only as odd dreams he’d had throughout his life. Back in Gotham, Batman spoke to Commissioner Gordon atop the police headquarters for information. This led him to the alleyways in search of this “angel’s” missing flaming sword. The vigilante discovered a grate that led to a stairway. Shining a small flashlight, the sword was discovered, crest of the Order of St. Dumas at the hilt! But even Batman knew nothing of this secretive order. For that, he’d need help. Back at the cabin, the boy was hypnotized by the swinging medallion. This would awaken The System inside of him and he would wake up transformed.

What happened next could only be described as Hell itself opened up inside the boy’s brain! His eyes then snapped open. The thug moved to strike him once more. But this time, he dodged instinctively and swept the goon’s legs out from under him! Nomoz told him that The System had done it’s job. Now he just needed to work his body to match his new skills. (If this was an 80’s movie, it’d be time for a montage scene. But this is my article, so hum the “Eye of the Tiger” on your own time.) Batman went to Oracle for the information he needed. Once she was a crimefighter like him, Batgirl. That was before the sadistic Joker severed her spine with a well-placed bullet. Now she operated as the “information person” with her high-tech computer system and uncanny intellect. Oracle had had trouble finding anything on the symbol that the Dark Knight had presented her with. But in typical Oracle fashion, she didn’t give up. She discovered that the Order of St. Dumas had began as part of the fabled Knights Templar and that they had splintered off of the main group after a disagreement. Their leader, Dumas, led them in the crusades where they acquired a vast wealth. The Order seemingly disappeared soon after. But maybe they weren’t gone after all, Batman mused.

The young man made his way up one of the snowy mountainside with Nomoz leading the way. They reached yet another building before dark. While Nomoz was presenting the boy with the garments he’d wear as the new Azrael, Batman had taken a private jet to the area. He’d overheard that known terrorists that were working with LeHah over a weaponry deal and were going to strike at this “Dumas”. The Dark Knight put two and two together and shot through the air at breathtaking speed to hopefully save a young man’s life. He and Alfred took a helicopter the rest of the way to the cabin. But too late! Terrorists appeared over the ridge, rocket launchers aimed at the small wooden building! Only seconds passed before the helicopter was caught in the intense explosion that decimated the entire cabin hideaway below!

To be continued…..