Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight #2 is written by Jeff Parker and published by DC Comics. Artwork is by Michele Bandini and Trevor Hairsine and colours by Alex Sinclair, letters are by Pat Brosseau. Main cover art (left) is by Dan Mora.
Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight #2 is available now, in print and on digital where all good comics books are sold.
Synopsis
SANTA CLAUS AND THE DARK KNIGHT VS. KRAMPUS! SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN! The ancient and wild Krampus is loose on Earth and releasing monsters to destroy Christmas! Santa Claus, with the help of the Justice League, is all that stands in the way of this impending darkness. The team’s first challenge? A plague of vampires attacking Blüdhaven!
Review
Your new favourite holiday comic book is back today for issue #2. A surefire sign of a great book, to me, is when it feels effortless to read. Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight #2 is exactly that. Picking up right where we left off last week, we now know that Krampus is the villain who has been behind the bat attacks in Gotham. With the Dark Knight and Santa on the demon’s trail it’s time to call in the big guns this week.
The word rapid expansion springs to mind when thinking about issue #2 of Batman – Santa Claus. With a limited event like this there’s always going to be a wishlist of characters to bring in. If we look at Justice League vs Godzilla vs Kong it’s a similar scenario. So now, as the problem breaches Gotham and creeps in to Blüdhaven, it’s time to see more supporting characters. I mentioned in my review last week that it felt very natural seeing each new character enter the story. That continues this week as Green Arrow, Black Canary and more show up. I won’t spoil everyone you get to see. But know that it continues to work in the context of the story. Parker’s assured script is keeping everything on track beautifully.
If you thought issue #1 was action-packed then get ready. There’s a credible sense of increasing pace this week. With Krampus on the loose and a veritable army of bats there isn’t a huge amount of space for breathing room. From the first page to the last Batman – Santa Claus is pretty gripping. That sense of pacing I complimented last week feels even more delicious this week. If this book were a box set on Netflix I would binge it in one sitting.
A key moment in this week’s issue takes us to a location from Matt Reeves’ The Batman. It was fascinating to see it rendered on the page, particularly in Bandini’s style and Sinclair’s colours. It’s just a small moment in a packed book. But as a Bat-fan it’s cool to see this kind of easter egg/nod to Batman in other mediums. But I do now want to know, given the reference to Knight Terrors, how canon this location is.
Trevor Hairsine steps in to issue #2 for a brilliant flashback sequence which fleshes out the mythology for both Santa and Krampus. The short sequence is a much needed injection of context which gives their rivalry all the energy it needs to push us through the second half of the story. Hairsine brings his trademark visceral style to Batman – Santa for a sequence which doesn’t feel a million miles away from his work on DCeased.
Once again the book leaves us on a brilliant cliffhanger. Granted this one is much more positive but it’s a cool moment. It also perfectly sets up the next level of the conflict to come in just one week’s time.
Verdict
It’s hard to knock a book as fun as Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight. This week’s issue is an action-packed spectacular which nicely nudges on the story.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
