The Random Scan of the Week!

Can't say he doesn't have a valid point... From Robin #7(June 1994).

Battle for the Cowl: Azrael: Death's Dark Knight #3(of 3)

This should be fairly brief, due to the fact that I really don't care about this comic. The only reason I'm bothering to read it is because I've read the first 2 issues and once I start something I have to finish it, no matter how bad it may be. This issue is written by Fabian Nicieza, who I know can do better than what I've read thus far in this mini-series.

-We open this issue with Nightwing and Azrael battling in the Batcave. During the battle, Azrael convinces Dick that he wasn't the same Azrael who killed a cop a while back, and the two stop fighting. The two talk some more and Dick knocks out Azrael with an electric jolt. That tricky Dick! Dick then proceeds to inject Azrael with some kind of drugs that selectively erases Azrael's memory of the location of the Batcave and other Bat-related information... How convenient.

-Dick heads to Talia's penthouse and tells her to leave the new Azrael alone. Talia tells Dick she wants the Suit of Sorrows back, but Dick tells her that the Suit now belongs to Azrael, and that if Talia makes a move to repossess it she'll have to deal with Dick. Talia decides to leave the Suit alone, and Dick leaves.

-Azrael wakes up the next day in his apartment and discovers the Suit, along with a note telling him that for now the Suit was his, but if he screwed up it would be taken from him. After that, some other unimportant junk happens, and this issue ends.

This wasn't a horrible comic book, but I just never really connected with this new Azrael. I was hoping that that the former Azrael would've made an appearance, but that never transpired. In case anybody cares, a new Azrael monthly book is going to spring out of this mini-series come the Fall. I can say right now that I won't be buying that comic. For a score, I'll give this issue a 5 1/2 out of 10. This mini definitely got better with each passing issue, but like I said earlier, I just never connected with the new Azrael.

Battle for the Cowl: Azrael: Death's Dark Knight #2(of 3)

After reading Fantastic Four #566, I'm in such a foul mood that I figure I'll give this comic a read. I think I gave the first issue of this series something like a score of 1 out of 10, so this should be VERY ugly. For the record, this is written by Fabian Nicieza, who for the most part I am a fan of. Hopefully last issue was some sort of aberration.

-We begin this issue with Talia Al Ghul and her assassins attempting to remove the Suit of Sorrows from the new Azrael. Azrael fights back and Talia decides to try to talk instead. Talia tells Azrael that the Suit is hers(well it was before she gave it to Bats)and that it causes insanity in the wearer. She then tells Azrael that she wants to give it to her son. Azrael listens to all of this before taking off to confirm what Talia told him.

-Azrael heads back to the people who gave him the Suit and they tell him that the last guy who wore the suit did indeed go crazy, but that the last guy wasn't prepared properly to wear the Suit. After hearing that, Azreal leaves.

-This comic ends with Azrael strolling into the Batcave(how does he know about that?)and running into Nightwing, who thinks this Azrael is the same one who killed a cop(it was actually the previous, crazy Azrael).

Well, that wasn't very good, but it was definitely better than the last issue. I really don't care about this storyline, or these characters at all, so I really don't have much to say here. I was hoping this Azrael was the original one, but he's just some cheap knockoff. For a score, I'll give this comic a 4 out of 10.

Battle for the Cowl: Azrael: Death's Dark Knight #1(of 3)

Overall- OK, so I was intended on writing a review for this new Azrael comic book. But, there's a problem... I didn't understand a single thing that happened in this comic book. I really mean that too... Maybe it was me. Maybe I didn't read this comic the right way or something... I can't even give a real review here, because like I said, I didn't understand anything from page 1 to the last page... I guess I'll post what I can and be done with this comic book.

So, there's a new Azrael going around killing people in God's name. This Azrael isn't Jean Paul Valley, the guy who used to be known as Azrael. He's dead(don't ask me how). A weird cult of Azrael(or something similar)has been apparently recruiting guys to fill the Azrael role for centuries now, but filling the role comes at some kind of price, we don't know what the price is, because the cultist are of course overly vague. Off-panel, the cultist somehow get the Azrael armor and sword away from Azrael(?)and offer it to a former cop who has basically lost everybody near and dear to him. The cop puts on the armor(?)and he fights some guys for some reason, and umm, that's about it I think...

Yeah, I was absolutely, positively, completely and totally lost here... I really can't think of anything else to say... This comic was a total mystery to me. For a score, I'm going to give this book a 1 out of 10, which is one of the lowest scores I've ever given out. I guess the artwork was OK... That's pretty much the best thing I can say... I'll buy the next issue, but only to see if it helps make any sense of this issue. Boy, this was bad, really bad!