Batman Knightcast 33: Christmas with the Batman

Batman Knightcast kicks off the holiday season with two seasonal adventures of the Caped Crusader. Warm up you singing voice as Ryan Daly and Chris Franklin follow Batman's unusual night of Christmas caroling with the cops in "The Silent Night of the Batman" originally from BATMAN #219. Then, when the year is at its darkest, the holiday spirit shines brightest; this it is, with Batman and Robin, and why the light and joy of the Boy Wonder is ever-important to the Dark Knight's endless war on evil. Check out "And in the Depths" from CHRISTMAS WITH THE SUPER-HEROES #2.

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Music from the Batman and Batman Returns original motion picture soundtracks by Danny Elfman. Additional music: x

Thanks for listening!

11 responses to “Batman Knightcast 33: Christmas with the Batman

  1. Great episode Chris and Ryan, yadda yadda yadda.

    Ryan, after you begged me to not cover Battle For the Cowl on DCOCD, you don’t even mention it as part of your upcoming schedule. What the hell?!?

  2. The most “unique” Batman related Christmas Gift I ever received was a Batman Returns Vehicle Play-Tent, which was a huge plastic, vinyl tent thing, that was in the shape of the Anton Furst Batmobile. My strongest memories of Christmas 1993, was waking up and finding this giant Batmobile already set up in the living room… And then (because Christmas landed on a Saturday that year) I remember watching Saturday Morning cartoons from INSIDE that Batmobile.

  3. When I think of Batman singing Christmas carols, I imagine him doing so in the style of Batman’s Untitled Self Portrait song (a.k.a Darkness) from The Lego Movie.

    My favorite Batman present was a Batman: The Animated Series alarm clock. When the alarm went off, the bat signal would flash on the ceiling, and a dramatic voice would say, “Gotham city is in trouble. Call for Batman.” It was a big hit in my college dorm.

    Thank you for a fun holiday episode, gentlemen.

  4. Impressive podcast. Most impressive. I read the first story in the Christmas comic in the 70s. Well I bought it from a book store in the 80s. And thought it was funny. Had some good ones in it. The Supes one from the 30s I think. As was WWs. Was pretty fun. The House of mystery one being weird. Still it was cool.

  5. Ta for a Christmas treat, chaps.

    Ah yes, the Silent Night of the Batman, bit of a classic, I agree. Of course, the idea that the Commish would ask Batman to sing is ridiculous, given that redneck accent he puts on.

    Well done on spotting that likely baby bump, Chris. Mind, given it’s not a big one, let’s hope the woman’s soldier boy hasn’t been away too long… mind, that would explain why she’s so depressed without the need for a note wrongly claiming he’s dead. I think I’d heard that pregnant women were banned by the Comics Code, but forgotten again. Why should this be?

    So it’s just me who worries about a loaded gun being tossed into a garbage pail you can easily see into?

    As good an artist as Neal Adams was, even he couldn’t make Batman singing Christmas tunes not look hilarious. Not as funny, mind, as the panel in which, having seen the Ghost of Commissioner Present, Batman punches himself. Look again and tell me that’s not exactly what he’s doing.

    That final panel with Batman swinging out into the morning light, it’s probably absolutely correct in the way it’s drawn, the problem may be the colouring, but it looks awkward as heck to my eyes. Suddenly that Marshal Rogers splash at the end of the Silver St Cloud sequence doesn’t look so bad.

    Talking of art, there’s an interesting letter in this issue critiquing the debut of inker Dick Giordano over Irv Novick… from Klaus Janson.

    Overall, SNotB is a memorable story, with a nice Christmas sentiment.

    Unlike the Batcave story. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. Talk about portentous. If memory serves, I got to the word ‘benighted’ before goodwill left for the season. I’ve read some good stories written by Dave Gibbons, this is not one of them. It’s words as water torture, dripping from the darkest corners of a very old, very tired cave. An artist as talented as Dave Gibbons, unless his writing is at least as good as his art, should be chained to the drawing board and told to leave the thesaurus alone. Even the great Gray Morrow couldn’t save this, his art looking as murky as the script – and that’s not just the rubbish printing, his work looks uninspired.

    How fascinating that the Secret Origins issue with the JLA HQ story came out at the same time – Ghosts of Stone was so much more fun than its Gotham cousin. Thank goodness the two caves never teamed up in The Brave and the Holes.

    1. You mean The Caves and the Holes, Martin, with guest appearances by Cave Carson, World War II’s Gravedigger, Captain Boomerang (AKA “Digger” Harkness) and the original Blockbuster! Working together for the first time to counter a threat from deep beneath the surface of the Earth, this Dolomite Duo of Cavernous Crusaders will plumb new depths to collapse the speleological schemes of…of… (Help! Does anyone know of a DC equivalent for the Mole Man?)

        1. Thanks. I just knew I was leaving a gag on the table there, but of course, the professional writer applIes the finishing touch!

  6. A Christmas present from the Knightcast Crew! Gentlemen, I skipped commenting for one episode, and I feel like I’ve been gone forever. I enjoyed this episode and the last one, so thank you twice. I agree that Batman can carry poetry, symbolism, and even spirituality better than most long underwear characters, both in these Christmas stories and the Breyfogle romp last time. I really appreciated your willingness to discuss them at those levels.

    Chris, I’m super glad to hear you’re healing well. Please keep taking care of your shoulder so you can enjoy the holidays.

    Ryan, regarding your response to my comments defending the deii ex machina from episode before last: Upon reflection, Strange placing the gadget for Batman to find is one unlikely event too far, even for my generous reader nature. So on that point, I concede! I admit that you were right, and I was wrong. Who says there’s no such thing as a Christmas miracle?

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