.•.⁺ ཐིVulture Venomཋྀ⁺.•. @vulture-venom - Tumblr Blog

.•.⁺ ཐི Vulture ཋྀ⁺.•.

Jon | He/Him | Artist | Adult | #1 Azrael scholar and fan

ー♱ DNI: Proship, lolisho, TERFs, zionists

ー♱ Commissions and Art Trades: Closed

ー♱ Bruce Wayne defender and Jean Paul Valley’s beloved husband

ー♱ Azrael completionist reader and collector. Happy to answer any and all JPV questions.

ー♱ I post a lot about my Bat OC: Crow, who I ship with Azrael. Ask about his extensive lore.

ー♱ DMs open to mutuals!

#pinned

Going to Bat Burger and ordering the Prodigal Combo (Crow Sandwich and Night-Wings with your choice of sauce and one Large Bat-Soda)

#it’s just a spicy chicken sandwich #vulture speaks #crow of gotham

nonlynear

i’m haunted i’m unfuckable and i love you

#vulture reposts #crowzrael

vulture-venom

With the release of the Knightfall Trailer there has been a lot of discussion about comic accuracy and the inclusion of Jean Paul Valley. I needed a moment to gather my bearings and my thoughts before talking about it in depth, but I believe now I am equipped to do a longer review.

Starting with the animation. A big fear of mine when they had announced this movie a while back was that the art would fall into the very exhausted and unappealing DCAMU style, but they absolutely delivered. It is a much grittier and Kelly Jones inspired look. Since the trailer released, Jones himself has even come forward and said the studio was attempting to adapt his style specifically. Looking at the designs, they all feel like they were taken off of the page. The more "campy" 90s designs are not often adapted, and I was worried that they would attempt to modernize the Knightfall characters, but I am very pleased with the artistic direction thus far. I will say, though, that I am disappointed that they toned down Jean Paul's training suit. I liked his ribbon…

As for story accuracy, we are only given a glimpse of their takes on the plot, but it definitely is not a 1:1 adaptation. The characters shown are all in the comics, and we see some direct references, (such as Bruce's first confrontation with Bane, Tim and Bruce's discussion about his exhaustion, Tim's involvement in Jean Paul's training, Jean Paul's time in the sensory deprivation tank, The Joker making his movie, and the fight between Nightwing and Azbats, Azbats and Bane, etc) but there are slight discrepancies. Admittedly, some of this will be me nitpicking, but when it is being discussed as if it is completely faithful, I think it is important to point these things out.

We are shown various scenes that simply did not happen in the comics, or, at least not in the way they are being presented. The ones that stood out most to me were Jean Paul’s use of the claws while working with Tim, and Mr Freeze’s appearance.

We see Jean Paul say “suit up” to someone off screen, presumably Robin. But when Jean Paul begins to upgrade the suit, he and Tim hardly cooperate. It marks an especially contentious moment in their dynamic as Jean Paul strays farther from Batman’s beliefs and becomes increasingly violent. Tim voices that he feels useless and discarded, and criticizes Jean Paul for his brutality. They cease working together completely after he attacks Tim in Detective Comics #668. It seems like their time working together is being either extended, or rewritten. Which makes me curious how the Robin side of the story will be handled, especially since his solo started at the beginning of and ran concurrently to Knightfall.

Another, smaller complaint is that Jean Paul is shown with longer hair in this scene when it should be shorter as Batman. His subconscious transformation into Bruce as he begins to center his identity around being Batman was a very important piece of visual storytelling, and to see it (potentially) get cut is disappointing.

During Mr. Freeze's appearance in Detective Comics #670, he is completely nude and unarmed running around a morgue, but in the trailer he is shown attacking publicly with his freeze gun, and wearing his Underworld Unleashed suit, a costumed that debuted a year after the Knight Saga ended.

There were also some brief moments that did not happen, such as this preview still of Azrael kneeling to Batman. But I do not think these changes have in any way damned the series. Knightfall is one of the most adapted Batman stories of all time with an audio drama, two books, and now a movie series. I just hope that these changes do not veer so far from the source material that it negatively impacts the story.

Moving on to things I would like to see from the movies, I am really hoping that Jean Paul remains as sympathetic as he had been in the comics. I want to see his identity crisis and hallucinations as he spirals in real time. Jean Paul's hallucinations were a driving force of his Batman tenure, and to cut them would completely change the story. Given that we have been shown Tally Man in the trailer, as well as the sensory deprivation tank, I would like if they included the flashbacks to Jean Paul's childhood brainwashing at the hands of his father.

I also hope to see an emphasis on Bruce's mental state, and his treatment with Dr. Kinsolving. In the trailer, Bruce does appear fairly haggard and Tim mentions they should reach out to Jean Paul for help, but I would like it to be a developing issue that we see worsening over the course of the first movie. As for stories, I especially want Vengeance of Bane and Batman: Sword of Azrael make their way in. I think the origins for Bane and Jean Paul are so crucial to the story of Knightfall and really shouldn't be cut. I am also optimistically hoping that most of the Arkham Escapees' plots will make their way in, but if not, I would love to see the team up between the Joker and Scarecrow, Scarecrow's later arc "God of Fear," Mekros targeting Azbats, Killer Croc vs Bane, and Abattoir of course is a must-have.

I would say I am, overall, enthusiastic about the trilogy given what we have been shown. I mostly worry about Jean Paul being portrayed as much more cruel than he is, or garnering a fan base that grievously misunderstands him in this stage of fandom where everyone feels the need to prove Batman "wrong." It is important to remember that Knightfall is, first and foremost, a commentary on what it means to be Batman, and why a violent Batman cannot succeed.

Jean Paul is a failure as Batman, and he is not to be glorified, but he is not a villain either. I am looking forward to finding out what does and doesn't make into the films, and how everyone is portrayed(especially on the Azrael front), but for now we can only count the days until its release.

909th

if you fall from grace enough times eventually you’ll get really good at sticking the landing

#stephanie brown #< grand prev #YES #vulture reposts

My biggest problem with modern Azrael, save for Tynion and Watters’ miserable retcons, is his lack of connection to Batman. You cannot separate Jean Paul Valley from Batman. JPV’s story centers him in so many contexts that without Bruce’s presence in the narrative, he feels out of place.

Jean Paul as a character was made for the sole purpose of being the Anti-Batman, and this bled very heavily into how others interacted with him. Especially Bruce. Their strained, emotionally distant dynamic is firmly based of Knightfall and Bruce’s guilt about the situation. Dubiously, Knightfall is canon again, but the relationships Jean Paul previously had based on Knightfall are not. Bruce does not have the same uncomfortable responsibility and guilt surrounding Azrael. His bond with Cassandra feels shallow. Dick’s resentment of him feels baseless.

Without this history, and Jean Paul’s semi-integration into the Batfam in his desperate pursuit of Batman’s approval, he just doesn’t have any meaningful connection to the larger Batman franchise. But his character.. is built solely for Batman. He can stand on his own, yes, but so much of his narrative centered Batman. His loyalty to Batman that often negatively impacted him, his subconscious mind placing Batman in a father-like role and often placing him against Ludovic or Dumas, his black sheep position, all of it has been nixed.

What does he do without this? Not much. They’ve attempted to give him new bonds through Kate and Luke, and a new supporting cast with Karl and Vengeance, but none of it is particularly sustainable or interesting. Especially when it often relied on someone’s mischaracterization (his own in Rebirth, and Karl’s in SoA).

I think the best way to revamp Jean Paul as a character is to give him that proximity to Batman. Only so much of the damage done by Tynion and Watters’ decisions can be undone as of right now, but re-establishing this dynamic poses an opportunity for so many interesting stories and character moments similar to those in Azrael ‘95 or Agent of the Bat. It would make him more relevant, and also revive some of the themes that were lost in the reboot. It is a much needed change, in my opinion.

#vulture speaks #wife posting #jpv #azrael #jean paul valley #jean-paul valley

How am I to be normal under these circumstances.

#vulture speaks #wife posting

sun-moon-talia

the next time talia shows up in a comic dc needs to get ram v and phillip kennedy johnson in the writers’ room. contact denny o’neil via ouija board if need be. this is our only hope.

#vulture reposts

timdrakelonghairtruther

Special thanks to my friend who saw the sketch and said I need to make him arch his back even more

#vulture reposts

planetphoebe

a true dc comics fan will always speak ill of dc comics

#vulture reposts

I need to put together a look book for all of Jean Paul’s little civilian outfits..

#vulture speaks #wife posting

sun-moon-talia

i’m officially beating a dead horse here but bruce saying “she threw him on my lap and ran away laughing” was especially egregious. even as early as resurrection of ra’s al ghul it’s obvious she “threw damian in bruce’s lap” to SAVE DAMIAN’S LIFE. why is it still so hard for ppl to believe she loves her son???