Mandrake in the Lost World: The Dailies, Vol. 1 (Mandrake the Magician: the Dailes) Hardcover – October 17, 2017

This is the stunning debut of Fred Fredericks on The Mandrake daily strip and collects over two years worth of strips. Six complete story lines from 1965-1967. Plus two introductions and a complete checklist of all the Lee Falk / Fredericks stories.I am not sure who is to blame ( Titan Books or Amazon) for the confusion with probably another 2nd volume of the Phil Davis Strips. But the they have both the title and the description mixed up. The cover is also similar but different. I will post a photo of the actual cover. The subtitle of the book is not “The Lost World” but instead “The Return Of Evil- The Cobra”.The book is 240 pages in a landscape format ( wider then tall) with a sewn binding and a sturdy matte finish pages. The strips are reproduced 3 to a page. The images are sharp with good line restoration.This period in the strip is very significant as Lee Falk and Fred Fredericks reinvent the strip. Luthor his companion evolves from loyal Man Servant to a full partne. Luthor stops speaking in broken English and eventually loses his Fez. The storylines stop featuring unexplained Magic or Illusions to resolve the plot but now rely on Mandrake’s wits. Mandrake gets a secret Hideout/ Fortress called Xanadu and starts working for the secret organization called Inter-Intel. The Mandrake strip begins to emulate a James Bond/ Man From Uncle type feel which was just emerging to popularity. Narda, Mandrake’s princess girlfriend becomes more like a Bond Girl Eye Candy. She is often pictured in a bikini lounging around the pool at Xanadu. And to his credit Fredericks draws a nice female figure.The six stories included are covered here:1) ODD FELLOW in this first Fredericks story he does a good job of emulating Phil Davis with a very overly rendered style to start with a rapidly morphs into Fredericks own clear illustration style with lots of zip-a-tone work for shading. This is quirky Science Fiction tale similiar to what had gone down previously.2) THE SIGN OF THE 8 introduces both Mandrake’s lair Xanadu and the secret bad guy organization called the 8. This is the start of The more spy like adventures.3) THE WITCHES introduces a pretty debutant who is being hypnotized to steal by some costumed phonies.4) THE UFO is another robbery scam this time using real UFO and pretend aliens. In the end we find it is the work of the 8.5) THE TRAIL OF THE 8 features the full return of that shady super spy group.6)THE RETURN OF EVIL- THE COBRA is the title named episode which reintroduces the Phantom Arch Enemy as a cloaked figure with a silver skull mask. I also enjoyed this story because it involves Princess Narda and gives her something to do besides sit around the pool in her bikini. Her brother the King finds his country overrun by The Cobra.I throughly enjoyed reading these stories.My Highest Recommendation.

First things first, let me begin by sorting out the confusion created by the description given about the item on the amazon page. The book title says it is a collection of Fred Fredericks dailies, it is. But the description lists all the stories drawn by Phil Davis in 1936-37, which is incorrect. The stories start from the time when Fred Fredericks took over the strip from Phil Davis in 1965.It seems like Titan is attempting to run 4 series in parallel, Lee Falk being the author in all cases: The Phil Davis Dailies and Sundays, The Fred Fredericks Dailies and Sundays. At first the cover was a little confusing because all you expect to come after Vol 1 dailies is vol 2.This book contains six titles viz. "The Odd Fellow", "The Sign of 8", "The Witches", "The UFO", "The Trail of 8" and "The Return of Evil". Great to find that the two arch rivals of Mandrake and Co., Cobra and 8 show up in this volume. Expecting much more to come up in future.One can see the style of drawing getting refined over the first two stories and by the time Fred drew the third one he had fine tuned style which would continue to amaze the readers for the next 49 years.There are two descriptive essays in the beginning of the book. There is a list of all Lee/Fredericks titles (Until 2013) till he retired in the end.The pages are thick matte style. I hope Titan continues to publish the titles, and does them at a faster pace because there is so much to cover.Overall a great book for all Lee Falk/Mandrake Fans. If you are one, don't miss it!

Like others tomes. Very good.

What gift did the silver-haired President Andros make to the man that impersonated him, foiling an attempted coup by disgruntled officers in the process?In December 1964 Phil Davis, who had drawn 'Mandrake the Magician' for a shade over thirty years — with some assistance from his wife Martha during World War II — died of a heart attack. The last story on which he was working — 'The Odd Fellow' — was continued by Martha Davis, giving Falk and King Features enough breathing room to hire a new artist, Fred Fredericks.The result was a five-year burst of creativity, creating many elements of the Mandrake mythos that are now taken for granted.Xanadu (the answer to the question posed above, by the way). The criminal organisation 8 and its leader, the mysterious Octon. Inter-Intel (and its bureau chief Jed). Hojo. Princess Karma. The Crystal Cubes... None of those existed before Fredericks arrived.Old elements were given new life. The Cobra , believe it or not, had been forgotten after 1937. He was brought back, as were Saki (the Clay Camel), Theron of the Collegium Magikos, and Magnon ('Emperor of a Million Planets').The most significant change, arguably, was to Lothar. In the Phil Davis era, he had been little more than a super-strong valet who addressed Mandrake as 'Master', wore little boy's briefs, and spoke broken English. It was only in the Fredericks period that he dressed like an adult — pants, not knickers! — and was treated like one. In 1967, a mere thirty-three years after his first appearance, readers even — finally! — got to see the tale of the first meeting between Mandrake and Lothar.The partnership between Mandrake and Lothar reflected that between Falk and Fredericks — symbolised by the signature stamp that appeared in every 'Mandrake the Magician' strip, a large capital 'F' with 'alk' and 'redericks' to its right.Given the massive contribution by the artist, it is only appropriate that Titan Comics has titled the book reprinting these 1965-1967 tales 'Mandrake the Magician: Fred Fredericks Dailies'. A second volume, which shall reprint the Sunday strips from that same era, is promised for April 2018.Titan Comics, the publisher, is a relatively small British player, and 'Mandrake the Magician' is not the most popular strip in America, so it's up in the air whether there shall be any further volumes. I do hope this sells well enough for Titan to carry the series forward at least up to the arrival of Karma and the return of the Clay Camel.At a cover price of $49.99 this book isn't exactly cheap, but, as ever, you can obtain a better price from Amazon.

I totally enjoy this series. Lee Falk’s MANDRAKE is a lot of fun. Well recommended.