In Review: Batman – Santa Claus: Silent Knight Returns (2024-) #3 Zatanna’s Last Hope: Justice League Faces Silent Knight

Synopsis: The Justice League is trapped in the Hollow Kingdom, hunted by monsters and skeletons. Innocents everywhere are falling to the Silent Knight’s sword…including a hero everyone was counting on. Right when Klaus looks to have an edge, he goes missing! TBH, the only way we see this turning around is if Zatanna pulls something really good out of her hat…

The Story

With Jason Blood out of commission, all hopes are pinned on the arrival of The Flash to battle the Silent Knight. However, when he arrives, the battle is brief, as the Knight completely drains The Flash of all his life force before heading off to the Hollow Kingdom. While Zatanna and Robin work to figure things out in Gotham, Santa follows the Knight to the Hollow Kingdom.

Meanwhile, in the Hollow Kingdom, the force field protecting the Justice League begins to fail. Since none of the team can match the Silent Knight in a direct confrontation, they must find a way to retreat to safer ground without being detected by the Knight or his minions. To that end, Mera uses her powers to manipulate water vapor, creating a distraction that gives Batman and the others a chance to escape. Thankfully, Santa arrives just in time and orders the Silent Knight to back off from attacking the Justice League, setting up the perfect lead-in for next week’s penultimate issue.

The Artwork

Lukas Ketner and Michele Bandini continue to deliver fabulous artwork for this book. One of my favorite panels is near the end, where Santa steps between the Silent Knight and the Justice League. The way Santa is portrayed as so much bigger than anyone else on that page really emphasizes how he might be more of an icon than even the most iconic superheroes.

Additionally, I really enjoyed the sequence earlier in the book where we see The Flash completely drained of his life force by the Knight.

Overall

A fun issue that gradually builds towards the conclusion of Batman and the JLA’s time in the Hollow Kingdom as Santa comes to their rescue. That said, I’m actually enjoying Zatanna and Robin’s part in this story a bit more than Batman and the JLA’s storyline.