#270 - D165_TheMysteriousChief_(09-20-76_to_12-11-76)

Just because I try to post a comic in this blog every week, some people are under the impression that this is my day job. Well I do have a day job, which is not this one, and always takes up a majority of my time, including weekends at times. So there may be instances, which will be on the rise for the near future, when I will not be able to post comic strips every week.

This story that I am posting today, is also based on someone's real day job and his perceived one - Hojo's. His day job was not being Mandrake's chef extra-ordinaire. It was something else. For regular subscribers like me, in those days, it did come as a surprise, when the revelation happened. See the story "The Thieves" posted a few weeks ago in this blog for a panel that shows a bit of contradiction.

The strips are courtesy my Australian friend, Donald Ladhams, who has been very active trying to get us daily strips from Australian newspapers. Paulo Marques, who is not an unfamiliar Mandrake fan extracted them from the PDFs and created the cbz file. I blew up the strips' size and tried a few edits. There are about 5 or 6 strips which have black smudges and one strip that got very white (Guess that is why they call it Black and White). Otherwise the strips are fine.

If there is a way anyone can clean these using PS, it is most welcome. Till then enjoy these strips.

Download RS version here

Download MF version here

Enjoy,

Venkit

#269 - S028_TheSantaClausPirate_(09-03-1944_to_12-03-1944)

While at work with the next story in the Kraken series, I received this story from the one and only Magnus Magnusson. This is a story, which is already available with a lot of us, albeit Black and White. Who can pass up a color version of a Mandrake story?

Download RS version here:

Download MF version here:

Magnus had scanned this and I just cropped off the unnecessary portions and sharpened the dialogues. So enjoy the story and offer your thanks to Magnus Magnusson.

Please visit Lothar's blog to download the B/W version.

Enjoy,

Venkit

#268 - S156_TheKraken_(11-23-1986_to_07-12-1987)

Well this was the first episode in the Kraken series. There are many  mixed versions available  in the Net of this story, but here I am posting the complete story with all panels in Black and White. This story was reprinted in IJC as the first story in V25N14 & V25N15 in 1988 called "The Undersea Killer Monster".

Usually, I put the first panel as the tease picture, but this time I am deviating and the reason is quite obvious.

What could be more wonderful than seeing Narda reclining in all her splendor!

Download RS Version here

Download MF Version here

I also had a full color "complete" version of this. But when I compared that with the above version, I did see that the panels were not complete. I am putting out the above panel in the color version for your enjoyment. Hee, hee. Now you get to see Narda in color, in the same pose!

Of course it goes without saying that a major part of the color strips in this collection came from Magnus Magnusson.

Download Color Strip here:

Enjoy,

Venkit

#267 - S164_DangersInTheJungle_(07-01-90_to_12-16-90)

Well, all adventures have to come to an end and this was the last story in the Kraken series. As the name suggests, this story takes place in the jungle and that too in the locality of Lothar's former tribe.

The color strips are courtesy, Magnus Magnusson, one of the greatest Mandrake fans ever. All I did was complete the story in English, replacing the Swedish strips.

Download RS version here

Download MF version here

Enjoy and shower your thanks on Magnus. 

#266 - S162_TheDolphins_(09-03-89_to_01-14-90)

Pop culture in America (probably the world around) has, in the name of liberalism, often been in the forefront of shining light on controversial subjects, to a great extent. One such topic is environment awareness, which started off as a movement to educate people about the effects of man's action on the environment. It has now deteriorated into eco-terrorism and a whole new false religion called "Climate Change".

We see in this story, Lee Falk having some dolphins lecture Mandrake and friends on the ill-effects of oil spillage into the oceans, just 6 months after one of the biggest environmental disasters in history - The Exxon Valdez incident of March 24, 1989.

This story has a special place in my heart. It was the sharing of the Italian language version of this story, that helped me become friends with one of the greatest (but very silent) fans of Mandrake comics - Paulo Marques - who shared a very rare Sunday strip (The Pacifica) and a whole lot of Mandrake daily strips including the two Mandrake Wedding stories, without much ado.

Download RS version here

Download MF version here

Enjoy,

Venkitachalam

#265 - S161_TheSportOfMagicians_(04-09-89_to_08-27-89)

Here is a Sunday strip, part of the Kraken series that was never published in IJC. Nothing great about it as a story. A rehash of a few of Lee Falk's earlier stories. The only change is that the protagonists are on a voyage and on land in between voyages.

Download MF version here

Download RS version here

Enjoy,

Venkit

#264 - S007 Full color version from a Knight in Shining armor & some disheartening news

In my last post I had expressed the hope that a Knight in shining armor, would come forth with a full color version of the S007 (The Treasure Hunt) strip. And sure enough, a full color version has been provided to us by none other than Magnus Magnusson. How does one thank a person who has been so selflessly sharing whatever Mandrake strips he has been able to get from various sources. There are obviously no words that can express the gratitude.

Thank you, Magnus, once again.

Download RS version here

Download MF version here


I would also like to bring to all of you the address of  a publishing house in Norway, which has been publishing 3 full color Sunday stories in a single book, since 2005. The cost comes to about USD 60.00 per book.
Thule Forlag AS
PO Box 4006
N-2306 HAMAR
Norway


Now to the disheartening news:
It is now official. The other day King Features came out with the news that Fred Fredericks has officially retired at the end of July and they would be resorting to regular reprints of strips starting from September 2nd, 2013, much like Flash Gordon. There have been a lot of comments in Daily Ink after that notification calling upon King Features to create a new team and continue the Mandrake strip. Hopefully the "powers that be" in KFS will listen and create a new team that can come out with good stories and art. Thanks to Fredericks for having imparted joy to a lot of people even after the demise of Lee Falk.

#263 - S160_Singing Rocks_(11-13-88_to_04-02-89)

I had planned to post the Kraken series in chronological order, but took a detour to post S177, in response to a request by Magnus.

Here I am  with the next instalment of the Kraken series, which also happened to be the last installment of the series published by Indrajal Comics. This was published as Vol 26 No 36 in 1989 as The Mystery Of The Singing Rocks. Only two more Mandrake stories appeared till the whole venture wound up and they were reprints of Daily strips 201 & 202.

Download RS Link here

Download MF link here

Enjoy,

Venkitachalam

P.S. There are just 22 more stories and we will have all Mandrake Sunday strips online between this blog and Lothar's blog. I have been able to get 21 of them complete in B/W from various sources. S007 is the one strip that I have kept to the last, as I am looking for better versions of certain panels. Maybe a knight in shining armor will give us a full color version in English?