Princess Pantha is a jungle heroine that appeared in

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

s published by Nedor Comics. The character was revived twice; first by

AC Comics AC Comics (formerly known as Paragon Publications and Americomics) is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.

, and then by writer

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

for his

Tom Strong ''Tom Strong'' is an American comic book series created by writer Alan Moore and artist Chris Sprouse, initially published bi-monthly by America's Best Comics, an imprint of DC Comics' WildStorm division. Tom Strong, the title character, is a ...

spin-off, ''

Terra Obscura ''Terra Obscura'' is a 2003 comic book miniseries spin-off from Alan Moore's '' Tom Strong'' series. The stories are written by Peter Hogan, and drawn by Yanick Paquette and Karl Story with additional flashback sequences drawn by Eric Theriault ...

''. She first appeared in '' Thrilling Comics'' #56 (October 1946).

Nedor Comics

Princess Pantha is one of the many characters inspired by

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle Sheena, Queen of the Jungle, is a fictional American comic book jungle girl heroine during the Golden Age of Comic Books. She originally debuted in the British magazine ''Wags'' #46 (January 1938). and later made her first American appearance i ...

that appeared in the 1940s. Her origin story is told in her first appearance: Pantha is a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

performer visiting

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

to find a legendary wild

gorilla Gorillas are primarily herbivorous, terrestrial great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or five su ...

for her act. She was accidentally stranded in the

jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

s of Africa for several months, and survived by virtue of her ability to sound like a gorilla. She soon replaces her Western clothing with her trade-mark leopard-skin

bikini A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit primarily worn by women that features one piece on top that covers the breasts, and a second piece on the bottom: the front covering the pelvis but usually exposing the navel, and the back generally covering ...

. Even after being rescued by adventurer Dane Hunter, Pantha decides to stay in Africa to search for the mysterious white gorilla. The adventures of Princess Pantha appeared in ''Thrilling Comics'' from issue #56 until #74 (October 1949), when she was replaced by stories about cowboy Buck Ranger. Art Saaf illustrated most of Pantha's stories, with

Alex Schomburg Alexander A. Schomburg, born Alejandro Schomburg y Rosa (; May 10, 1905Alejandro Schomburg Y Rosa

drawing all her cover appearances. One story, "The Land of the Black Python" (''Thrilling Comics'' #66, June 1948), has been cited as an example of racial insensitivity: "a white Princess Pantha taught black Africans to overcome racial prejudice in a near-classic example of "blame-the-victim" mentality".

AC Comics

During the 1990s, AC Comics reprinted the adventures of Princess Pantha, along with many other characters from the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era in the history of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and ma ...

. AC comics later published new adventures featuring Princess Pantha for their ''Jungle Girls: Wild Side'' series.

America's Best Comics

Princess Pantha is one of the many Nedor Comics characters revived by

for his

spin-off, ''

''. The stories were published by

America's Best Comics America's Best Comics (ABC) was a comic book publishing brand. It was set up by Alan Moore in 1999 as an imprint of WildStorm, an idea proposed to Moore by WildStorm founder Jim Lee when it was still under Image Comics. History ''America's ...

, originally an imprint of

Wildstorm Wildstorm Productions (stylized as WildStorm) is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee and Brandon Choi to publish through Image Comics, Wildstorm became a publishing imprint of DC C ...

, now an imprint of

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. In ''Tom Strong'' #11 (January 2001), Strong visits the alternate Earth of Tom Strange, which he names Terra Obscura. The superhero team of Terra Obscura, SMASH, had been imprisoned in suspended animation since facing an alien menace in 1969. Strong and Strange are able to overcome the alien menace thirty years later, and free SMASH. Princess Pantha is one of the heroes freed by the duo in ''Tom Strong'' #12 (June 2001). Pantha appears in ''Terra Obscura'' vol. 2 (October 2004 - May 2005), as an associate member of SMASH. She also begins dating Doc Strange, as her husband Dale Hunter had died while she was in suspended animation. These stories were written by Peter Hogan, based on plots provided by Alan Moore. The artwork was supplied by

Yanick Paquette Yanick Paquette is a Canadian comic book artist. He has worked for Antarctic Press, Topps Comics, Topps, Marvel Comics, Marvel, and DC Comics and since 1994. Career In 1996, Paquette drew two miniseries adapted from the TV series ''Space: Above ...

. The stories featuring Princess Pantha have been collected in several trade paperbacks: * ''Tom Strong: Book Two'', issues 8-14 (hardcover: , paperback: ). * ''Terra Obscura'' v2 (, 2005). Collects issues #7-12.

Powers and abilities

Princess Pantha has no superhuman powers. She is highly athletic, skilled in hand-to-hand combat and has mastery of jiu-jitsu. She is also an accomplished animal trainer.

References

External links

Princess Pantha at SMASH fansite
{{GoldenAge America's Best Comics superheroes Fictional explorers Fictional hunters in comics Fictional princesses Jungle girls Comics characters introduced in 1946 Public domain comics