I will say Jeff Parker’s series of Batman – Santa Claus team-ups is great and DC should endeavor to publish them, holiday tradition-like, as long as Parker will produce them. I will also say, perhaps with the shock of the new passed, Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns is not quite up to the level of its predecessor.

I’ll point to a variety of things — writing at times too overcomplicated or irreverent, colors that don’t serve the book particularly well — but mainly that I find Parker’s choice of characters for this volume simply uninteresting. The high concept for Silent Knight Returns seemed to be that this time, Santa would encounter DC’s supernatural heroes, and there is that, but it’s a passing thing that doesn’t encompass the plot as much as I’d have liked. Too, when Parker brings in a substitute League, the choice seems somewhat random — fan favorites, maybe; movie-friendly, maybe; but not that gets my blood pumping necessarily. We want Batman – Santa Claus to be iconic, and this cast isn’t necessarily iconic.

Still, I’m sorry to see that there’s not a third Batman – Santa series currently on the schedule. What nits I’ll pick with this one, again, don’t lessen my esteem for DC publishing these minis (and really leaning into the Santa as “hairy-chested warrior god” aesthetic), and I’d be very pleased to see them continue.

[Review contains spoilers]

The chapter that most accomplishes what I wanted from Silent Knight Returns is the second, in which Zatanna, Santa (disguised as Batman), and Robin Damian Wayne attend a mystic solstice party, seeking assistance against the demonic Silent Knight. Parker and artists Lukas Ketner and Michele Bandini pepper the background with cameos from DC’s supernatural set: the Creature Commandos, Abel, Blue Devil, Dr. Mist, Black Alice, Nightshade, Detective Chimp, Wylde for gosh sakes, even Monkey Prince.

That’s bunches of fun, though the only character with real speaking lines is Felix Faust, whom the creative team strangely recasts as a 1970s lounge lizard. Etrigan ultimately joins the merry band, but given all the creative team had to work with, that seems an uninspired choice. (Also obvious, but who doesn’t want to see Santa meet Constantine?)

There’s an odd, overly complex sequence where Zatanna is only allowed to bring one guest to the party but, conveniently, that guest can bring their progeny, so Santa is magicked to look like Batman so he and Damian can get in. It is then only six pages until Santa’s identity is detected, with no real consequence either way; why take the reader through the whole rigamarole? Another time, discussing whether the Silent Knight can be redeemed, Gentleman Ghost mentions that the ghost’s true spirit “survives today as one I detest,” with an image of Hawkman in the background. Parker offers no further explanation, the amount of comics knowledge needed to understand that reference being voluminous, and I can’t imagine what Parker thought the casual reader would make of it.

See too a sequence where, with 14 heroes gathered, it’s agreed that those who’ve been marked by the Silent Knight will storm his castle while the others will hold the line from monsters outside; it seems sensible in its context. But then there’s much shuffling; Nubia states it would “kill her soul” not to fight the monsters (despite that this could help fuel the Silent Knight), then Batman is going to stay outside but Zatanna convinces him to go in, then Green Lantern John Stewart gets the nod despite that he isn’t marked, and so on. It’s two pages of confusion, and maybe it’s to Parker’s writing credits that the heroes don’t make perfect decisions the first time, but the overall effect is a book that sometimes gets lost in its own ponderings.

The original Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight introduced some elves and reindeer, filling out this iteration of Santa’s “world”; in this volume, fantastically, Parker brings in a decidedly different “Mrs. Claus,” the warrior elf Ulah. She’s a bright spot in what I felt was an otherwise boring cast; the Leaguers who answered Zatanna’s call for help are Mary Marvel, Metamorpho, and Robotman Cliff Steele. Don’t let me denigrate your favorite hero, but I’d as soon have seen the Super-family or the Titans get the spotlight here; for an evergreen special, why Mary as opposed to Billy Batson himself, and as signifiers of randomness, I rather think both Metamorpho and Robotman are overused.

Too, even, Nubia and Mera being used instead of Wonder Woman and Aquaman. I’ve been a fan of Mera in the League before, and Parker gets credit for a story where the genders are represented more equally than normal, but the mix felt dated, Parker writing a story set decidedly in the DC All In era but with a League makeup more like Infinite Frontier. (Parker did include a lot of these characters in his short Justice League United arc, for what that's worth.) Or, very possibly, my misgivings on guest stars, League, and so on may all have to do with colorist Marcelo Maiolo, whose work I have enjoyed and also struggled with in the past; the whole of the book is dim and washed out, and I honestly believe that affected my enthusiasm for it.

But let’s not mistake what you’re really reading this review to talk about. The original Batman – Santa surprised us by suggesting the then-recent Knight Terrors crossover as a catalyst for the story — that Batman – Santa didn’t just use modern-looking characters, but that it was really, really in continuity. Would Silent Knight Returns do the same? There’s Flash Wally West’s newest costume, that’s something … but it’s not until the epilogue (way to keep us waiting!) that Superman and Batman present Santa with a Justice League Unlimited membership card — again, a wonderful sign that Batman – Santa doesn’t just fit, but really, really fits.

(Now I want the next volume to be Absolute Batman – Santa Claus. DC can have that one for free.)

I think Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns tried to do things a little differently than previous and I don’t think it worked; what we needed was more of the exact same. And that Jeff Parker only writes these characters occasionally shows, with Nubia spouting to Mera, “Teach them, Queen” and Robotman doing his best, dated Austin Powers impression. But none of this is the point. It’s another DC Universe/Santa team-up for the inevitable omnibus, and wouldn’t it be better if there were a few more to include.

[Includes original and variant covers]