History of Mandrake -The Magician

Mandrake the Magician

Mandrake the Magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk (The Phantom), which began June 11, 1934. Phil Davis soon took over as the strip’s illustrator, while Falk continued to script. The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate.

Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964, when Falk recruited current artist Fred Fredericks. With Falk’s death in 1999, Fredericks became both writer and artist.

Characters and story

Mandrake is a magician whose work is based on an unusually fast hypnotic technique. As noted in captions, when Mandrake “gestures hypnotically”, his subjects see illusions, and Mandrake used this technique in his battles with a variety of gangsters, mad scientists, extraterrestrials and characters from other dimensions.

Mandrake and the Phantom Magician in Mel Graff’s The Adventures of Patsy are regarded by comics historians as the first superheroes of comics. Comic’s historian Don Markstein writes, “Depending on how you define the term, Patsy’s recurring rescuer, The Phantom Magician, may have been the first superhero in comics… Some people say Mandrake the Magician, who started in 1934, was comics’ first superhero.”

Supporting characters

Lothar is Mandrake’s best friend and crime-fighting companion. Mandrake first met Lothar during his travels in Africa. Lothar was then “Prince of the Seven Nations”, a mighty federation of jungle tribes. He 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). Lothar is often referred to as the strongest man in the world with the exception of perhaps Hojo — Mandrake’s chef and secret chief of Inter Intel.

One of the first black crime fighting heroes ever to appear in comics, Lothar made his first appearance alongside Mandrake in 1934 in the inaugural daily strip. 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. 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 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 she and Mandrake were infatuated with one another from first sight, they didn’t marry until 1997, when it was an extravagant triple wedding ceremony– at Mandrake’s home of Xanadu, 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 of which he is the guardian.

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 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.

Xanadu, Mandrake’s high-tech residence, has one of the world’s best security with all electronic gadgets like closed circuit TV, sectional road which divides from half, dropping iron gates.