Creator(s): Joe Quesada and Dennis O'Neil
Ruiner: Dennis O'Neil
Last Appeared: Blackest Night
The Situation: Jean-Paul Valley's death was, on the Ted Kord scale of being unceremoniously offed, an eleven. Shot with "special bullets" and unceremoniously dropped off the side of a cliff, he got the Dennis O’Neil black kiss of death: mysticism. Under O’Neil’s pen, Valley-as-Azrael had a hundred-issue run, but got a swift kick in the metaphorical balls after being shoehorned in as a Black Lantern during Blackest Night. When O'Neil wasn't busy griping about how he hated writing Azrael since it was "too gritty" and "violent," he decided Azrael needed to look more like the other Bat-family without wearing armor or looking like a villain. We think not.
The Reboot: Let Jean-Paul Valley return, but this time make him a true emissary for St. Dumas. No more being an "Agent of the Bat," as his series was retitled post-No Man's Land. Azrael should join the Mystic DC as an avenging warrior, out to smite whatever works against the obscure laws enforced by a Saint who seems to be the patron of flaming vengeance. In fact, in the New 52, magic appears to be more important than science. Remove him from the Bat family. Let him hang with Mystic DC.
