Zauriel
4 years ago - Zauriel, a guardian angel of the Eagle Host in love with his human charge and trying to earn his mortality, learns the secret of Asmodel's plan to overthrow the Throne of Heaven. He falls to Earth to escape Asmodel, falling in with his charge, and ultimately stopping Asmodel's assault on Heaven by the Bull Host with the help of J'onn J'onzz. He is granted mortality, but his charge rejects him. He becomes the protector of Los Angeles.
2 years ago - Zauriel assists the Watchtower & Shadowpact in fighting Asmodel when he attempts to usurp control of the Spectre to escape hell and regain his seat in Heaven, which would disprove the infallibility of the voice and unmake reality. They go into the afterlife to find Jim Corrigan so that he can reclaim the Spectre, and disincorporates Asmodel as punishment. Zauriel joins the Watchtower.
1 years ago - Zauriel returns to heaven to demand assistance against the coming of Mageddon. When they reveal their intention to remake creation, he chooses to stand with Earth, and rallies an army of angels, sacrificing his existence to save humanity.
Sometimes some very obscure characters get to have pretty major roles within the DC Universe. Zauriel has been around since the 90's, but he's never really had that big a part to play beyond his debut where he joined the largest and most high profile team DC had to offer. There have been original character in the Justice League before, but generally only in largely forgettable lineups. This was an era when the League was deliberately showcasing the most popular characters DC had. For a brief time this never-before-seen character served alongside Batman and Superman.
What's even cooler is that he totally fit. He was built to be a perpetual outsider from humanity that was nonetheless totally devoted to protecting it, and that was exactly how he read. Sometimes a character just effortly synergizes with they way they're implemented.
What's even cooler is that he totally fit. He was built to be a perpetual outsider from humanity that was nonetheless totally devoted to protecting it, and that was exactly how he read. Sometimes a character just effortly synergizes with they way they're implemented.
Zauriel's Comic HistoryZauriel was created by Grant Morrison during their run on Justice League. They wanted to include Hawkman in their team, but at the time Hawkman's backstory had been so thoroughly wrecked by various retcons that he was actually blacklisted (and would remain so until continuity gurus James Robinson & Geoff Johns tackled him in the pages of JSA). Since Morrison wasn't allowed to use Hawkman they simply made their own version, and because this is Grant Morrison we're talking about they went with a character that required DC to suddenly include the entire concept of a biblical afterlife.
Like usual, Morrison found innovative ways to mine an existing mythology and craft a new story all their own. They used the notions of the old-testament-style hosts of heaven as fuel for some very clever stories, and Zauriel served as useful part of his Justice League as Morrison built it out to mirror the Greek Pantheon. Once Morrison finished their run on the Justice League you didn't really see much of Zauriel anymore. He would turn up here or there in service of other stories, but his time as a central character was essentially over. |
Our Zauriel StoryWe could conceivably have left Zauriel out entirely. He doesn't really leave a lasting impact on the rest of the DC Universe at large. Essentially he plays his part within the story of the Watchtower, and then for all intents in purposes basically vanishes.
Instead of leaving him out, however, we decided to actually embrace the singularity of his story. It's brief but well conceived, and it gives the Watchtower a grander framework by making it interact with threats on a biblical scale. Plus, it's just kind of cool to have an earthbound guardian Angel on the team for a time. It's really hard to argue with the simplicity and coolness of the premise. Sometimes a simple story can still be a fun one. |