Burn Panther Burn!

The issues of Jungle Action which are subtitled "Panther Vs. The Klan" arrive immediately after the incredible epic of "Panther's Rage". Sadly, these final issues are nowhere near as compelling despite a change of setting and a most visceral enemy despite some handsome art by Billy Graham and Bob McLeod.

The reason is simply because Don McGregor's overripe writing was ideal for the mysterious otherworldly yarn of "Panther's Rage" which showcased the many weird landscapes and peoples of Wakanda, giving that story an almost Shakespearean heft. The same McGregor tricks work much less well in Georgia and are not helped by an almost incomprehensible plot.

As far as I can tell the Panther and Monica Lynne have come down to Georgia to visit her parents and check into the seeming suicide of her sister. We quickly meet a sheriff and a reporter who seem both too good to be true, and we meet Monica's parents, each dealing with loss in his or her own way.

The Klan though is not so much in evidence as the title might suggest, sharing villain capacity alongside another gang of ignorant mopes dubbed "The Dragon Circle". They are like the Klan in look, save they like purple and they apparently welcome villains from the African-American community into their ranks. Why they are in this story bewilders me, unless the powers just weren't ready to lay murder onto the backs of a real-world terrorist organization and preferred a fictional one. Seems an unusually light touch for such miscreants.

It wouldn't matter much as the Panther battles the enigmatic Wind Eagle, an agent of the Dragon Circle in the last issue of Jungle Action and then the book is cancelled.

It was cancelled to make way for Jack Kirby's rendition of the character, and it is the only time I can remember when I was sad to see "The King of Comics" step in and take over a character. What Don McGregor and Billy Graham had created in the Panther series early on was clearly going to be a comic book classic for years to come.

There is a connection between the Klan and the Dragon Circle more explicitly developed when the story line was picked up many years later by other talents and brought to some conclusion in the pages of Marvel Premiere. Better late than never I suppose, but it would've been grand to have seen what might've been.

Note: This post originally appeared at Rip Jagger's Other Dojo. 

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