The Pink Panther #2, a disappointing, mixed bag of mayhem

When I read The Pink Panther preview for Free Comic Book Day I was pumped. It was a fabulous, funny return of a classic character that I really enjoyed reading as a child. The first issue of the comic book let down our expectations a little bit, but was still enjoyable. The Pink Panther #2 is out-and while still being mildly enjoyable continues its downward trajectory.

What’s ironic about this is the fact that our 6 year old son absolutely loves it. He asks every week when the next issue comes out and even tricked us into buying the first issue two times. To his credit and my rushing through the comic book store, he picked up a variant, said that it was new and I believed him. If only there was a website I read each week that detailed the new all age comic books….

The Pink Panther #2 has four stories, two that are new and two that are classic. Mickey Mouse and some other classic characters mix in older stories and it works quite well. The difference with The Pink Panther is that the new stories have him and the Inspector silent, while they talk in the classic comic panels.  Talk or don’t talk, but having the characters do both according to how old the source material is reeks of trying to have your cake and eat it also.

Character continuity isn’t a huge issue, but the colors in the classic stories are faded and don’t mesh with the visual look of the new stories. It’s also a skinny comic book. The other classic comic reprints have upwards of 32 pages. The Pink Panther only has 27 pages of story.

As an adult, and the person buying the comic books  (for now) I found those three differences, combined with the $3.99 price point to be too much of a turn off.

Again, our son loves the comic book and can read most of the vocabulary in the classic strips. For us the thrill is gone with The Pink Panther. I suppose that our son will continue to get the comic, but it’ll be with his money and go to his comic book allowance.