babe since u just finished reading batman: the sword of azrael could u do a deep dive into the symbolism? really interested interested that thank you and love you
Here's every single thought I had about Batman: Sword of Azrael. And how imagery was the largest appeal to me
This right here, When Azrael falls, his fall brings on a rain of fire with it. Painting him as a fallen angel for failing to do his mission and dishonoring Saint Dumas
Azrael after his fall and before revealing himself to mortals, immediately sheds of his garments.
Turning into a human just like a biblical angel
The question here was never -who- will he become, but -what- will he become, further distancing the idea of Azrael being a mere human with little clothes for protection
THIS!!!!!!! Is How Azrael is reborn again, from father to son to the bringer of death
From Jean Paul's glasses breaking to his father's dying face everything becomes one until we only get the image of Azrael standing strong, his sword high.
After Azrael's rebirth we can see how Biis crested his own loyal Servant, when Azrael's hideout exploded almost killing Lehah
Lehah who originally was one of Saint Dumas' servant, meant to be killed by Azrael for his crime of Abandoning his saint. After killing The first Azrael it looked almost as if he ran out of luck, until Biis called out to him and saved him
The Demon saving the one eyed man, ring any bells for my catholic folk?
in many religions, entities with malicious intent will appear to humans as one eyed men, the closest example is the Anti-christ
Implying that after Saint Dumas abandoned Lehah, it was inevitable he would turn to evil in this case- Biis
Especially considering that Lehah lost his eye only after harming Azrael
And we could see him looking more and more disturbing as the story progresses from his facial expressions to seeing multiple shots of him being naked
One's state of undress is usually an indication of impurity !!! (throughout media portrayal)
Here they were supposed to be blown to pieces by the bomb Planted in Azrael's hideout but by some miracle of fate, the bombs didn't work because of an unlikely mishap
And here's Bruce pointing out that maybe it's St. Dumas who saved them, and even if Oracle said otherwise it seems that Saint Dumas IS a genuine saint with godly influence.
And he's picking Batman's side here by failing his followers' deliberate plan
Bruce's literal rise from the fire symbolizing hell with the bat crest visible on his chest, Lehah's gradual disfigurement until he too looks like the Demon he worships
Saint Dumas is real and He took Batman's side.
Further in the last issue we can see How Jean Paul returned to us with a name, finding himself outside of Azrael and becoming human again
I think it's beautiful 🫶🏻
Now do I sound insane? Yes absolutely.
Did I have fun? So much , Batman the sword of Azrael was a really fun read and all the religious themes were so good, there's a lot more I can say but this pretty much sums up the whole comic and the message it wanted to deliver
