One of the most commonly overlooked denizens of Gotham City, DC Comics' Azrael has been both an ally and an enemy to Batman, going through many costume changes over the years. The Angel of Death is a vigilante and assassin who traditionally wears the Suit of Sorrows - armor created during the crusades that corrupts the wearer, making them more violent (although an alternate history has the Suit fitted with an AI that enhances combat technique but drives the wearer mad.) But while it might seem like a character specifically linked to a garment might be less likely to change their look, Azrael has become a master of reinvention.
Created by Denny O'Neil and Joe Quesada - reportedly with input from Peter Milligan - Azrael's links to the Order of St. Dumas saw him trained as a strategist, tactician, and warrior fit to rival (and at one point replace) Batman himself. But Azrael's journey has been filled with twists and turns, most marked by a change in his appearance. Outside comics, Azrael made his screen debut in Gotham and also appeared in the 2011 game Batman: Arkham City and 2015's Batman: Arkham Knight. In the comics, he's often seen with a heavily armored exoskeleton suit, though the color scheme changes often.
First appearing in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 in 1992, Azrael is typically the alter ego of two characters: Jean-Paul Valley and his son, Jean-Paul Valley Jr. His initial outfit consisted of a white helmet with gold detailing. He wore a white tunic with fleur-de-lis style accents, and a red cape. But within the four issues of the series that introduced him, Azrael changed his look for the first time. Azrael's next look, from Sword of Azrael #1's cover, reappearing in Sword of Azrael #4, is the predominantly red outfit with gold pauldrons on both shoulders, a gold chestplate, and a black and red mask replacing the white and gold helmet. The red cape remains, as do his blades, which are paired with igniters, making them deadlier. His cape is clasped by a medallion that indicates his allegiance to the Order of St. Dumas.
Azrael most famous story is the 1990s arc known as "Knightfall." This story placed Jean-Paul Valley Jr. into the role of Batman, alongside Robin, while Bruce dealt with being broken by Bane. Passing the mantle to Jean-Paul proved to be a very bad idea, as taking on the role of Batman eventually revealed how unhinged he was mentally. He initially wore the traditional batsuit, but after suffering a defeat at Bane's hands, he created a suit that would become a signature costume for him in the future. This suit debuted in Batman #500 and it is much more armored than the suits Batman had worn up to this point.
This suit looks very robotic and mechanical in nature, though it is mainly just metallic. It brings back the gold pauldrons that Azrael previously had and combines them with Batman's color scheme. The idea was that Azrael was a new version of Batman, instead of an agent of the Order of St. Dumas like he had previously been - though his training with the Order is what led to his failure to fill Bruce's shoes. Batman tricked Jean-Paul into shedding his bulky new armor, persuading him to surrender after he became too brutal in his vigilantism.
Azrael: Agent of the Bat debuted in 1994 and ran for one hundred issues. Throughout it, Azrael comes up against multiple foes while fighting to define his dueling personas of Azrael and Jean-Paul Valley. He began the series in a suit similar to the one he debuted in, without a helmet or mask. It maintainsed the red and gold color scheme he previously had. He brought back the armored suit he wore while working with Batman and Robin in issue #10, but that didn't last for the rest of the series.
To help him fight against his old training, Jean-Paul Valley took up a new costume in Azrael: Agent of the Bat #50. This one maintained the armored look he seems to prefer and, while it kept a signature red, it paired that with a new white element. His mask also changed, allowing his hair to flow freely. He moved away from the Templar look as he became more of a hero, growing in the compassion the Order had tried to suppress. A fiery adventure in which he saved Batgirl, aka Cassandra Cain, led to the shortening of his hair, which was still visible as part of his costume - a trend in the grim and gritty hero aesthetics of the time.
Popular demand brought back the iconic red and gold outfit, as Jean-Paul found one of his older suits and began donning it, though this one also lacked a lot of the Templar symbolism present in his original appearance. He would use this suit to fight a second Azrael from the Order of St. Dumas. Near the end of Azrael: Agent of the Bat, Jean-Paul Valley wore a variation of the "Knightfall" armored suit, but this time in red and gold, combining the worst aspects of his past. These looks would continue to define Azrael, and later costumes were more likely to draw on the armored batsuit or Templar-esque costume.
Azrael: Death's Dark Knight was a three-issue miniseries from 2009. It saw a new Azrael arise - a man named Michael Lane, in a white, tunic-like costume with red elements. DC's Rebirth era made Azrael's mask more like armor, while his appearance in Tales from the Dark Multiverse: Batman Knightfall imagined a merging of Azrael and Batman's most famous costumes. Jean-Paul Valley quickly returned to the mantle, and has largely been in red tunics and red & gold armor since. He most recently appeared as a member of Justice League Odyssey, in armor similar to his batsuit, but more compact and mixing gold and red, where he fights another Azrael who is allied with Darkseid.
Like many heroes, Azrael has experimented with a relatively consistent theme, with different costume iterations streamlining his most recognizable features. His original red and black mask is now seen as the character's default look, and his use of a flaming blade also tends to guide design decisions around his costume. What will happen to him next - and what he'll wear - is unknown, since Justice League Odyssey led directly into Dark Nights: Death Metal, and the remaking of DC's entire multiverse. A fan-favorite hero, Azrael is sure to reappear soon, likely in yet another reimagining of one of the coolest costumes in comics.
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