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MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN |
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by Don Markstein
MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN
... black silk, Mandrake used his powers against evil four years before the Man of Steel. And although his early magical powers were toned down later, being able to make people believe anything, simply by gesturing hypnotically, is still a marvelous and very useful ability. By the time comic books got rolling, he was successful enough to spawn many tuxedo-clad magical superheroes, such as Kardak and Zatara, some of which made marks of their own in comics. Lee Falk created Mandrake at the age of 19, in 1924, and drew two weeks' worth of strips. Ten years later, he sold it to King Features Syndicate. Not trusting his own artistic ability, he brought in commercial artist Phil Davis to draw it. Falk's tightly-plotted stories kept the strip lively for decades, but much of its early success is due to Davis's smooth, clean rendering, reminiscent of the contemporary art deco movement. Mandrake's tuxedo virtually shone of its own light, and the same could be said of his fashionably slicked-down hair. Davis died in 1964. His replacement, Harold "Fred" Fredericks Jr., initially adopted Davis's style, and few readers noticed the changeover. Fredericks continues to draw the strip today, but has gradually, over the years, let his own style emerge. Mandrake's powers were acquired through years of schooling in Tibet, where he began his studies during childhood. One of his teachers, Luciphor, later decided to use his powers for evil, adopted the name "Cobra," and appeared in the strip as a recurring villain. Like many of comics' origin stories, Mandrake's has been subject to some embellishment over the years. It came to include an evil brother, Derek; a troublesome younger sister, Leonore; and a benign elderly master named Theron.
Lothar of the Seven Nations Mandrake is joined in his adventures by Lothar, American comics' first seriously-treated black character. Although he is by birth an African prince, Lothar prefers his position as Mandrake's valet and bodyguard. As years went by and America's consciousness was raised, Lothar lost most of his accent and became more a friend and companion than a valet -- but right from the start, he was treated as an intelligent man and a valuable ally. Mandrake's other companion is Narda, also of royal blood. She, like Lothar, prefers Mandrake's company to her birthright as princess of Cockaigne, a mythical European pocket kingdom. Her engagement to Mandrake lasted longer than most marriages, but they finally tied the knot in 1998. Mandrake has had only limited success outside of newspaper strips. For a time, he was the star of Magic Comics, with Barney Baxter, Secret Agent X-9, and other King Features characters in the back pages, but after a year or so, lost the cover spot to Blondie. He also appeared in Big Little Books in the 1930s and '40s, a mostly-forgotten 1939 movie serial, oneshot comic books from Dell and Harvey in the '50s, and a brief comic book series in the late '60s, when King Features went into the publishing business and marketed Mandrake alongside Popeye and Beetle Bailey. Mandrake also appeared regularly in a late 1980s animated television series, called Defenders of the Earth. There, incredibly enough, he was teamed with two other King Features adventure heroes -- Flash Gordon and Falk's better known creation, The Phantom. by biglittlebooks.com
Mandrake was created by Lee Falk. Falk's career began in advertising. He then moved to radio. His interest in magic led him to create a character who would solve crimes and mysteries through the use of reason and magic. King Feature Syndicate bought the idea and Mandrake debuted on June 11, 1934. A Sunday feature began in February of 1935. Phil Davis' artwork was appropriate for the fantasy and mystical adventures in which Mandrake and his giant bodyguard, Lothar, found themselves. This Mandrake Big Little BookŪ contains two stories. The first is taken from the opening episode of the strip, beginning June 11, 1934, and ending November 24, 1934. The second is from the third episode, beginning February 25, 1935, and ending June 15, 1935. Mandrake first appeared on radio as a 15-minute serial on station WOR on November 11, 1940. The main characters, Mandrake, Lothar, and Princess Narda solved mysteries and battled evil until the series ended on February 6, 1942. Raymond Edward Johnson played Mandrake. His voice was ideal for the magician who chanted "invovo legem magicarum." Johnson is best remembered for his later work as Raymond, the host of Inner Sanctum Mysteries. by Wikipedia 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 the Magician daily strip from 2002. Art by Fred Fredericks. 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. |
