Issue #2 of Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight continues the 4-issue weekly holiday adventure teaming everyone’s favorite dark knight detective with a more buff and bad-ass version of the Christmas character we all know and love with plenty of guest stars galore to stuff your comic stockings.
After their first encounter with Klaus’ former ally and current enemy Krampus as well as his horde of vampire Batman’s own ally, the Justice League magician Zatanna is left badly scarred by poisonous acid and must be rushed away by Klaus for medical attention while Batman and his other allies deal with the rest of the vampires. In his stead Santa leaves a mysterious and magical box which Batman briefly considers to be a bomb, but turns out to be a convenient flashback device to help Santa fill Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl in on his history with Krampus
Silent Knight does seem like an appropriate subtitle for this series, or mostly this issue, as Batman is relegated to almost a supporting role in a comic, he receives top billing for. Not only is he joined by his allies Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl, but this issue is almost overflowing with appearances by other DC characters such as Miss Martian, Green Arrow, and Black Canary. Not to mention the appearance of Superman at the end of issue. This almost feels like this miniseries should be retitled “Santa joins the Justice League”
I am not complaining, just pointing out the obvious. If fans are expecting a solo Batman adventure that just happens to feature Santa Claus, then they will be surely disappointed. It is still a fun issue and series just with a few more character than expected. It is cool to see so many DC characters join Batman and Santa in their adventure, but their inclusion almost feels like fan service and does little for the plot.
While Batman takes on more of a supporting role Santa, who is closer to the character portrayed in the 2015 Klaus comic by Grant Morrison than the rotund fellow most fans are used to, has even less of a role in this issue that the Caped Crusader. He appears mostly in this issue to dump exposition and back story to both readers and Batman and his allies. His main action in this issue is simply to tell the story of him and Krampus who started out as holiday partners, but due to a tragic misunderstanding are now mortal enemies and is not involved in the larger fight between the superheroes and Krampus’ vampire minions. The lack of a clear protagonist to focus on does make this issue a little disjointed as the writers seem to want to put as many DC characters into the story as possible at the expense of delivering a compelling adventure for either of the title characters.
It is still a fun issue it just feels a little unfocused and the retread/reimagining of the Santa origin feels a little unnecessary. Krampus makes for a decent villain despite not really appearing aside from the flashback to him and Santa’s origins, but I think it would have been more entertaining if he was paired with a Batman villain such as perhaps the Joker. Instead of a solo self-contained Batman adventure this almost feels like it could have been or is a DC crossover.
With two issues left Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight does have the potential to get better, especially with the appearance of Superman, but in my opinion its bogged down by too many characters and an unfocused narrative which, while enjoyable, does not have much for either Batman or Santa Claus to do. Perhaps this will be remedied in Issue #3 and this Christmas series can be saved after all.
