The Partridge Family #16 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Inspired by the real life family singing group, the Cowsills, ABC's The Partridge Family rocked airwaves for 4 seasons, from 1970-1974. In fact, the child members of the Cowsills were originally considered for the sitcom. Officially, their lack of acting experience rules them out of contention. Unofficially, the prima donna antics of the Cowsills' manager, their father, William, might have doomed the children's chances at television stardom.

Once the Cowsills were ruled out of contention, singer and actress Shirley Jones was cast in the mom role. Oldest son Keith would be played by her stepson David Cassidy. There might have been even more of the Cassidy family, as David's father, Jack Cassidy was cast to play Mrs. Partridge's boyfriend who happened to be the Partridge Family's manager. The actor even co-starred in an un-aired pilot, but ABC executives decided to forgo the romance angle between the adults. Jack Cassidy's character was cut while David's role as eldest son Keith was beefed up to make him the romantic heavy as he tested extremely well with young viewers. 

David Cassidy's near Beatles level stardom made him the main focus of the series. By the time this issue hit newsstands, Cassidy was attempting to break out of the wholesome image of Keith Partridge. Maybe that explains why in the cover feature Keith puts his music career on hold and goes out for his high school basketball team. Unfortunately for the rest of the family, Keith is really good at basketball and that means everything else takes a backseat to his current passion- including the band!

Rounding out the rest of the family was Susan Dey as oldest daughter Laurie. Red headed Danny Bonaduce as the smart aleck Danny. Suzanne Crough as youngest daughter Tracy and on drums, Jeremy Gelbwaks as Chris. Not quite fitting in with the rest of the cast and reputedly the target of Danny Bonaduce's incessant bullying, Gelbwaks was replaced after season 1 with actor Brian Foster. 

Actor Dave Madden completed the cast as the band's manager, the long-suffering Reuben Kincaid. Instead of being Mrs. Partridge's love interest, young Danny Partridge would do everything in his power to set up his Reuben with a future Mrs. Kincaid. 

Reuben's role with the family has a lot to do with the plots of the 2 backup stories. First Keith falls head over heels for Reuben's visiting niece. So much that the lad wants to make her a part of the band. Only the girl cannot carry a tune! Then in the last story, it appears that Danny has finally succeeded at playing matchmaker, introducing Reuben to an old friend of Mrs. Partridge.

In the early 1970s, Charlton Comics was still relying on prose stories to help their comics maintain their affordable 2nd Class postage rates. In a clever spin on the requirement, this issue features a 2-page spread of lyrics to several songs that appear on the series. The spread doubled as advertising for a magazine called Song Hits, which reprinted the full lyrics of both crock classics and pop hits of the time. 

If you're a collector who enjoys reading the classic ads in back issues, you'll enjoy this one. But don't expect much of a variety. With the exception of the 3 pages devoted to Song Hits Magazine, all of the rest of the ads are about products pertaining to The Partridge Family and its cast. There's an ad for a beauty and lifestyle book written by Susan Dey, several ads for posters and photo books featuring David Cassidy and on the back cover, information about joining the official Partridge Family Fan Club. 

I was pretty lucky to find an issue that wasn't full of holes from a rabid fan clipping out dozens of requests for Partridge Family merchandise. When I inherited some of my mom's old horror and TV comics, I noticed that her issue of The Partridge Family was all cut up. I couldn't understand why she had left that book in such poor condition especially since she claimed to be a huge fan of the show. After reading through this issue, I now understand as almost every ad had a small order form included.

Featuring art stories by Don Sherwood, there's amazing likenesses of all of the Partridge Family. But I think Sherwood copied the images from publicity stills because many panels are of extreme close-ups and the poses are stilted. As for the stories themselves, they all start out very well in terms of plot and pace. But I think Sherwood was the type of comic book creator who just couldn't stop himself because all 3 stories end abruptly with no real sitcom style conclusion in which the dilemmas are adequately wrapped up. 

Add all these factors together and this issue reads less like an officially licensed comic book adaptation and more like the material for a fanzine.

Completing this review completes Task #22 (Live Action Comic Adaptation from the 1970s) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.