Michael Lane

Michael Lane is a former Gotham City police officer and soldier who takes on the mantle of Azrael, becoming a religiously tormented vigilante wielding the Suit of Sorrows in service to the Order of Purity.

Grant Morrison and Tony Daniel introduced Michael Lane to DC's Modern Age in 2008's Batman #672, and he's carved out a genuinely compelling corner of Gotham's mythology in the years since. Sharing pages with Batman, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Commissioner Gordon places him squarely at the heart of DC's most celebrated street-level universe, and his appearances across Azrael and Batman: Gotham Shall Be Judged hint at a character wrestling with weighty, spiritually charged themes. With a publishing presence stretching all the way to 2026, Lane has proven to be more than a fleeting Modern Age curiosity — he's a figure worth tracking down for any collector who loves the darker, more morally complex side of Gotham.