It’s amazing how two writers ideas can turn into a brilliant comic.

Grant Morrison introduced the 3 Ghosts of Batman, and Paul Dini introduced the Suit of Sorrows in Dectective Comics. Mix those two togethers and what do you get? A fantastic intoduction to the new Azrael.

Fabian Nicieza is a writer I am iffy on. He has written some good material (like Cable & Deadpool, Thunderbolts) and some horrible comics (NFL SuperPro anyone?). But what Nicieza does in this comic is mix the mythos of Batman with religious undertones. Now if the word ‘religion’ gets you into a frown face then this isnt the comic for you. Come to think of it religion usually isnt a good thing for me in comics but Nicieza does a good job mixing the two together. Bring backstory into a character who should have no right thinking God exists cause of his terrible past but still cling hope to faith. Which is pretty much why he agrees to become a pawn with this shady organization. In fact the only bad thing I can say about the story so far is….who the hell are these people? Plus how did they get the Suit of Sorrows in the first place? I’m sure this will be answered in the next two issues but a little hint would’ve been something.

You know what makes this pick of the week without any question? The beautiful….no I mean the gorgeous art of Frazer Irving. He does everything from pencils, to coloring, to inking and my god does it look gorgeous. The color is muted and depressing brown and orange is usually the color here….But it looks all so realistic it boggles the mind. Look at the first three pages (2-3 is a splash page), I really thought those were photographs for a second. Yes I know the guy is carrying a flaming sword but still…it looks all so real. All the faces look realistic, great anatomy, wonderful use of colors in action scenes…This comic has it all!

So I might’ve not been around for the original Azrael but I know how much some people are against the character. Let me say that if this first issue is any indication, you want to be brought back to speed for this character. It might not be the original Azrael, but I have a feeling he’ll be more entertaining then the previous one. Great story, gorgeous artwork…how can this not be POTW?