This holiday season is shaping up to be the most wonderful time of the year, not just because of the gifts and eggnog and merriment, but because DC is publishing a sequel to last year’s wonderful Silent Knight miniseries that featured Santa Claus teaming up with various DC characters.
Santa’s back to save Christmas and the Justice League in Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns by writer Jeff Parker, who wrote last year’s miniseries, along with artist Lukas Ketner, colorist Marcelo Maiolo and letterer Pat Brosseau. Michele Bandini, who drew the original miniseries, will be back to draw some of the scenes in this one as well, as a trapped Justice League must rely on Robin, Zatanna and Santa Claus to save them.
“I was blown away at how well last year’s Silent Knight series was received, readers really responded to us going full tilt with Norse-mythos Santa in the DCU,Parker said. “We followed the old tradition of telling ghost stories at Christmas (remember the line from ‘It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year’?). Then to be asked if I wanted to do another one AND have an extra issue? That was the Happy New Year.”
Here’s the description from DC:
In the five issues of Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns, horrors haunt the Christmas season as life-drained bodies litter the countryside, each marked with a strange symbol. The Justice League responds—but it’s a trap! The heroes are pulled from our world, but not before Batman helps Robin escape. Now Damian Wayne must seek out Zatanna and the one and only Santa Claus if there’s any hope of saving their friends and family.
Santa comes to the aid of the DCU heroes in the crossover-event sequel you wished for! And you must have been extra good because a wintry mix of DC’s wildest characters arrive this time to face a powerful foe…the Silent Knight!
“The first Silent Knight series wasn’t quite what I expected, and I loved it for that,” Ketner said. “Jeff has an amazing ability to take an idea like a Batman and Santa team-up and play it straight with a great story, new DC lore and a real threat. There’s humor of course, but it’s so much more effective when the stakes are real.”
Take a look at some of Ketner’s interior artwork:
And here’s a look at some of Ketner’s character sketches, which include The Demon:
“It’s still unclear to me whether Batman will be speed-skating in the story,” Ketner said. “I may have been heavy-handed with the X-Mas flavor in my audition sketches; it was meant to show how interested I was in doing THIS story specifically. I loved the first series, and Jeff was dangling an Etrigan-shaped carrot.”
The first issue will feature a main cover by Bernard Chang, shown above, and variant covers by Dan Mora, Kevin Wada and Erica Henderson. There’s also a special gift-wrapped, i.e. polybagged, evergreen-scented variant cover by Dan Hipp:
“We also get to welcome back maestro Michele Bandini who is drawing the scenes of the Justice League lost in The Hollow Kingdom of the Knight,” said Parker. “You’ll see many of the creatures he designed return so there’s another direct connection to the first series. You might want to reread that before Silent Knight Returns kicks off in November (visualize me doing the Superman wink here).”
Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #1 will come down the chimney on Nov. 27, with the rest of the five-issue miniseries coming out weekly and finishing up just in time for Christmas.