The classy thing to do, after the original comic blew up, would be to ignore it. Let the internet storm blow over and get on with their lives and their comics. A brief, tasteful apology could've worked as well. The absolute wrong thing to do was to get all huffy and self-righteous. Don't start dishing it out if you can't take it too. If your material can't stand on its own, attacking your critics is never going to help.
I do hope that Mike's apology is sincere. I'd like to be able to respect PA again. I'm not sure distancing themselves from PAX and Child's Play was the very best decision--I'd have liked to see them clean up their acts enough that they were no longer a black mark. Still, it's a step in the right direction.