Budd Lewis

The fantastical adventures of the historical El Cid. The art is exquisite and detailed but at reduced print size it can be confusing and overwhelming to the eye. The writing is definitely in high fantasy romantic mode and a little disjointed at times. Sometimes it reads more like an illustrated novel than sequential art. An interesting slice of 1970s phantasmagoria.

Pantha (a were-panther, natch) originally was in a four-part back up story in Vampirella Magazine, and slowly becoming a supporting character to the title character. Pantha has never been as successful as Vampirella, despite being drawn just as lushly (and with more excuses to wander around naked or nearly so). Even a love triangle involving Pantha snagging Vampi's boyfriend Adam van Helsing failed to garner much interest from readers. Still, the art is still good, and for thosew old enough show more to remember this is a nice collection. show less