Azrael was an American comic book ongoing series, published by DC Comics based on the character Azrael. The name, inspired by the Judaic Angel of Death, is primarily associated with two characters: Jean-Paul Valley and Michael Lane. Valley was primarily featured between 1992 and 2003, while Lane was the star of a comics series which ran from 2009 to 2011.
Cover for Azrael #1 (February 1995), art by Barry Kitson and James Pascoe.
Azrael is an alias used by multiple fictional characters appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original version, Jean-Paul Valley, was created by Denny O'Neil, Joe Quesada, and Peter Milligan, and debuted in Batman: Sword of Azrael #1. The second character to assume the alias was Michael Washington Lane, in Azrael: Death's Dark Knight #1. Both iterations are Christian vigilantes and assassins created by the Order of St. Dumas and/or its derivatives, secretive religious organizations seeking to restore justice to Gotham City through religious extremism. They are typically portrayed as antiheroes and reluctant allies of the superhero Batman and the Batman Family, battling forms of manipulations employed by their respective orders, violent tendencies shaped by tragedies in their life, and proving themselves trusted allies to Batman.
Jean-Paul Valley as Azrael on the cover to Batman: Sword of Azrael #1 (1992), art by Joe Quesada and Kevin Nowlan.