#order of st. dumas

[speedforce-zoomies]

I love the running gag of Tim Drake getting caught up in Cult Activities:

1) In his 1991 mini series - his first ever solo adventure? Gets caught up in King Snake’s bs which is often stems from the dude wanting to rule the Kobra Cult (Tim has to deal with the jerk on and off as Robin due at least in part to this obsession of the Kobra Cult).

2) Then in Robin (1993) #82 Tim meets Danny Temple and is like hmmm, something weird is going on with this dude. Then in issue #88, Danny is kidnapped by a robot with a snake on it. Then has to deal with the Kobra Cult from issues #89-92.

3) In Batman: Contagion (1996) the Order of St. Dumas, which is a religious cult, releases the biological weapon “The Clench” which Tim catches and then has a rough time cuz of it.

4) AND Tim’s practically a cult leader himself in the Titans Tomorrow (2004) future timeline and present Tim has to deal with his evil cult leader future self.

5) While Tim does not directly interact with the Cult of Conner in 2006 (52 #11, 13, 14) Cassie Sandsmark is a member which we can assume impacted him indirectly.

6) In the resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul (2008) Ra’s wants to either recruit Tim or take over his body and messes him up a bit, both physically and mentally and Ra’s is very much running a cult.

7) In the 2009 Red Robin run Tim is forced to work with Ra’s and the League of Assassins against another cult: The Council of Spiders who kill two of his allies and cause him to lose his spleen.

8) In Robin War (2016) #2 Damian has temporarily joined The Court of Owls and fights Tim

9) Then in Batman: Urban Legends #4 (2021) he meets up with his HS friend Bernard Dowd who gets kidnapped by the cult: Children of Dionysus.

10) And in Tim Drake: Robin #8 Tim Drake has to deal with Children of Dionysus again alongside Bernard who is now his boyfriend.

That’s ten just off the top of my head and I could be missing some (please let me know if I have!) but it’s like the writers are like Tim hasn’t had anything too bizarre to deal with in a little while… Hmm, you know what Tim could use? Another cult to deal with lol

Poor boy must be so tired of dealing with cults

At this point I’m just waiting for a plot line where Tim finds himself as an unwilling cult leader or is unwillingly made the face of a cult 😭 like that time Wally West was in “Blood Will Run” (2001)

[fancyfade]

JPV has to exile himself to an island monastery b/c I assume if he was living in a place with internet connection where he had to use it every day and he was in his 'the order of st dumas corrupted the teachings of god but i can regain my mental health with the true word of god' phase he'd be constantly getting into arguments online on christian forums i mean like christians already argue so much about the true word of god imagine if there was the brainwashed angel assassins into the mix.

[mollotovm]

i’m his biggest fan. trust.

this took way too long gang please give this one note this guy’s chain mail is so . . sighs </3

[panzerdrako]

DC Comics Ultimate Character Guide (2021)

[lonniemachin]

i will never ever ever ever fucking forget when james tynion iv wrote someone asking nomoz his pronouns

[starrycomics]

Azrael: What hubris of man, who thinks to pass judgement upon the angels.

No, your blasphemy will be punished…Your fealty will be forged anew. In fire and steel. On the edge of pain and cleansing flame. Come…

…Come with your unfounded fervour and break upon my walls of unrelenting faith.

Detective Comics #1078

Azrael is possibly the Most Catholic man to ever exist

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

I've kind of given up trying to make any kind of sense of the timeline in Jean Paul's life because Dennis O'Neil himself doesn't seem to have had a really solid grasp on any kind of coherent continuity but god this. this is really taking me out.

twenty two??? TWENTY TWO??? you're telling me that Jean Paul had time to get into grad school, have his disaster stint as Batman, dismantle the Order of St. Dumas, and survive a year of No Man's Land all before he was twenty two??? DENNIS PLEASE BE SERIOUS.

and he starts out this issue celebrating his birthday! he's a FRESH twenty two! ALLEGEDLY.

from Azrael: Angel of the Bat #66 (2000)

[whereistim]

Save me 90’s Gotham save me…

I was just wondering what would happen if you put a knight from the Order of St Dumas and an actual demon in the same room, and with them both in Gotham… there’s a chance. I also like to think that Helena and Tim try and think of the most random heroes to pair together and brainstorm what would happen as a thought exercise

[napoleonic-sexyman-tournament]

Propaganda under the Read More:

Alexander von Humboldt:

a. Influential explorer, researcher and polymath with many discoveries in the fields of geography, biology, zoology, astronomy and more. Also has experience with sticking things up his butt. For scientific reasons of course.

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas:

a. “mustache” b. “Tall! Daring! Swashbuckling! A devoted husband and father! Had a personal conflict with Napoleon! Also it was said he could, while holding onto a bar above his head, LIFT A HORSE WITH HIS THIGHS. How is he not on this list ten times already! Vote for General Dumas!” c. “He was so hot that he inspired The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo, and many more books that his son, Alexandre Dumas, wrote. He definitely looked the part of a sexyman, as he son recounts in his memoirs: "My father, as already stated, was twenty-four, and as handsome a young fellow as could be found anywhere. His complexion was dark, his eyes of a rich chestnut colour […]. His teeth were white, his lips mobile, his neck well set on his powerful shoulders, and, in spite of his height of five feet nine inches, he had the hands and feet of a woman. These feet were the envy of his mistresses, whose shoes he was very rarely able to put on." He could crush you between his thighs: "His free colonial life had developed his strength and prowess to an extraordinary degree; he was a veritable American horse-lad, a cowboy. His skill with gun or pistol was the envy of St. Georges and Junot. And his muscular strength became a proverb in the army. More than once he amused himself in the riding-school by passing under a beam, and lifting his horse between his legs." He was so badass he could beat 13 men with 4 and take all the enemy prisoner, and defend against hundreds of men on a bridge by himself. He performed these acts of valour numerous times in Italy. He was so formidable that the Austrians named him the "Schwartz Teufel", or the Black Devil, and his feat at the bridge earned him the moniker of "Horatius Cocles of Tyrol". He wasn't afraid to stand up to his morals and protest against unfair treatment. When unjust executions by the guillotine were happening outside his quarters, he closed the blinds of his curtains, earning him the nickname "Mr. Humanity". When in the Vendée, he complained about the wanton indiscipline in his troops. When in Italy, Berthier wrongly reported his actions as one of "observation" in St. Antonio. Dumas wrote to General Bonaparte that if Berthier was in the same position, he would have shit his pants. Dumas abhorred plunder, never exhorted the locals, and ordered the Directory agent who had come to persuade him otherwise be shot if he dared present himself to Dumas again. Integrity and a sense of moral justice is sexy, mark my words. For Dumas' final qualifier as a sexyman, look no further than this Tumblr heritage post (https://www.tumblr.com/petermorwood/133803437020/hortensevanuppity-elodieunderglass), with 300,000 notes and counting. And I quote: "- daddy general dumas was an immense fierce french warrior who was a 6 foot plus, stunningly gorgeous and charismatic Black gentleman - he invaded egypt - the native egyptians said “is this napoleon? this must be napoleon. we for one welcome our majestic new overlord” - then napoleon showed up - napoleon has all the presence of yesterday’s plain Tesco hummus - the native egyptians were like “… no… no, we’ve thought very hard and we’ll have General Dumas actually” - this did not make napoleon happy - in fact it made him jealous - napoleon felt so emasculated that he launched a campaign of revenge against General Dumas, including taking away his pension, that probably inspired a lot of Alexandre’s rather satisfying scenes in which fathers are nobly avenged and the money-grubbing villains are rubbed in the mud" I rest my case. Tl;dr: He was so hot he inspired multiple books, he was a stronk man who could crush you between his thighs or carry you like a sack of potatoes, and he was so badass that he could take on odds of 1 to 3. He had a foul mouth but a heart of gold and his actions were never self-serving. Posts relating to him on Tumblr have had 300,000 notes and counting. He is qualitatively and quantitatively qualified to be a sexyman.”

[vulture-venom]

I think Jean-Paul Valley is one of the most interesting “Bat Family” (using this loosely) members because he is one of the few who isn’t inherently good. You could argue that Jason is morally questionable, but he was very much good at his core, at least at one point. Jean-Paul has never once been a hero.

And while you can say a lot of his problems come from the System and the cult, etc, etc, he was in no way unaware of his actions. Even as Azbats, he is not an innocent bystander to his own actions. When he was first introduced, he had killed several people, and was relatively unrepentant about that even when he had processed what he did. He was a man that was so lost he would rather retreat into his own mental programming and act without thinking, even if it hurt people, than think about his reality.

He constantly acted in his own self interest. Until about halfway through his solo run, everything he did benefited him in some way. Destroying the Order of St. Dumas? That was what Lilhy wanted, and they had been targeting him, he had something to gain from that. Protecting Shondra? He felt like he had no purpose and wanted to feel better about himself, he had something to gain from that.

When he leaves Gotham to fight Vampires, he debates leaving the City entirely and letting them die because he didn’t care enough about those people to stay. He had no attachment to those citizens, thus, nothing to gain from helping them. He even went as far as to side with the League of Assassins because he thought marrying Talia and ruling beside Ra’s would give him purpose. He almost let Bane get to Gotham a second time just so he could be alone with a woman he thought was in love with him (Lilhy). His morals were nonexistent for a very long time.

He starts off as someone who had little regard for the world around him because he was drowning in his own problems and desperately seeking an escape from his reality. He buries himself beneath the System, retreating into his various mantles to give himself a reason to keep going. He makes mistakes, but eventually he realizes he was wrong. This development is what makes him so interesting. He gives up senseless violence, he becomes more empathetic, he saves people who have wronged him, he tries to earn Batman’s approval.

He is both self loathing and selfish. He is lost, depersonalized, and floundering at all times, desperately seeking purpose. He is not a good person, but he made mistakes and wants to learn to be good. He tries to discover self respect, establish morals, find out what it means to be an Angel, and what makes a person good at their core.

Unlike Bruce, he doesn’t start out as some righteous hero, Jean-Paul hardly even qualifies as a hero even after his redemption, but he tries his best to redefine what it means to be Azrael (AND Jean-Paul), and do what is right in his eyes. He wasn’t a good Batman, but he was the best Azrael, and to him, that meant something.

[spectral-phases]

Batman Writers Need to Stop Making Alfred the Drama

Just read through the end of the Batman: Contagion storyline for some references, and I'm kind of upset at a prank Alfred pulls at the end there.

Anyway, for the uninitiated, shortly after Bruce's back was broken by Bane/Azrael Bats/Dick!Bats-one yada yada, the Order of St. Dumas (that Azrael belongs to) sends in the "Apocalypse Plague" to Gotham, also known as "the Clench" and is a highly-modified Ebola-based virus intended to cleanse the world of sinners.

It's very, very bad. A lot of people die. It kills within a day of contracting it/showing symptoms. Gotham gets locked down in a super quarantine and there's chaos with looting and riots and all of that. Tim as Robin is trying to help keep the city in order and gets infected. He's dying. He's hallucinating a dream world where his mother's alive and he gets to have his dad/mom/girlfriend all support him and love him and be proud of him being Robin, and Bruce suggesting a better work-life balance when it comes to Robin.

(Batman Chronicles 1995 #4)

(Azrael 1995, #16)

Bruce is trying to figure out a cure, but there's no way to make a vaccine, even. Azrael and his friends figure out a way to make a cure based on text they stole from the Order of St. Dumas and deliver it to Gotham's hospital. Dick races back to the Batcave after people are treated by it, but comes back to find the cave empty, the bed Tim was in vacant.

(Azrael 1995, #16)

If you jump to Robin #28 to find out what happened, you find out that Alfred was just kidding.

(Robin 1993, #28)

It turns out Azrael decided to make a dramatic break-in through the bridge to deliver the cure to Gotham, when one of his friends had a fax machine and was just faxing it to every fax machine number he had in Gotham, including Wayne Enterprises. So Bruce already formulated a cure and gave it to Tim beforehand.

Tim and Dick both scold Alfred about the joke, but dear god, is that not even remotely funny. Especially to Dick, who was probably running as fast as he could with the cure because he was probably thinking of Jason the entire time.

Like, obviously, Alfred cares about Tim. He was crying and heavily upset about Tim's condition, watching him deteriorate over all that time. Obviously, also, that was the end of the Azrael book and the ending was suspenseful and dramatic to get people to buy Robin #28, but man do the writers do their best to make it hard to love Alfred sometimes for the sake of drama.

[teatimeatwinterpalace]

At the Russian Court (3/?)  I M P E R I A L  D I A D E M  

‘Regal assemblage of pearls and old diamonds. This diadem is, past question, one of the finest specimens of its kind.’  Fersman

This splendid diadem, worn by the Empress Alexandra at the opening of the Duma, was catalogued by Fersman as early 19th century, but it is more likely to have been made by the court jeweller Bolin expressly for the Tsarina, using antique pearls and diamonds from the Imperial Cabinet. Fersman considered it to be the fiest piece in the entire imperial collection. All trace if of it is lost after the inventory of 1922, and it seems likely that as with other pieces from the collection it was sold or broken up when some of the imperial jewels were sold by Christie’s in London in 1927. 

The Empress Alexandra in court dress for the opening of the first Duma in 1906, photographed by K. Bulla. She wears the diadem, a small diamond chain of the Order of St Andrew, and a collier de chien in pearls and diamonds and a pearl and diamond cluster necklace, both surely created by Bolin to accompany the diadem. Neither necklace appears among the inventoried jewels, and it is likely that they had been taken by the Empress to Tobolsk and then disappeared. | The Jewels of the Romanovs Family and Court by Stefano Papi 

[peepreadscomics]

Young Justice: The Secret 1998 meta [Robin’s interrogation]

Comic context: This is probably within their first year of becoming heroes + the first time Robin, Superboy, and Impulse all work together as a trio. Robin is trying to investigate why there government agents searching near Gotham and in doing so he bumps into Impulse and Superboy. They help the DEO (Department of Extra-normal Operations) to recapture an escaped creature. Turns out that the creature is actually a very sentient ghost girl. In order to protect her, they give back a decoy that is promptly destroyed by the DEO. They must lie to the DEO and their mentors to ensure the ghost girl’s freedom. This is Robin focused. SB and Imp will have their own posts.

Tim’s already established himself in Gotham; hes got a rogues gallery, and he's working solo on a bunch of missions. He’s also gone through Azbats, Dickbats, The Clench, etc.

So despite being young, he's not green. It's kinda interesting to look at how he first appears/reacts to the interrogation during this early part in his career.

The first time Tim show up in the interrogation, he’s sat very level, back straight, but not uncomfortably so. He looks like he’s ready to give a clear, concise and detailed report of events. Which makes sense considering that, 1. He’s been taught by Batman, and 2. He’s been working on his own for a bit of time. He’s practised in these interrogations.

Still, he does show some hesitation when the story is demanded from him. With how serious his face is though, I think part of it is Tim’s need to be respectful. The other part I think might be apprehension.

[I do think it would be funny if Tim is also just outright judging them for the raised voices though.

Robin: um… why we yelling? Well, that’s one way to interrogate someone… okay, great job on being subtle…]

The boys’ head move quite frequently during these panels but it’s because the members are standing at different points around them. I'm pretty sure they're moving their heads to react at/answer questions to those who directed it to them.

It's interesting that Robin brings up the disease and virus comparison.

He wants them to know that he took AND is taking this seriously. He nearly died from The Clench and he helped Nightwing stop Ra’s from weaponizing it further than what The Order of St. Dumas was able to. It makes what he’s saying more credible and believable.

Even at this stage, Tim knows how to use his words to play on people impressions and assumptions.

The boys continue to tell their story, conveniently leaving out the middle bit where they discovered the volatile dangerous creature is actually this misty ghost girl with a tragic backstory + how they deceived the agents on the field into believing this creature was destroyed.

And now lies of omission and straight up lying are starting to muddle.

Robin has been serious and stone faced this entire time. His mouth stays the same but his eyes kind of take on this deer in headlights look. Which makes sense, considering this is what, like 2 years before his whole, "I lie to Batman," shtick.

And the JL is showing their interrogation tactics, the moment they had to lie, they had the member to ask them be beside them/behind them. It helps to reveal these little micro-expressions.

Everyone hear is gearing themselves up to lie. Robin's deer in headlights look has become more unsettled and apprehensive.

Look at him. He decides to go for nonchalant. Which does make sense? They asked him for his opinion. While he was recounting the events he was serious and stern faced. This answer makes it look like he hasn't considered that the creature could've survived the explosion. which is a good impression to leave in this situation if you're trying to cover up the truth.

I just thought this was interesting. He is lying in an interrogation setting to people he respects. Quite a lot of pressure. It shows that even this green, he's most comfortable with trying to manipulate people's impressions and assumptions about his falsehoods. I think this is a through line for him even until Red Robin 2009, which is pretty cool, since a lot of the things he gets away with are the result of people simply not noticing due to this image of trustworthiness in mind.

I'm sure he gets better at it, but here, this early in his career, he looks so uncomfortable having to lie straight up. It reminds me of that one comic panel where Bruce is like, "No, Tim has to say it to me. Because Jason and Damian will lie to my face and not blink." Could it be that Tim has never fully gotten over that deer in headlights look in the face of Batman? or is it more like: Tim has figured out what gives himself away in Batman's eyes and has started to use it against him.

Honestly I feel like it's both. Tim knows how to manipulate people's view of him… even this early on. So I wouldn't be surprised if he grows to purposefully use that wide eyed look to give someone the wrong impression.

I also think that If Tim hasn't prepped himself to lie to Batman then he has this deer in the headlights look, but if he has a moment to prepare himself then it is unfortunately extremely hard to know if he's being truthful.

Anyway Tim's relationship with being deceitful is fascinating.

[lonniemachin]

Who's Who in the DC Universe - Update 1993 #1

[zahri-melitor]

A list of DC characters that it is actually important to be able to tell apart, but half the time people forget:-

Plastic Man and Elastic Man: Eel O'Brien is the red one who turns into weird shapes and cracks jokes; Ralph Dibney is the purple one who is a detective who adores his wife.

Atom and Captain Atom: Ray Palmer is the one who shrinks down and does science; Nathaniel Adam is the nuclear explosions guy who's part of the military.

Jason Blood and Jason Bard and Jason Todd: Blood is the host to Etrigan and a demonologist; Bard is a private detective who's an ex-cop; Todd is an ex-Robin and current Red Hood. Both Blood and Todd have white streaks in their hair. They all live in Gotham.

Manhunter and Martian Manhunter: the Manhunters are about 6 different human characters, with little overlap in costumes or aims (they all like killing people who evade justice though); J'onn is a Green Martian who reads minds.

Doctor Light (good) and Doctor Light (bad): Kimiyo Hoshi is a superhero who does hard light projections; Arthur Light's a supervillain who got mindwiped by the JL to the point of stupidity. (I've skipped disambiguing other legacy names but this one is kinda important).

Azrael and Azazel: JPV and the other Azraels are human warriors controlled/brainwashed by Order of St Dumas; Azazel is a Sandman fallen angel hanging out with Lucifer.

This is brought to you by someone saying "Captain Atom is a fascist!" and me squinting and going...Ray Palmer??? Is a fascist? But no.

[fangedxnight1836]

Character of the day:

Jean-Paul Valley Jr. aka Azrael

Some information about him:

A test tube baby that was made to have inhuman strength.

He graduated from Gotham University, having studied Computer science there.

His archenemy LeHah had managed to kill him and his father Jean-Paul Valley Sr. which lead to the creation of a new Azrael Michael Lane by the Order of Purity.

The Order of St. Dumas made him undergo vigorous training in conditions known as The System which his father, the previous Azrael warned him against.

He became Batman in Knightfall after Bruce had his back broken by Bane. Bruce told him to put the suit on as Gotham needed a Batman. However, he became quite aggressive against criminals like Scarecrow and Killer Croc.

He has a split personality as a result of the training under St. Dumas. When he is in his Azrael form, he actually believes that he is the fallen angel. Whereas, when he is Jean-Paul he is mild-mannered.

Oracle keeps a stuffed plush of Azrael on her desk.

He possesses gauntlets called the Angels Wrath which he received from Ossaville. They shoot fire blasts which are non-lethal to everyone except for adversaries.

As well as the gauntlets, he uses a flamethrower, a fire sword (ignited by the gauntlets), and projectile blades.

Has a lot of religious guilt.

He is apart of the batfamily!

Headcanons:

The headcanon is that they are long lost twin brothers (°o°)

Reads Bram Stokers books. Has a lot of guilt from reading it, but does enjoy it.

Dislikes Trisha Paytas