Mandrake the Magician
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Mandrake the Magician is a U.S. comic strip created in 1934 by Lee Falk (also creator of The Phantom) and mainly appearing in syndication in newspapers. Falk soon gave the job of drawing the comic strip to artist Phil Davis, whilst continuing to write the storylines. Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964; Falk then recruited current artist Fred Fredericks. On Falk's death in 1999, Fredericks took over writing the strip as well.
Mandrake was an illusionist whose work was based on an impossibly fast hypnotic technique. As the narrator informed us: "Mandrake gestured hypnotically" and the subject or subjects of this hypnosis would suddenly see a cane transformed in a bouquet of flowers or a cat into a tiger. Mandrake also worked against crooks and other bad guys in his spare time. In their case, he would gesture hypnotically and they would see their guns change into snakes or red hot irons.
Leon Mandrake, the stage magician, who was known for his top hat, pencil line moustache and scarlet-lined cape, bears a strong resemblance to the comic strip character. In fact, Leon Mandrake had been performing for well over ten years before Lee Falk introduced the comic strip character and today most people would acknowledge the striking resemblance between them. Many diverse sources assert that the comic character was drawn to resemble Leon. Davis did meet Leon Mandrake, they became good friends and corresponded for years afterwards.
Other characters
Supporting characters
Lothar is Mandrake's best friend and crime-fighting companion.
In the comic strip, Mandrake first met Lothar during his travels in Africa. Lothar was then "Prince of the Seven Nations", a mighty federation of jungle tribes, but passed on the chance to become king and instead followed Mandrake on his world travels, fighting crime and villains from all over the world (and the rest of the universe as well). He is often referred to as the strongest man in the world.
Perhaps one of the first black crime-fighting heroes ever to appear in comics, Lothar made his first appearance alongside Mandrake in the very first daily strip 1934. Mandrake and Lothar are generally recognized as the world's first interracial team of crime-fighters.
In the beginning, Lothar was little more than Mandrake's servant. He spoke poor English, wore a fez, short pants and a leopard skin. His muscles far exceeded his mental abilities. But despite that, Lothar was still recognized early on as Mandrake's equal by the readers. When artist Fred Fredericks took over in 1965 (after original artist Phil Davis had died), Lothar was modernized; he began to speak correct English and his clothing changed, although he still often wears shirts with leopard skin patterns.
Narda is (just as Lothar) of royal blood; she is Princess of the European nation Cockaigne (today ruled by her brother Segrid). She made her first appearance in the second Mandrake story. Although they fell in love at first sight they didn't marry until 1997, but then it was an extravagant triple wedding ceremony at Mandrake's home of Xanadu, in Narda's home country Cockaigne, and Mandrake's father Theron's College of Magic (Collegium Magikos) in the Himalayas.
Theron is Mandrake's father, although this was a secret to Mandrake for a long time. Mandrake's mother died shortly after she gave birth to Mandrake and his twin brother Derek. Theron is the headmaster of the College of Magic (Collegium Magikos) somewhere in the Himalayas. Theron is hundreds of years old, probably due to the energy of the powerful Mind Crystal he is the guardian of.
Hojo is Mandrake's chef at his home of Xanadu. However, he is also the secret Chief of the international crime-fighting organization Inter-Intel, in addition to being a superb martial arts expert. As such, he has used Mandrake's help with many cases. Hojo's assistant at Inter-Intel is Jed.
The Police Chief is named Bradley but mostly just called "Chief", and has been aided by Mandrake on several occasions. He created the "S.S.D." (Silly Stuff Dept.) for absurd and unbelievable cases that only Mandrake could solve. He has a son, Chris.
Magnon is without a doubt Mandrake's most powerful friend. He is the emperor of a million planets but even he has sometimes needed Mandrake's help. Magnon and his wife Carola have a daughter, Nardraka, who is named after Mandrake and Narda and is their godchild.
Lenore is Mandrake's younger half-sister. She is a world-renowned explorer.
Karma is Lothar's girlfriend, an African princess, who works as a model.
Villains
The Cobra is Mandrake's most evil and dangerous foe. He made his first appearance in the very first Mandrake story. In a story from 1937, the Cobra was apparently defeated; however, he returned with a vengeance in a story from 1965. This time hiding his face (scarred and disfigured in battle with Mandrake) behind a menacing silver mask. The Cobra's main goal is to get his hands on one of the two powerful Crystal Cubes that are guarded by Mandrake and his father Theron. Mandrake then learned that The Cobra's true identity was Luciphor, Theron's oldest son - thus making The Cobra Mandrake's half-brother. In later years, the Cobra has abandoned his silver mask as his face has been reconstructed through surgery. The Cobra is sometimes accompanied by his assistant Ud.Derek is Mandrake's twin brother, and although similar to his brother in appearance, totally different when it comes to morals and ethics. Derek is only after money and women and gladly uses his magical powers (that almost rival Mandrake's) to achieve his own personal goals. Mandrake has many times tried to remove Derek's knowledge of magic through mental battles, although it has always been only temporary solutions. Derek has a son, Eric (mother unknown) who so far has shown no signs of following in his father's footsteps.
The Clay Camel, real name Saki, is a master of disguises. He is known to be able to mimic anyone and change his appearance in seconds. His name comes from the symbol he leaves at the scenes of his crimes, a small camel made of clay.
The Brass Monkey, daughter of The Clay Camel with a similar talent for disguises.
Aleena the Enchantress is a former friend of Mandrake's from the College of Magic, a much-married spoilt temptress, who now prefers to use her magic powers for her own benefit. This includes trying to win Mandrake's heart, but when that doesn't succeed, she gladly tries to bring him trouble instead.
8 is an old and very powerful crime organization with roots to medieval times. Long thought to be dead and no more than a myth, Mandrake discovered that the organization is very much alive. They are known to often incorporate the number 8 in their crimes or leave the number 8 as a mark. They are organized like an octopus with eight arms (headquarters) spread out all over the world, and one head (the grim and mysterious leader Octon, only shown as a menacing image on a computer screen). Over the years, Mandrake has succeeded in destroying their headquarters one by one. In one of the mandrake stories the Octon of 8 is revealed as Cobra.
Ekardnam is Mandrake's "evil twin", who exists on the other side of the mirror from Mandrake. Like his world (where the government is run by the "Private of the Armies", and generals do menial work like running the elevators), Ekardnam is an exact opposite, i.e., evil and treacherous, and uses his "evil eye" powers to work his magic. He was seen when Narda was drawn into the mirror, an adventure that may have been only a bad dream.
Comic books
Mandrake had a prominent role in the Magic Comics and the Big Little Books of the 30s and 40s.
Dell Comics published a Mandrake the Magician issue in their comic series with various main characters, Four Color. The Mandrake issue was #752 and featured original stories by unknown creators.
In 1966-67 King Comics published 10 issues of a Mandrake the Magician comic magazine. Most of the stories were remakes of newspaper strip stories, and featured art by Andre LeBlanc, Ray Bailey and others. Mandrake stories also ran as back-up features in other King titles.
Italian publisher Fratelli Spada produced a considerable amount of original Mandrake comic book stories in the 60s and 70s. A few of these were even published in the American Mandrake comic book mentioned above.
Marvel released a Mandrake mini-series in 1995, written by Mike W. Barr and with painted art by Rob Ortaleza. However, only two of three planned issues were published.
Mandrake has also enjoyed great success in comic books all over the world, for example Britain, Australia, Brazil, India, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Sweden (although in the case of the Nordic countries, most often as a back up feature in the Phantom comic books).
Mandrake was/is very popular in India especially in South India through Indrajal comics. Tamil fans still adore the comics and it came in color through Indrajal comics
In other media
In 1939, Columbia produced a 12-part serial based on the Mandrake strip. It starred Warren Hull as Mandrake and Al Kikume as Lothar. The serial is widely available on DVD.
The Mandrake Radio Serial aired over the Mutual radio network from November 11, 1940 until February 6, 1942. Originally it was a three day a week serial, and from 1941 a five day a week serial. Raymond Edward Johnson starred as Mandrake and Juano Hernandez as Lothar.
NBC made a pilot for a Mandrake TV series in 1954, but no other episodes were made. Coe Norton starred as Mandrake and Woody Strode as Lothar.
An unauthorized Mandrake movie was produced in Turkey in 1967. It was called Mandrake Killing'e karsi, directed by Oksal Pekmezoglu and starred Güven Erte as Mandrake.
In the 60s, Federico Fellini, a close friend of creator Lee Falk, intended to make a Mandrake movie, but the project never got of the ground.
In 1979 a TV movie based on the strip was made, starring Anthony Herrera as Mandrake and Ji-Tu Cumbuka as Lothar.
A musical named Mandrake the Magician and the Enchantress was produced during the late 1970s at the Lenox Arts Festival in Massachusetts. The music was by George Quincy, book by Lee Falk and Thayer Burch, and lyrics by Thayer Burch.
In the cartoon Defenders of the Earth, Mandrake the Magician teams up with fellow King Features adventurers Flash Gordon and The Phantom. Mandrake's friend Lothar also has a prominent role, as wekk as a teenage son nicknamed LJ who was also a martial artist. On teh other hand, Mandrake had an adoptive son of Asian blood named Kenshin, whom he's training as his apprentice and heir. Peter Renaday was the voice of Mandrake and Buster Jones the voice of Lothar.
In the cartoon "Phantom 2040", featuring a future Phantom, Mandrake has a brief, non-named appearance. He is presented as an old friend of that Phantom's father, and his remarkably well-preserved shape is compatible with the longevity-conferring properties of the Crystals (see above).
Within two weeks of signing with his first agent, American filmmaker Michael Almereyda was hired by Embassy Pictures to rewrite a script for Mandrake the Magician. He told Filmmaker that upon receiving the assignment, he flew to New York and checked himself in at the Chelsea Hotel to work on the rewrite. Three weeks later, he emerged with new draft in hand, but by then the studio had changed heads, and in as little time as his revision took, the project was dropped.[link]
Today, Baldwin Entertainment Group and Hyde Park Entertainment have bought the rights to make a Mandrake movie. Possible names to star that have been mentioned are Hugh Jackman, Leonardo Dicaprio, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp. The movie is expected to have a big budget and big stars. However, a release date have not yet been set. The two companies also owns the rights to Lee Falk's The Phantom.
A software company called MandrakeSoft started in France in 1998. Their biggest product was the GNU/Linux distribution Mandrake Linux. In February 2004 MandrakeSoft lost a court case against Hearst Corporation, owners of King Features Syndicate. Hearst contends that MandrakeSoft is infringing upon King Features' trademarked character Mandrake the Magician. The word Mandrake is not unique to the King Features character, and MandrakeSoft appealed the decision. The origin of MandrakeSoft's name however becomes apparent when you consider the Linux-tool Lothar which was developed in a project sponsored by MandrakeSoft. Lothar is also the longtime friend of Mandrake the Magician. The use of a magician's top hat and magic wand in images and logos also show that MandrakeSoft wanted to associate the name with a magician, and not (for example) the mandrake root. Consequently, the company and its product have changed names to Mandriva and Mandriva Linux, respectively.
Mandrake is also a character in the play King Kong Palace, written by Chilean playwriter Marco Antonio de la Parra. In the play, Mandrake is now a performer in birthday parties and attempts to seduce Jane, the ambitious wife of Tarzan, in order to satisfy his lust for power.
Reprints
- Dragon Lady Press reprinted a 1937 Mandrake daily story in Classic Adventure Strips #1.
- Pacific Comics Club reprinted two Mandrake daily stories from 1938 Feature Books #18 and #23.
- Nostalgia Press published a hardback book reprinting two 1938 daily stories.
- Pioneer Comics reprinted a large number of Mandrake stories in comic book form.
- Comics Revue has reprinted several Mandrake daily stories.
- JAL Publications has reprinted several Mandrake stories
Reference
- [King of Infinite Space], Filmmaker Magazine, Winter 1999, retrieved April 15, 2006
External links
- [Mandrake the Magician at King Features]
- [Toonopedia entry]
- [Xanadu] - fan site about Mandrake the Magician
- [The 21st Phantom's Deep Woods] - Phantom fan site that provides access to current and archived online Mandrake comic strips.
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