Today’s entry is for an excellent little story that would have far reaching effects on the Batman titles for years: Batman- Sword of Azrael!
Written by Batman legend Dennis O’Neil and drawn by a young Joe Quesada, the story introduces the avenging angel, Azrael, aka Jean Paul Valley, who would meet and fight the caped crusader in this story, which would end with Batman bringing Valley into the fold to train him and help him overcome the brainwashing he had experienced since youth in the cultish Order of St Dumas.

The first of two stories that set up the (then) upcoming Batman: Knightfall, Sword of Azrael is the unofficial first part of the most massive Batman epic of its time and absolutely worth a pickup if you can find a copy.

(Calling Azrael a hero at this point, as the copy does, is a hell of a stretch, considering he is an assassin for a secret society with flaming sword gauntlets. But hey, he looks cool!)