MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN COMP DAILIES HC (2025)

Mandrake the Magician began as a daily strip on June 11, 1934, and whether Lee Falk knew it as a sophomore at the University of Illinois, he was making history. Mandrake the Magician whisked readers to exotic locales (often fictional amalgams of the Orient, the Middle East, India or Eastern Europe) and immersed them in extended narratives with memorable villains and a colorful supporting cast. Volume four presents: Mandrake in North Africa (September 4 - December 23, 1939); The Mountain Bandits (December 25, 1939 - January 20, 1940); The Museum Mystery (January 22 - May 4, 1940); The Octopus Ring (May 6 - December 21, 1940); and Dr. Griff's Invention (December 23, 1940 - April 5, 1941).

Mandrake the Magician began as a daily strip on June 11, 1934, and whether Lee Falk knew it as a sophomore at the University of Illinois, he was making history. The strips presented in this series of reprints feature two staple characters in addition to the master magician: Lothar and Princess Narda (princess of the mythical European kingdom Cockaigne). Lothar appears within the first few days (June 14, 1934), and Narda is introduced in Mandrake's second adventure. Narda is similar to Flash Gordon's Dale Arden: beautiful, constantly in need of rescue, and the love interest of our hero. A Prince of the Seven Nations of Africa, Lothar is Mandrake's devoted servant, friend and companion. He is, "the strongest man in the world," and decked out in a fez, shorts, and a leopard shirt. This third volume of the series presents eight stories: "Mandrake in Hollywood"; "Sonny the Child Movie Star"; "Mandrake and the Haunted House": "Blozz the Chamption"; "Mandrake in Love"; "Visitors from Space"; "The Deep South"; and "Mandrake in Cockaigne."