Batman - Santa Claus: Silent Knight

Batman: Miniseries

by Jeff Parker, Michele Bandini (Artist), Alex Sinclair (Color Artist)

Prepare for an epic crossover event, with a not-so-jolly St. Nick descending upon Gotham City! His cheerful demeanor has been replaced by a grim determination to investigate a brutal crime that has shaken the city in the days leading up to Christmas. With the help of his former student, the iconic Batman, Santa will unite with the heroes of the DC Universe, including the legendary Justice League, to right this wrong—or the world will wake up to coal in their stockings! And when Krampus arrives, releasing monsters to destroy the holiday, Santa Claus and the Justice League stand as the only beacon of hope. This is not your typical holiday tale but a brutal, two-fisted narrative of hope, wonder, and monster hunting that will keep you on the edge of your seat—it's Claus in canon! Collects issues #1-4

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Batman, Superheroes, Fantasy, Holiday

120 pages, Paperback

Published November 26, 2024

About the author

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Reviews

[Jim Ef · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10
Gotham is being attacked by some creatures. Batman and the rest of the Bat-family are confused because these creatures don't seem to be from any known to them place. Worry not though, because 🎶Santa Clause is coming to town🎶.

This is such an entertaining read. It includes Santa Clause, Krampus and basically the Justice League. The story is short and simple and the plot is interesting. The art is also quite good.

Although this involves Santa and it takes place around Christmas, for the most part is just another case that our heroes have to solve. In the very end however it does have that Christmas spirit coming through.

[Molly™☺ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cheesy story full of pleasant cameos and feel good vibes. Damian is the most prominent character, which makes sense as to why Batman is the name tied to this, however, it also feels like a mini Justice League reunion at times. It's not going to win any awards, but for those who just want to see the DC roster in a christmas setting, this will definitely tackle that itch in a festive and fun way.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story and very good artwork. I really like the Scandinavian origin of Santa. I also like that of all the DC heroes and heroines, it is Batman who knows him.

Legendary dark creatures have been unleashed, not it will take a legond like Santa and the DC heroes and heroines to set things right.

A very good folk tale style comic with the modern DC universe. This is not jolly old St Nick. This is a warrior Santa, a guardian. Can the DC universe keep up? The book finishes with a varient covers gallery, as well as a cover of Santa with a few of the DC heroines.

[Benji's Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jolly good fun, as they say. Nothing too deep or grounded in canon, so anyone can read it. Even if you don't know much about the characters. 3 stars because I know I'll probably forget it within the next few weeks.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ludicrous, but fun.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.9 stars

[Caleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun. Certainly put me in the holiday mood.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

The premise sounds a little silly, but this was pretty good. Krampus attacks Gotham City, so Santa shows up to stop him. However, all is not as it seems. And really, this should have been called JLA-Santa Claus, as most of the JLA show up before the story is over.

A pretty cool Christmas read.

[Zachary King · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. I wasn’t expecting so much Santa mythology, but this book is just a good feeling.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down to 3 stars.

Batman-Santa Claus: Silent Knight collects issues 1-4 of the DC Comics series written by Jeff Parker; art by Michele Bandini, Trevor Hairsine, Danny Kim, and Stephen Segovia; and colors by Alex Sinclair.

After being banished for centuries, Krampus has escaped imprisonment and brings with him an army of Nordic creatures. It is up to Batman, the Justice League, and the greatest warrior to ever live, Santa Claus, to stop them.

When this could have been an easy holiday tie-in given little thought, this was actually pretty good! It’s a fast paced story that doesn’t overstay its welcome. The book is billed as a Batman story, but it’s really a Justice League story. Batman doesn’t do much more than any other superhero featured in the comic. Surprisingly, the book actually seems to be canon as it’s mentioned this takes place shortly after the Knight Terror event. Overall, it’s pretty light stakes. I think it could have benefited having slightly more humor to it. While reading, I kept thinking about how great Tom Taylor would have been on this. My biggest gripe would be the number of artists involved for a 4 issue story, though there are only a handful of times the artist switch was jarring because Alex Sinclair did a great job with color consistency to help the book’s flow.

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow, this was a lot of fun. But Jeff Parker is a pretty awesome writer anyway, so I was very interested to see how he’d mash up Batman and Santa Claus.

Krampus is an ally of Claus. He’s possessed by evil spirits. Santa must join Batman and the Bat family (Barbara Gordon and Dick) to help him and save Damien who has been captured. All with a little help from Superman.

This was a lot of fun. Great use of Krampus and Santa Claus. This was like a cross between Grant Morrison’s Klaus and Brian Joines’ Krampus comics. The art is great too, by Michele Bandini and Trevor Hairsine.

[Justin Saenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun seasonal read.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This bonkers little romp teams Batman and the Justice League up with the real Santa to fight Vampires and Krampus, and I know that sounds like a Jeff Parker book because it IS. Funny, spooky, and I actually got a tear in my eye when Santa gives that final gift to the Justice League. A Christmas classic in our time.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Krampus was cool af.

[Danilo Otašević · Rating 4 out of 5]

Betmen/Deda Mraz: Vitezovi spokoja

Čim sam video najavu za ovaj strip, osetio sam neopisivu potrebu da kupim. Jednostavno, koncept je toliko bizaran da sam morao da vidim o čemu se radi. U ovom univerzumu (do kraja se ne precizira da li je ovo primarni univerzum ili ne, ali je totalno nebitno za radnju), Deda Mraz postoji i on je lovac na čudovišta. Ovaj gorštak potiče iz nordijske kulture i bio je deo tima lovaca na mnogobrojna stvorenja koja su pobegla iz Asgarda. Jednom prilikom, upoznao je Krampusa, bezazlenog demona koji je uživao u tome da plaši decu. Vremenom su postali nerazdvojni prijatelji, a pošto Mraz nije uspeo da se vrati kući nakon Ragnaroka, odlučio je da život posveti deci i igranjem dobrog/lošeg policajca sa Krampusom. Sada, naš svet napadaju ta bića koje je Mraz svojevremeno zarobio, pa Betmen, Supermen, Čudesna Žena i ostali iz Lige Pravde pomažu Dedi da ustanovi šta se zbilo i da reše problem pre početka Božića.

Ovo je jedan jako zabavan krosover događaj. Namenski neozbiljno i beskrajno šarmantno. Priču prati sjajan crtež i plejada likova, manje ili više poznatih našoj strip publici. Jedna klasična Božićna fabula, gde vam nije potrebno nikakvo predznanje i gde je jedini cilj prosta zabava, bez trunke pretencioznosti. Idealan poklon za decu. Naravno, verujem da niko nije očekivao neko remek delo, ali za ovu cenu se svakako isplati. Lepo sam se zabavio i otvorio čitalačku 2025. godinu,

ocena: 7/10

[Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Batman and Santa Claus teaming up? Yes, this happened in this comic book story. Some alien-like creatures are attacking Gotham and Batman and his team are responding and trying to figure out what they are. A strong and warrior like Santa shows up to Gotham to help and Batman’s crew are surprised that Batman at one point earlier in his life have worked together with Santa Claus!
This story was rather fun to read as it has some Santa myths and places Santa with a Scandinavian background. There’s some literary license from the creative team with Santa having fought all sorts of creatures for centuries and the story of how the “elves” start working for Santa. As the story progresses one find out the source for alien disruption is from Santa’s friend Krampus who is scary looking but one learns more about their friendship and their rift. There is a happy ending I must report.
This was rather different than the typical DC Comics story. I thought the aliens and various monsters made it feel at first it might be more of a scary story but then there’s the theme of Santa and even Krapus turns out to be well-intentioned and the bad that he does do have an explanation in the end (I don’t want to give the book away). My kids enjoyed it more than I expected it, which surprised me. I do want to see more DC comics with Christmas theme.

[Alex Sarll · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the silliest emanations of humanity's collective unconscious, a figure only a child could take at all seriously, teams up with Santa for a seasonal adventure. Alas, Santa is also in vaguely grim'n'gritty mode here, very much 'homaging' the Morrison/Mora Klaus – though given the Mora covers, there can't be too many hard feelings. Batman at least references past encounters, recalling the Silver Age, when he wasn't such absolute bullshit. He also refrains from his usual nonsense about the sanctity of every thinking being when Saint Nick starts staking the undead murderers of Gotham citizens, proving he's a racist as well as a moron given there's no less chance of the Norse undead reforming than his precious little frienemy the Joker. Oh, and there's not even a gesture at fulfilling the 'Silent' in the title, though if you weren't going to bother with that, The Knight Before Christmas was right there. In summary: Robin was right to fly away, and I hope Santa Claus' drawers aren't causing too much disruption on the M1 motorway.

[Red · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely precious

[Mariano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Súper fun! A whole lot of lore is created around Santa Claus and it's actually pretty cool!

[Mocassin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Petit crossover sympatoche sans casser des briques.

[James W. Ware · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozy, breezy holiday read with Santa and the Justice League. Nothing overly heavy or profound, just some warm holiday cheer.

[Beyondiego · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offiziell Kanon. sehr interessant, vor allem wenn man erfährt das Bruce bei Santa im Training war.
Der 4. part ist leider nicht mehr so toll gezeichnet und der Epilog ist ein bisschen zu festlich.

[Brent Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goofy little seasonal read. You ever wanna see Batman team up with Santa to save Robin from krampus, here ya go.

[Amber Sayre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so cute. I loved the story and seeing most of my favorite DC characters fight alongside Santa.

[Mark Zinck · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed how Santa is a superhero. A fun read!

[Trevor ComicFan · Rating 3 out of 5]

75

A silly Xmas romp. Those covers by Dan Mora were fantastic. I hate that the last issue was done by a worse artist than the previous three…

[thatbrunettebooklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

5🌟

SUMMARY

batman is investigating a brutal crime targeted toward carolers only a few days before christmas. santa claus arrives early in gotham city to unite with the justice league and to put an end to these bad tidings.

“Somebody really doesn’t like carolers.”

🎄 superheroes
🎄 holiday
🎄 graphic novel

SPOILERS

bruce wayne and his son, damian wayne are the first to arrive on the scene, noticing that the suspect must be a new arrival. the victims have a single puncture won’t on their neck and are completely drained of blood, similar to a vampire’s MO.

i immediately picked this up when i saw the cover. i really liked the art style. the snowman announcing zatanna’s arrival was a festive touch. i thought it was slightly odd that the illustrator made krampus absolutely ripped with human abs though.

the draug is a vampiric strain in norse mythology. kris claus arrives, giving insight on the source of the draug—krampus. zatanna is poisoned by the draug, and kris takes her with him to get healed.

long ago, kris and jealous had a good-cop-bad-cop routine to keep children out of mischief by scaring them straight. but one day kris made a mistake thinking krampus actually harmed the children, sending him through a portal to hold him.

krampus isn’t actually the true villain, considering him mind isn’t his own. he’s being controlled by other spirits in the phantom zone. damian was captured, and he stalled until help could arrive. they’re able to save krampus, and together they’re able to deliver all the presents.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

The jolly old elf himself is added to the DC Universe proper in Jeff Parker’s miniseries Batman-Santa Claus: Silent Knight. When holiday carolers are attacked by winged creatures in Gotham, Batman and Robin swing into action. Their efforts are aided by the one and only Kris Kringle, arriving atop a flying reindeer and brandishing wooden stakes. Santa explains that ancient monsters, once hunted by his kind centuries ago, are being released into the modern world by the Krampus. This sends the Justice League into action across the globe, racing to contain the beasts before the traditionally festive night turns into one of horror. Tasked with establishing Santa into DC lore proper is no easy feat, but Jeff Parker finds a way to blend Norse mythology with classic folklore to create a truly entertaining solution. His plot works best when dabbling in Claus’s backstory before getting bogged down in the necessary Justice League cameos across the volume. The crossover with the Phantom Zone feels especially forced, as a way to bind this new incarnation closer to the DC chronology. Dan Mora’s sketch of the Santa character is a visual treat of comic art; the Krampus concept is equally engaging with its mix of terror and humor. The art of the collection is handed off to four different pencillers, which disrupts the visual flow from issue to issue. Batman-Santa Claus: Silent Knight is nevertheless a fun stocking stuffer fit for good boys and girls of all ages.

[Beckiezra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as light hearted as the cover might make you think (my cover is Superman reading to a kid with Batman and Wonder Woman with bat creatures in the background, not the scarier Krampus cover of some books), but pretty good comic action and a bit of holiday cheer. The art was generally good though they switched up the artists some which is always a bit frustrating to me, and seems extra unnecessary in such a limited run story. Also not a fan of the bait and switch of covers by Dan Mora but him not doing the art inside. I think Michele Bandini was very good but it would sometimes switch mid-issue to someone else that was less enjoyable. The older I get the more annoying I find changing art styles in a series… Other bit of a pet peeve is who they decided got to have cameos and who got left in the cold. I’m not a particular fan of Tim Drake but he’s more important to the bat family than Barbara Gordon Batgirl, and I didn’t even know who that Green Lantern was, so I have no idea what made someone make the cut to be included in this book. I’ll never complain about including Dick Grayson even if he should be hanging out in Bludhaven, not Gotham.

[Jason Tanner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm kind of a sucker for action-adventure Santa Claus stories., so I was looking forward to reading this. It was light and fun, but maybe less clever and whimsical than I'd hoped. It's a pretty straightforward romp that imagines Santa as a Norse huntsman who imprisoned monsters before adopting a good-cop persona opposite the Krampus to help children be better members of society by more or less scaring them straight. Something went very wrong one year and, as a result, in the present day, someone has freed all the monsters Santa had captured over the centuries. Enter the Bat-Family and eventually the Justice League. Oh, and Santa's elves.

Jeff Parker excels at all-ages storytelling, and the artists, Michelle Bandini and Trevor Hairsine, mesh well together. The story was a little thin, but enjoyable. I would have liked something a little more meaty, but this just isn't that kind of comic. Still, would recommend for the novelty, and for some genuinely good moments (along with some cheese). 3.5 stars, rounded up.