CARTOON VAGANZA

Mandrake the Magician (Picture 4)
Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 4. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 4.
Columbia's 7th serial (between Flying G-Men and Overland With Kit Carson)was based on the King Features newspaper comic strip created by Lee Falk and Phil Davis, Mandrake the Magician, the world's foremost exponent of mind over matter, although most of us who read the strip over the years were never really certain whether Mandrake was really a magician, or just had even more ability to cloud men's minds than the Shadow. The serial does allow Mandrake to discard his tie and tails when he isn't performing professionally, but out of his top hat and cloak, he is mainly a fist-slugging detective in this serial. Mandrake and Luthor are working the cruise lines and meet Professor Hudson who has developed a radium energy machine, which is much coveted by "The Wasp", who sends his hordes of henchmen in waves to steal the invention, and they blow up a radio station, a power plant and a dam pdq just to show they mean business. Mandrake, after 11 chapters, finally catches up to "The Wasp" in chapter 12, "The Reward of Trachery", and discovers the villain is actually a scientist who has posed as a close friend of Hudson's. Mandrake the Magician (Picture 4). Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 4. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 4. Mandrake is reunited with Hudson's daughter Betty, while Luthor, as usual, is saddled with putting up the props. Incredible hypnotist, able to instantly put someone under with a glance. He generally uses this to make people see things that are unreal - e.g. create magical illusions. In the earliest stories Mandrake was a genuine magician, with real supernatural powers, but as time passed he was returned to just being a skilled human employing trickery. The Defenders of the Earth cartoon returned him to being a proper magician. Mandrake learned his superhuman abilities during years of schooling in Tibet when he was but a youth. Along with his friend and ally Lothar, an African prince who chooses to pose as his valet and bodyguard, he uses his powers to battle crime. Among the more notable foes have been Cobra, who used to be one of his teachers in Tibet under his real name of Luciphor, and an evil brother Derek. Mandrake. Mandrake appeared on the big screen in 1939 when a twelve part serial starring Warren Hull as Mandrake was made by Columbia. He also starred in a radio series, which aired on the Mutual radio network between 11th November 1940 and 6th February 1942 - this began as a three day a week serial and became five days a week from 1941. Mandrake was portrayed by Edward Johnson. It was Anthony Herrera's turn to portray him in a 1979 movie, and when Mandrake turned up in the Defenders of the Earth cartoon, Peter Renaday played the part. Mandrake the Magician (Picture 4). Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 4. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 4.

Mandrake the Magician (Picture 3)
Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 3. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 3.
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 published in Britain, Australia, Brazil, India, France, Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Germany, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Turkey and Sweden (although in the case of the Nordic countries, most often as a backup feature in The Phantom comic books). Mandrake is popular in India through Indrajal Comics. 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. Mandrake the Magician (Picture 3). Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 3. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 3. 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. But on his own turf, Mandrake has proven he has what it takes to survive, even in an era when story strips have long been out of fashion. Mandrake the Magician (Picture 3). Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 3. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 3.

Mandrake the Magician (Picture 2)
Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 2. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 2.
Mandrake had a prominent role in Magic Comics and Big Little Books of the 1930s and 1940s. Dell Comics published a Mandrake the Magician issue in their Four Color comic series with various main characters. The Mandrake issue was #752 and featured original stories by Stan Campell and written by Paul Newman. In 1966-67, King Comics published ten issues of a Mandrake the Magician comic book. Most of the stories were remakes of past newspaper strip stories and featured art by André 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 1960s and 1970s. A few of these were even published in the American Mandrake comic book mentioned above. The first super-powered, costumed crime fighter in comics was not Superman. It was Mandrake the Magician. Wearing a stage magician's black silk, Mandrake used his powers against evil four years before the Man of Steel. Mandrake the Magician (Picture 2). Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 2. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 2. 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. Mandrake the Magician (Picture 2). Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 2. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 2.

Mandrake the Magician (Picture 1)
Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 1. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 1.
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. 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 has 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. Comics 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." 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. Mandrake the Magician (Picture 1). Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 1. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 1. 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 crimefighting heroes ever to appear in comics, Lothar made his first appearance alongside Mandrake in 1934 in the inaugural daily strip. 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. Mandrake the Magician (Picture 1). Mandrake the Magician cartoon images gallery 1. Mandrake the Magician cartoon pictures collection 1.