As is my tradition of finding comics around holiday seasons, I noticed the other day that DC had released a five part sequel series to their 'Santa Klaus: Silent Knight' run that was released last year. That too was a five part run, and for a few minutes I was starting to question whether I had ever actually read it. I gave the previous run a quick scan through and noticed I had. I was tempted to do a review of it but I didn't feel like cramming two comic series into one post. Especially with the intentions of this one being a first impressions post based on the current two volumes that are out now. Now, I wouldn't say I'm much of a fan of the Batman character, or most of what DC throws out in regards to comics, but I can't pass up some fun festivity mixed with little elements of thrills and spooks. It actually feels like Halloween never even happened! Anyway, these festive releases that DC throws out each year tends to be nothing all that special. They're simply just to have a bit of fun and also offer something to collectors (unless you're like me and stick to the digital side of things for the most part). They aren't made to be anything that will stick with you for years with a deep story and diverse range of fascinating characters with great developments. I think that's something important to know if you ever dive into one of these.
It's fairly clear that it's not going to be something to write home about, and that's somewhat evident from the fact that I couldn't even remember whether I had in fact read the first run or not. So this isn't something you go into with many expectations, even in the art side of things it's typically done with the intent of having a cheaper budget, resulting in less detailed backgrounds and likely scratchy lines or more cartoonish features. It really is something you jump into for the story, and there are rarely any other releases quite like theses. They sort of exist in their own worlds, rarely mentioned elsewhere, coming and going between holidays. The realisation that this is something you'll likely read and then forget about once that fifth volume is released and read shouldn't discourage you from a bit of fun though, and that's why I think writing a first impressions post could be useful to some who stumble across the post, more likely to be people not from Hive but external visitors. After all, it does feel like I'm often writing these comic posts and publishing them into the void with how thin the comic interest here is! With all that said and done, let's get into the first impressions side of things. I won't be writing about the events of the first comic run, and this is a sequel, so go and read that one first if you have any interest. It is of the same name, just minus the "Returns".
Yes, that's Krampus taking a solid kick to the mouth. The first volume felt a bit weaker than the second, and I think some of that was from the art style which seemed a bit all over the place. It felt like a really chaotic volume due to so many panels just having so much going on and so many different things taking place within each one of varying sizes. I like art in comics that goes a bit all over the place and really goes out of its way to be interesting, but this felt like it was lacking some order that gave certain panels the weight that they needed. Another problem with this is that the comic was relying on far too many characters and little plot directions which had them also all over the place, making things feel even more cluttered. I think it would've been better had it focused on less characters, not relying on the need for so many crossover characters and the whole annoying universe side of things. And things don't really get better from there, there are more characters that appear as the first volume progresses. Within all of this chaos of characters and panels popping out in varying sizes, the volume feels like it's quite exposition heavy, with a lot of references to the previous run and where characters are and what certain objects with certain abilities are. All that uninteresting side of things to get the ball rolling later.
For me, it was definitely the second volume which picked things up a bit more and had a bit more interest to it, and it almost felt like the art was handled completely differently. It still had those panels where things pop out a bit more and I certainly enjoy when that's done when it gives some extra pop to certain scenes. And regarding the narrative it starts off with some strange mystery: a random entity has appeared in Egypt and is petrifying people with it. But that idea is almost entirely glanced over with that sudden addition of the exposition dumping that the comic dives into in the first volume. The second comic followed the actions of Santa a bit more, which is definitely a bit more fun and adds to the whole festivity of the comic as we see a buffed-up Santa running around beating people up. The switching between characters continues to have pacing issues though, as we see the actions of one group, move to the next that we definitely care a little less about, and then move on to the next yet again. This is where the festivity side of things ends a bit and it feels more like your usual crossover narrative with fantasy elements.
With these two volumes I definitely haven't been impressed that much. It has its moments but it feels all too convoluted. With three more volumes left I still think I'll keep with it and see how it plays out just to have something fun for the festive weeks coming up. But it's really not something that I'd recommend for most, especially if you're a person that's more new to the realm of comics. There's better out there, and you're definitely better off just spending your time reading something else.
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