talkmagic.co.uk

Just noticed on Ebay "Card Tricks for Everyone, as presented by the Fabulous Magician Mandrake".

Surely not OUR Mandrake (cos it was published in the 1960's and OUR Mandrake is MUCH younger than that!).

Or is it the guy our Mandrake is named after?

Such confusion is understandable as the original Madrake (he of the many comic stips and US radio series) is tall, dark haired, young, handsome and skilled. By contrast I'm 5ft 11" in my socks .

Apart from the fictional Mandrake these was also a real magician by that name so I guess he could have been the author of that book, and there are quite a few links and places of information on both which I found intresting, even if nobody else does!

This is what I found in about a 5 minute adventure with google....

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Mandrake the Magician. Created by Lee Falk and drawn almost from the start by Phil Davis, Mandrake debuted on 11 June 1934 and is still running today. Mandrake was, for a good long while, one of the great comic strips ever, and also one of the first featuring a magician. Mandrake set the archetype for comic strip and comic book magicians for many years, DC's Dr. Fate being a notable (and perhaps the lone) exception. Mandrake wore a coat and tails, top hat, and opera cape. Initially he was an actual magician, using his spells against his arch-enemy, the Cobra, but not long after his debut he was changed to a stage magician who was very skilled at hypnotism, so that he didn't perform any actual magic, he only made people think he did. His background was never delved in to in any great detail; it was eventually made known that he'd done an apprenticeship in Tibet and had an evil twin, Derek, and a younger sister, Lenore.

Mandrake took on evils of all sorts. Among his notable enemies: the Cobra, a former Tibetan lama (Mandrake's teacher back at the lamasery, in fact) and scientist named Luciphor who had been maimed and disfigured in a laboratory accident, which drove him both mad and evil; Saki, the "Clay Camel," a master of disguise who used his talents for crime; Paulo, the insane dictator of the country of Dementor; the Great Grando, an illusion-casting magician; and various other mad scientists, tyrants, magicians, and gangsters, both on Earth (Mandrake traveled widely) and other planets and other dimensions. During the war he was active in the Pacific, defeating any number of spies (like the Octopus, Japan's best) and saboteurs.

Mandrake was aided by Lothar, an enormous African who had once ruled the Federated Tribes and his own country but whose life had been saved by Mandrake, thereby putting Lothar in Mandrake's debt. He repaid this by serving Mandrake and eventually saving Mandrake's life; their relationship eventually evolved into one of equality, with them being partners. He was very tall and very strong. Though Mandrake had a number of lady friends over the years, his longest-running sweetie was Narda, the former princess of Cockaigne, who originally appeared as someone intent on killing Mandrake and ended up becoming his long-time gal.

Oddly enough, Mandrake was based on a real-life magician, Leon Mandrake, and was drawn to match him. Go here and do a site search for the name "Mandrake" if you don't believe me. Joe Littrell responded to this statement with the following:

Thought you might be interested in this bit from James Randi's book, Conjuring (St. Martin's Press, 1992):
"It appears that cartoonist Lee Falk had come up with the name Mandrake independently, basing it upon the claimed miraculous powers of the poisonous plant of the same name. Phil Davis, the eventual artist of the cartoon strip, even changed the look of his character somewhat to match Leon [Mandrake, whose real name is not known]'s appearance after the two met. It was an excellent symbiosis, each entity enhancing the other.

"Mandrake and his first wife and assistant (professionally named Narda, after the comic strip character) parted in 1946."

http://www.geocities.com/jjnevins/pulpsm.html


Also see these....

http://www.angelfire.com/ca2/mandrake/story.html

http://www.ing.umu.se/~me00aen/mandrakevarious.htm

http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/whoswho_M.htm

Fascinating info Craig - thanks for that.

I love the idea of battling evil with our magic!

"Ok Cobra The Evil, HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!!!!
...
...
As you can see, I have a long rope, a medium rope and a short rope....."

Ahhhhhh memories

Mandrake the magician was also a member of the Defenders Of The Earth in the cartoon of the same name.

Cue the music:


Defenders of The Earth. Defenders.
Out of the sky, his rockets ignite, jets into battle flying faster than light. Flash Gordon.

Lord of the Jungle, the hero who stalks
the beast call him brother. The ghost who walks. Phantom.

Defenders of The Earth.

Master of magic spells and illusion. Enemies crumble in fear and confusion. Mandrake.

Defenders of The Earth.

His strength is a legend, his skill conquers all.
On with his power we never will fall. Lothar.

Defenders of the Earth.

With our new young heroes proving their worth,
four become eight, Defending The Earth

Defenders of The Earth, Defenders
Defenders of The Earth."


I will get my coat!

i think you should :wink

Actually if I was more of a magician I should have said "I'll get my cloak"

I'm a bloody amateur!

greedoniz wrote:Actually if I was more of a magician I should have said "I'll get my cloak"

I'm a bloody amateur!

LOL