THE BEST OF PANTHA: THE WARREN STORIES – graphic novel

Ah, sweet nostalgia. Reading this took me back to those geeky middle-school days, when I scoured the rack of over-sized comic books with their black and white artwork that somehow felt a little racy because it was black and white (and certainly the subject matter was intended to be sexy).

I read (or looked through) only a handful of Vampirella books back in the day (the covers were just a little too provocative for me to purchase them and have my parents ask me what I was reading!), but I have absolutely no recollection of the character of Pantha. She looks almost exactly like Vampirella, but with a slightly different looking, revealing outfit. Still, the style of the artwork, the very 1970’s look and feel to the characters and the settings just set such a warm nostalgic tone for me. I really enjoyed it!

Pantha is Sekhmet, an Egyptian high priestess to Ra. Ra gave her the power to change in to a panther or half-panther, but Ra later condemned Pantha (for crimes against humanity) to walk the world forever, never knowing a home, or peace. This is the stuff great mythology is built upon! And the fact that she is super sexy doesn’t hurt!

This book features the following stories (thank you www.comicvine.com for this listing):

Re-Birth – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #30
Family Ties – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #31
Black On White – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #32
Childhood Haunt – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #33
Straw On the Wind – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #42
Changing – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #44
Eye of Anubis – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #90
Encore For Anubis – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #93
Druids On 54th Street! – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #94
Reflections In Blood – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #95
Night of the Cat Goddess – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #96
A Night Full of Zombies 1 – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #96
A Night Full of Zombies 2 – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #97
A Night Full of Zombies 3 – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #99
A Night Full of Zombies 4 – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #101
A Night Full of Zombies 5 – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #102
A Night Full of Zombies 6 – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #103
Death Snare – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #104
On the Trail of the Cat – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #106
Circus Monstrous – Originally printed in Vampirella Magazine #108

This collection really gives the reader a taste of who Pantha is, and the dark and supernatural adventures that she is embroiled in. The stories and writing are not super-stellar, but they mostly move along nicely. At times, Pantha seems quite wise, but others she is timid and curiously innocent. Some of the seventies’ ‘free love’ sensibilities here are actually distracting from the story-telling, though make perfect sense within the context of the times. So, too, the look of New York’s 42nd Street, with its pimps and pushers, which is a far cry from today’s Disney-fied theatre district.

The artwork is also nearly all gorgeous. Only one story had a much more stylized art that was distracting and not up to the standards I was enjoying. The art here actually feels like art. You can sense the devotion behind the artist’s pen. Too often I’ve looked at graphic novels lately and you can only tell who a character is by the clothing they are wearing, and not the consistent appearance of the characters. This is not a problem here! Mine was an electronic review copy, but I’d really like to hold a paper book in my hand just to better enjoy the artwork.

I didn’t know what to expect before reading this book, I’ve had some quite varied quality of graphic novels lately, but I truly enjoyed this, as much for the nostalgia as for the art and stories.

Looking for a good book? Modern readers my not enjoy the 70’s sensibilities here, but the stories and art are strong and worth giving this book a read.