December is upon us, and that means holiday events like… Batman working with Santa Claus in a weekly comic that begins tomorrow!
Yes, Batman is going to be working with the Man with the Bag himself… Santa Claus! The mini-series will be called Batman/Santa Claus: Silent Knight, and issues will be released each week from now until the Christmas holiday! (Please don’t let it run late!)
Here’s the official description from DC:
SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN! The four-part crossover event of a generation begins when a not-so-jolly St. Nick hits Gotham City to investigate a brutal crime in the days leading up to Christmas… What manner of man or beast could have committed such atrocities?! With the help of his former student, Batman, Santa will team up with the heroes of the DC Universe to right this wrong—or the world wakes up to coal in their stockings! A brutal, two-fisted holiday tale of hope, wonder, and monster hunting is the perfect treat to ring in the holidays—it’s Claus in canon!
Turns out that one of the experts the Dark Knight trained with before he became Batman actually was St. Nick! (Wonder just what he taught Bruce!)
The mini-series does have an interesting creative team working on it, and that includes one of my favorite scripters, Jeff Parker. He’s written a lot of great comics stories, and they’ve ranged from the Hanna-Barbera characters to his current work on Negaduck for Dynamite! I think he’ll do a great job of balancing the horrible with the holiday here! I also like what I’m seeing of Michele Bandini’s art, which seems to be very seasonally appropriate!
From a preview of the first pages of the initial issue, it sure looks like Man-Bat could be involved… but that’s too obvious! What I’m really hoping for is the baddie is actually the Anti-Claus himself—Krampus! That would be engaging! I’ve been a fan of the “K-guy” as long as I’ve known about him.
Look for that initial issue to be in stores (that make them available) tomorrow or Wednesday. If all goes well, the remaining issues should arrive each week after that.
Whenever the holiday season comes around—well, ANY holiday—it’s important to make sure your book comes out BEFORE the actually holiday itself!
I’ve often told the story of how that very first Klaus from Grant Morrison and BOOM! Studios launched in December, but the last issue, if I remember correctly, hit the stands in May, of all things! I think I was the only one who bought that final mini-series issue!
If there’s any delay at all, look for sales on this mini-series to plummet! Comics fans don’t seem to celebrate “Russian Christmas” in January at all!
Of course, eagle-eyed fans will realize that the Dark Knight and Santa have crossed paths before! For instance, he and Superman got into it over the Claus in a story called “Batman vs. Superman: Eve of Christmas – ‘Yes, Tyrone, There Is a Santa Claus.’” Superman is trying to give a young boy faith in Santa when Batman stops him. It all turns out that Bruce wants to experience the good will himself, so the Man of Steel ends up beating on “Santa” in front of two terrified children! Merry Christmas, kids!
Batman and Robin apparently met Santa on the cover of Batman #37 (the first one)! There were other holiday-themed covers, but St. Nick didn’t appear on them.
Then, too, there was a book named Batman Noel from Lee Bermejo. It’s all a re-telling of Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol, with the three ghosts being portrayed by Catwoman (past), Superman (present), and the Joker (future) and Jason Todd as Jacob Marley. Love the art, anyway!
“Silent Night, Deadly Night!” is another Christmas tale with the Dark Knight, but he doesn’t meet Santa this time! The Dark Knight ends up singing Christmas carols with the GCPD, among other things.
Superman, now, that’s another story!
While we’re on the subject of holiday tales, a favorite of mine stars Marvel’s Ant-Man in Honey, I Shrunk My Annoying Family. Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne put aside their differences long enough to help a kid named Larry Magruder who must deal with his seriously dysfunctional family on the holiday!
I know many of us want to buy personal gifts for the comics fans in our lives, but trust me—that rarely works out! For instance, I often received comics as gifts from family, and I never (yes, never) received a book or item I didn’t already have (and sometimes, I had multiples)! I usually get the latest Batman book or item I want as soon as I can, so Christmas day is likely way, way, wayyy too late!
What I think is a much safer and more appropriate thing to do is to find out which local comics shop that person frequents, then stop by to pick up a gift card for an appropriate amount. That way, the next time they go shopping there, they’ll have a card they can redeem for what they REALLY want! Believe me, I much prefer that way of gift-giving and receiving!
Personally, I’m looking forward to the new mini-series! Mr. Parker has, I’m sure, done his homework on Batman’s interactions with Santa, so the story should be an interesting one! Also, other members of the Justice League will be involved, so that will help it be not ONLY a Batman series. I think we already have plenty of those!
What do you think? Are you interested in Batman and Santa Claus/Silent Knight? Do you enjoy seasonal/holiday comics or does your interest fade once the holiday has passed? What could the comics companies do that would entice you to buying more holiday-themed products? Whatever your opinion, feel free to share it in the space below!
Dear Spoilerite,
At Major Spoilers, we strive to create original content that you find interesting and entertaining. Producing, writing, recording, editing, and researching requires significant resources. We pay writers, podcast hosts, and other staff members who work tirelessly to provide you with insights into the comic book, gaming, and pop culture industries. Help us keep MajorSpoilers.com strong. Become a Patron (and our superhero) today.
Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his "Comics Portal" column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics.