![](\"reviews\/dcdimages\/azr0.jpg\")
<\/a>When Jean-Paul Valley was killed off back in 2003, I thought the mantle of Azrael had died with him. How little faith I had in the cyclical nature of comics. Not only was I wrong about there being a new Azrael, but I was equally surprised by the decision of DC Direct to cast his image in plastic.<\/p>\nMichael Lane was a Gotham Police Officer that was recruited into a special police program to replace Batman if anything were to happen to him. That program, run by the villainous Doctor Hurt, prepared Michael to be manipulated into a warped demonic version of Batman. During their last battle, Michael was presumed dead after the helicopter he and Doctor Hurt were escaping in crashed into the Gotham River. Although he survived, he was overcome with the guilt of the sins he had committed and sorrow over the loss of his family. He was recruited by the Order of Purity, an offshoot of the Order of St. Dumas, and given the cursed armor known as the Suit of Sorrows along with the Swords of Sin and Salvation. With these weapons, Michael punishes the wicked of Gotham as the new Azrael: Death\u2019s Dark Knight.<\/p>\n
![](\"reviews\/dcdimages\/azr1.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nDC Direct tends to outshine DC Classics when it comes to unique sculpts and Azrael keeps with this trend. That sounds ridiculous to say considering DCUC is a Four Horsemen sculpted line I know. And the 4H do work miracles with Mattel’s budget constraints, but when you compare the mostly original and detailed bodies of DC Direct to Mattel\u2019s generic Buck system, it\u2019s easy for DC Direct to take this category. Azrael sports an all-new body with tons of detail work that makes the figure shine. I particularly appreciated the individual links in the chainmail, the texture and frayed edges of the tunic, and the sculpted ropes that wind around his boots.<\/p>\n
![](\"reviews\/dcdimages\/azr2.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nAzrael comes with a tiny round base (that\u2019s pretty ineffective) and his two swords. The Sword of Sin is a classic knight\u2019s sword, sculpted with flames emerging from the blade. It\u2019s extremely detailed with a decorated hilt and scratches to show battle wear. The blade is colored in a translucent orange\/red that fades to yellow. This gives a great impression and coupled with the sculpt is one of the best representations of fire I\u2019ve seen on a toy. The Sword of Salvation is modeled after a Samurai\u2019s weapon. It\u2019s not as detailed as its sister, but there is a nice pattern on the handle. The blade is colored in a translucent icy blue, and looks almost ghostly. Each sword is made for a specific hand, but they can also be placed on small clips on the back of his belt. I\u2019m all for DC Direct adding little details like this, but I would also like them to be practical. They look a little strange sticking out from behind him, especially when one\u2019s on fire.<\/p>\n
![](\"reviews\/dcdimages\/azr3.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nThe paint job on this figure is simple but effective. He\u2019s mostly molded in the grayish white of his costume which brings out the blood red cross on his chest and the markings on his face. The ropes and straps around his boots are nicely outlined with a thin black. The biggest problem is with his belt, where the paint doesn\u2019t cover everything it should. This isn\u2019t very noticeable though, unless you are inspecting the figure up close. One thing I really liked was the metallic silver used on the chainmail parts. Like the red, they help to offset the dull color of his costume. Something interesting I noticed was that even though his cape is all black, the inside of the tendrils coming off his shoulder are dark red. The company didn\u2019t have to add that, but it\u2019s a nice little touch to see.<\/p>\n
![](\"reviews\/dcdimages\/azr4.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nAz\u2019s articulation is slightly better than your average DC Direct figure. He\u2019s got a ball jointed head, which isn\u2019t always a given with these figures. Although it should be. Its 2010, swivel neck joints should be illegal. Az\u2019s shoulders are swivel\/hinges, but are limited by the way the arms were sculpted. His elbows, hips, and knees are hinge joints. While there are swivel cuts to his wrists, waist, and boots. I was surprised to see the swivel waist, that doesn\u2019t show up too often in DC Direct for some reason.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t have much faith that Mattel will make this Azrael, so I\u2019m really happy DC Direct made him. If you\u2019re looking for action poses, then this isn\u2019t the figure for you. But if you\u2019re like me and just want a DC Universe that\u2019s mostly in scale, then this figure might work. He\u2019s a little bit taller than a DC Classics, but not too noticeable, especially in a large group.<\/p>\n
![](\"reviews\/dcdimages\/azr5.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Jean-Paul Valley was killed off back in 2003, I thought the mantle of Azrael had died with him. How little faith I had in the cyclical nature of comics. Not only was I wrong about there being a new Azrael, but I was equally surprised by the decision of DC Direct to cast his image in plastic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[34,10],"tags":[705,70,704,111],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.itsalltrue.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/09\/azrTN.jpg?fit=50%2C50","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pObc6-2t5","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11916,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11916","url_meta":{"origin":9491,"position":0},"title":"DCClassics.Com Review: Azbat \/ Azrael Batman","date":"March 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Bane Week continues with a look at \"Azrael Batman\" - at least that's what Mattel calls him on the box. In the comics, he's simply the second Batman, referred to by fans as \"Azbat\". I don't really care what he's called, he's a cool figure and it's particularly fitting that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17559,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=17559","url_meta":{"origin":9491,"position":1},"title":"Ask Mattel March 15th + Link Roundup","date":"March 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Ask Matty - March 15th Edition DCClassics.Com Asks: When are the newest DCUC 2pks (Yellow Hal & Blue Kyle, Red Azrael & Battle Damage Batman) expected to hit TRU shelves? They have already shipped so it is up to Toy R Us at this point! DCClassics.Com Asks: The 6\" Young\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ask Matty"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11330,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11330","url_meta":{"origin":9491,"position":2},"title":"Sponsor Announcement: Ka-Razy Kings of Toys","date":"January 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"At Ka-Razy King of Toys, we hope you're enjoying the New Year so far, and we have some great news to really kick it off: DC Universe Classics Wave 16 is now in stock! We are still waiting for our shipment of the Robin with variant \"modern\" head, but all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sponsors"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4005,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=4005","url_meta":{"origin":9491,"position":3},"title":"Toy Run #3: Case of the DC Classics TRU Exclusive Batman (Review)","date":"February 17, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"You know the drill. You get up and you think you could get lucky today. You get ready and put on some nice clothes so you can at least feel presentable if you happen to get checked out. You hop in the car and travel to whichever place you've deemed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11955,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=11955","url_meta":{"origin":9491,"position":4},"title":"DCClassics.Com Review: Collect & Connect Bane","date":"March 7, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Okay, so like \"Bane Week\" was supposed to end on Saturday. Oops. Anyway, it's Monday morning, I'm feelin' good and I'm ready to conclude IAT's look at DCUC16 with a look at Bane! Well, mostly ready. This might take a couple cans of Dr Pepper to get through. It's 5am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DCClassics.Com"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22401,"url":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/?p=22401","url_meta":{"origin":9491,"position":5},"title":"Review Round-Up (January 1st-14th)","date":"January 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019ve seen a few bi-weekly round-ups of late, but never fear \u2013 Review Round-Up is still planned as a weekly feature and should be back on track by February. For the glass half-full crowd, the first Review Round-Up of the New Year is kicking things off with a massive two-week\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9491"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9491"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9491\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9499,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9491\/revisions\/9499"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.itsalltrue.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}