Number 1397: Mandrake and the Ratmen of Rodencia

When the call to help comes from Magnon, the emperor of the “central galaxy” of a million planets (!) Mandrake and his pal, Lothar, jump into action. A guy who has a million planets as a kingdom is not a monarch to refuse.

Mandrake, created in the 1930s by Phantom creator Lee Falk, was always pretty fantastic in the plot department. Mandrake could gesture hypnotically and make anyone believe anything. He also walked around in a top hat, cape, and evening attire, even while subduing creatures from outer space. Mandrake is a hero with class.

According to the Mandrake Archive “The Rats of Rodencia” by Lee Falk and Fred Fredericks appeared in the Mandrake daily newspaper continuity from January 15 to May 5, 1973. This reprint, numbered #200 by the Times of India for its Indrajal Comics imprint, was published a year later.

I’ve said before I’ve never seen an actual paper comic book from this company, only online like the one I’m showing here. It’s cheaply printed and has an odd color scheme...faces look jaundiced, and Lothar is so dark brown as to obscure his face in some panels. But it’s still nice to know that someone was publishing Mandrake for the sake of fans. Indrajal Comics, which began publication in 1964, ceased publication in 1990 after 805 issues.

Here's another Mandrake science fiction story. Click on the picture.