Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #2 & 3 – All’s Not Calm, All’s Not Bright

Batman / Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #2 is a venerable whose who of the DC magical corner if the DCU, as the origin of The Silent Knight takes the focus of the issue, as both the heroes in the Unknown realm and in the DCU learn about thier mysterious foe.

Klaus and Robin take to the streets to settle the unrest left in Batman’s absence as Zatanna continues to research the Knight’s sigil that Robin brought back in the first issue. After disposing of Nitrous Gods street gang, Zatanna informs the new dynamic duo that she has traced the sigil back to Arthurian Times and has an invite to an exclusive Solstice Party where more answers could be found from the guests. Robin and Klaus, disguised as Batman, tag along as her +1 ( and additional exception for offspring) and confront Jason Blood about the symbol.

Blood tells the party goers about his days in Camalot and how Brian Kent, The Hawk of Camalot, found The Silent Knight armor that corrupted him and transformed him into The Silent Knight, and how Merlin and others cut the Silent Knight’s kingdom from Earth. Meanwhile, the Justice League team fighting in the Unknown realm learn that these magicians could not destroy the Silent Knight armor but separated and hid it, until the Silent Knight’s minions, frozen by Klaus, were freed in the miniseries last year and searched out and rejoined the armor, bringing The Silent Knight back to life.

While, the backstory of the Silent Knight was interesting, Parker does an excellent job with the various magic characters listening to the story, the best being Faust seeing through Klaus’ disguise as “Batman hasn’t stared him down” since entering the room. This and other interactions show Parker’s grasp on these arcane characters who aren’t seen that often in other DC titles.

The cliffhanger finds Jason Blood seemingly killed at the hands of The Silent Knight.

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Batman / Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns #3 finds the body count seemingly stacking up The Flash, The Doom Patrol, and others arriving to help subdue The Silent Knight with little success and The Flash , in a panel that pays homage to Crisis On Infinite Earths, seemingly meets his end, although Zee places his body in a statis of amber.

The Silent Knight’s backstory continues to be fleshed out as Gentleman Ghost reveals that the Knight’s essence continues in his nemesis Hawkman, which falls in line with established DC canon.

The thread of the League members in the Unknown continues to grow dire as their powers continue to fade and John Stewart’s ring runs out of its 24 charge unexpectedly leading Iris to comment that at least her phone tells her when there is 10% left and just doesn’t stop working.

The dialogue throughout the issues seems natural and aside from the origin of the Silent Knight, not to heavy on the exposition.  Parker continues to balance the multiple characters, while allowing Klaus, Robin and Zee to be the focal point of the story. The art and colorwork also continue to be top notch and add additional levels to the story being told.