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Jean-Paul Valley Jr. is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Denny O'Neil and Joe Quesada and debuted in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 (October 1992) as an ally of the superhero Batman, after which he would go on to make appearances in several Batman titles. He is the first character to assume the identity of Azrael, a member of a group of assassins who were created by the Order of St. Dumas to bring justice to Gotham City. He is also the second character to take the Batman name for a short time during the storyline, known to be a more brutal incarnation.
In the DC Universe, Jean-Paul Valley Jr. is a member of a long family line of assassin-enforcers of the Order of St. Dumas, which was once a faction of the Knights Templar and as a child, was artificially raised and brainwashed by the Order through a method only known as "The System", causing him to develop split personality between his Jean-Paul identity and Azrael, the latter personality more violent and dangerous; believing itself to be an incarnation of Azrael. As an adult, he would learn of his heritage through his father, the Azrael before him. Over time, Valley would overcome his brainwashing and fight alongside Batman and his associates. The character is typically portrayed as a vigilante with good intentions, though he and Batman have also been at odds.
After the events of Flashpoint, a new main incarnation of Jean-Paul Valley would appear during Batman and Robin Eternal with a similar history to his previous counterpart although he is instead a clone of Jean-Paul Valley Sr. molded by Batman villain, Mother, into the ways of the Order of St. Dumas. The character once again realizes the corruptive ways of the Order and defects from them thanks to the intervention of Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Dick Grayson. The character later becomes a member of the Batman Family, most notably under the Gotham Knights team led by both Batman and Kate Kane. He would also join Justice League Odyssey.
"When I received the assignment I went that very same day to a military bookstore here in NYC called Sky Books, heck I don't even know if they're still around? Anyway, I picked up as many books as I could find on medieval warfare and Knight and such and started my visual work there. All I was told by Denny and Archie with respect to art direction was that we needed an old Azrael and a new Azrael so when the son takes over the mantle. Oh, and Denny wanted a this guy to have a flaming sword!"
At that time I was writing the monthly Detective Comics title, and Alan Grant was writing Batman. For a number of reasons I wanted to come off Detective and editor Denny O'Neil and I had lunch together. I was just shooting my mouth off (as you do when someone’s buying you lunch) and came up with a loose idea of what they should do. The story or character I came up with while stuffing Chinese food into my mouth eventually came to be Azrael. ... Of course, it’s one thing throwing some ideas around over lunch but another to fully realize a character and Azrael was ultimately the creation of those who came after me and are rightly credited with its creation.
The character first appeared in the 1992 four-issue miniseries Batman: Sword of Azrael as Jean-Paul Valley.
He then became a supporting character in the monthly Batman titles, eventually taking over the role of BatmanManning "1990s" in Dolan, p. 260: "By Batman #500, the last chapter of the 'Knightfall' saga by writer Doug Moench and artist Jim Aparo and Mike Manley, Azrael was truly his own version Batman". through the "", "Knightquest", and "KnightsEnd" story arcs. One of its creators, Denny O'Neil, admitted to having difficulties with Azrael's transition from villain to hero: "If I'd known he was to become a monthly character, I might have set him up differently. The problem is that I had to turn a bad guy into a real hero, not just an anti-hero or lead. It's possible to do that, but it's difficult to retain the original characterization. You almost have to change his personality".
O'Neil characterized Azrael as contrasting to Batman: "Bruce is very aware of what he is and how that contributes to what he does. He is not moved by internal or external forces that he doesn't already understand. Jean-Paul, on the other hand, has virtually no idea who he really is. He is, in the worst possible way, ignorant. Think about it: he had a rotten childhood he can barely remember; conversely, Bruce remembers his childhood, which was, up until that one critical moment, a very happy and privileged one – all too well. So they are at extreme opposite ends of the psychological spectrum."
The subsequent Azrael series, chronicling Valley's battles against the Order of St. Dumas, ran for 100 issues between 1995 and 2003. O'Neil modeled the series on King Arthur legends, comparing Azrael's quest to discover the truth about himself to the Holy Grail. Starting with issue #47, it was retitled to Azrael: Agent of the Bat in an attempt to boost sales by tying the series in with the rest of the Batman mythology, including Azrael as part of the team of Batman, Robin, and the new Cassandra Cain. Eventually, the character was killed off in the 100th issue of his series and would only make a handful of appearances in flashbacks and the Blackest Night storyline.
Over a decade later, a new incarnation of the character would emerge from Batman and Robin Eternal #10 in February 2016. The character would become a recurring character in several arcs of the Detective Comics title as part of the Gotham Knights team led by both Batman and Batwoman. In November 2018, Valley would also appear as a member of an incarnation of the Justice League team known as the Justice League Odyssey until its end in December 2020.
As part of the character's 30th anniversary, Valley is one of the characters featured in the Batman: Urban Legends title in late 2021 and early 2022.
Subsequently, the character received a one-shot, Sword of Azrael: Dark Knight of the Soul and six-issue miniseries Sword of Azrael, which ran from late 2022 to early 2023.
Valley only learned of his new status upon the death of his father, who was also his predecessor, at which time his conditioning was activated and he was called upon to take up the mantle of Azrael. Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 When he was sent by the Order to kill weapons dealer Carleton Leah, a rogue member of the Order who turned against the others and killed Valley's father, he crossed paths with Batman, who had been investigating the death. He worked with Alfred Pennyworth to find Leah after he had captured Bruce Wayne, using the Batman costume to kill the other Order members. Valley worked with Alfred, demonstrating a detective's intuition in tracking Leah's movements and later risking himself to rescue Bruce despite his traditional mission of vengeance. In doing so, he was shown the error of his ways and decided to fight alongside Batman against the criminals of Gotham, rejecting his "birthright" and seeking Batman's help in breaking his conditioning to forge his destiny.
His name is not revealed to Alfred and Bruce until the end of the story, at which point he claims it also was his father's name (a later storyline in his solo series stated his father's name to be Ludovic Valley, however).
Valley is given a job as a security guard at WayneTech headquarters, and also becomes an apprentice crimefighter alongside Batman and Robin, learning basic detective work.
Valley plays a pivotal role in the story arc (1993–1994), in which he stands in as Batman after Bruce Wayne is defeated and paralysis at the hands of Bane. He decides that Bruce's tactics as Batman are obsolete and believes that he must fight criminals on their terms which makes him far more brutal and merciless, often even showing little regard for innocent bystanders. Against Bruce Wayne's orders, Valley fights and defeats Bane, wearing enhanced battle armor he designed and built under the influence of the System after he was narrowly defeated by Bane in their first confrontation. Batman #500 His performance as Batman is influenced by his Azrael conditioning. He grows increasingly violent and delusional, allowing the mass murderer Abattoir to fall to his death, thereby also allowing one of Abattoir's still-living hostages to die. Batman #508 Valley also has control problems with Tim Drake's partnership, emphasized when Valley almost strangles him to death and bans him from the Batcave. He seals off the Batcave from Wayne Manor and the Drake property and eschews working with Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham police. Valley also suffers from continuous hallucinations of both his father and St. Dumas who tell him that he is the real Batman and that he must avenge his father's death (having convinced himself that Leah was just the man who instigated his father's death while one of the man's former henchmen pulled the trigger).
Initially, Wayne is impressed enough with Valley's results to let him remain Batman, but when Drake tells Wayne of Abattoir's death, he resolves to reclaim the Batman mantle. With his back repaired thanks to the sacrifice of psychic healer Doctor Shondra Kinsolving, and his fighting instincts rehabilitated after lessons with Lady Shiva, Wayne goes after Valley to reclaim his identity. After a prolonged battle that stretches from a Gotham penthouse to a major bridge before culminating in a showdown in the Batcave, Bruce tricks Valley into removing his armor, excluding his helmet (with night-vision lenses engaged), and exposes him to bright sunlight - the shock snaps Valley out of his delusional state. Acknowledging Bruce Wayne as the true Batman, Valley apologizes and asks for his forgiveness, which Bruce accepts, recognizing his role in Valley's descent into madness during his time as Batman, but tells Valley to leave Wayne Manor immediately.
Valley lives among the homeless population of Gotham for several weeks, befriending an alcoholic former psychiatrist named Brian Bryan.
Valley is then sought out by Bruce Wayne, who feels responsible for his mental breakdown after attaining and losing the mantle of Batman. Bruce grants him a small fortune in money, information on the Order of St. Dumas' whereabouts, and resources to explore his origins. Along with Bryan, he discovers the evil conspiracies within the order of St. Dumas, and they help a nun named Sister Lily escape. With the help of Ra's al Ghul, Valley discovers that he is a genetically engineered test tube baby, and his have been spliced with those of animals.
He returns to Gotham for several crossover events, including Underworld Unleashed, , , and . He also discovers that his father's killer, Carlton Leah, is still alive. Valley attempts to regain Batman's trust after the events of the KnightsEnd arc. Batman, who feels responsible for Valley, especially after realizing that he gave him very little training and support, decides to give Azrael missions to carry out as a test to prove himself. The first of these missions is to defeat a resurfaced Bane, but it is not until Azrael saves the lives of a group of U.S. Senators (one of which tries to plead to Congress for the funds to rebuild Gotham City after its devastating earthquake) that Batman begins to fully trust him again. Before those events, Batman sent Azrael after Nicholas Scratch, who was planning to kill another Senator who also wanted federal money to save Gotham City. While pursuing Scratch, Azrael was framed for the Senator's murder after he was strangled to death moments before Azrael arrived to save him.
After being framed, Azrael is given a new costume designed by Batman and uses it for a time, especially during the No Man's Land story arc. Azrael helps Batman maintain a chaotic Gotham City, often with the assistance of the new Batgirl and protects Leslie Thompkins' medical clinic inside of No Man's Land. After foiling Scratch's plan of framing him for murder, Azrael returns to his original costume and battles that represent both his father and St. Dumas himself. Toward the end of the series, Azrael is plagued by supernatural occurrences in the form of possible .
Azrael is seemingly killed in the series' final issue, shot with two specially-coated bullets while battling Scratch and Leah. Scratch is arrested, and Leah falls into the river with Azrael. However, Azrael's body is never recovered, and his death went unconfirmed for several years. In Booster Gold (vol. 2) #10, a note can be seen written on time traveler Rip Hunter's chalkboard reading "Jean-Paul Valley Lives!" In the following issue, another note says, "Azrael comes and goes". Azrael appears in Blackest Night #4 as an zombie member of the Black Lantern Corps, although at first it had not been confirmed whether it was Jean-Paul Valley or another Azrael (such as Ludovic Valley, who died in Gotham City). The index section of the Blackest Night tabloid later indicated that it was in fact Jean-Paul.
Jean-Paul Valley makes a cameo at Batman's funeral service in Neil Gaiman's 2009 story He is seen stepping up to deliver his version of Batman's death as a background event, but his story is unseen and he has no lines. The story is metaphysics in nature, not affecting the overall status of the canon or Azrael's fate.
Using a similar tactic, Batwing and Azrael would battle Ascalon once more to upload the same AI into the robotic entity, Nomoz sacrificing himself in the process. With the Batman AI uploaded into Ascalon, Zatanna appears with a magical artifact, the Sphere of Gnosis, able to answer the questions of those who wield it. Ascalon experiences a revelation as his human aspect becomes real and identifies Jean-Paul as his "brother". Sympathizing Batman's grief over the loss of Tim Drake, he reveals to him he is alive before disappearing. In the aftermath, Valley recovers from his wounds and speaks to Batman about wiping out Ascalon's influence from his Azrael suit and the idea of having a Batman AI guide him. The end of the story would reveal the rogue member of the Order to be Valley's father, Jean-Paul Valley Sr. who is collaborating with Ra's al Ghul.
Azrael is confronted by Poor Fellow, an angel from a separate sect of the Knights of Templar. Poor Fellow kills the doctor and reveals that she must kill blasphemers like the doctor and Azrael. Azrael almost kills Poor Fellow, but backs out at the last moment. Poor Fellow scolds Azrael and disappears. This comic leads into the 2022-2023 Swords of Azrael series.
Azrael does, however, possess several weaknesses: due to the mental conditioning from The System, Valley is only able to access his powers while suited up and his normal personality is suppressed for a more violent one. Over time, Azrael has learned for the two personalities co-exist dependent on continuity. and call upon his abilities and skills. The System also makes his mental state vulnerable, with St. Dumas's technology able to influence and override his personality at times. Pre- Flashpoint, his mental state and physiology were also damaged from exposure to toxic chemicals, which heighten his enhanced abilities but furthered his mental illness and affected his physiology, slowly killing him.
His Post- Flashpoint costume is consistent with his original pre- Flashpoint version although instead of being Kevlar, it is a special suit stylized after a medieval crusader called the "Suit of Sorrows", a special armor with an advanced AI (called Ascalon) that pinpoints the weakness within an opponent and enhances his original Azrael personality, making him a more dangerous fighter. After the events of Deus Ex Machina, Valley has a new AI built based on Batman's best personality attributes, enabling him to battle against the dogma of St. Dumas without compromising his mental state. His Post-Flashpoint incarnation also wields a special flaming sword named Murasame.
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