#280 - S020 - The Flame Pearls Pt.7: Land of the Giants And D158 - The Cobra and the Cube

Balaji's blog (well it is this one) and Lothar's blog (http://mandrakearchive.blogspot.com/) were two blogs which were solely dedicated to the first super hero in comics history - Mandrake The Magician. Many of us got a taste of the early Mandrake stories from these blogs.

Unfortunately, Lothar's blog has run into some technical problems and no new posts are possible in that blog.

So with Lothar's permission, I have offered to post any of his strips in this blog till Lothar can post on his own. So here are two of the Mandrake strips that Lothar has edited, which are being posted in this blog. The links are available in the Comments portion of his blog also.

Download Lothar's original link from here.


Lothar had also earlier posted a link to D158 - The Cobra And The Cube in his blog, in the comments column.

Some of you may have downloaded these already.

Thanks, Lothar for these two strips and the 232 others that you have been meticulously collecting and editing for our enjoyment.

Most Important:
Lothar has posted a gist of his problem on his blog in the comments. If any of you can help him fix the issue, please do get in contact with him at his blog or his email - cazito@ig.com.br.

Enjoy,
Venkit

#279 - S171_TheGalacticBirthdayAdventure_(01-02-94_to_01-22-95)

When we hear the term "Talking Heads", the first image we get in our minds is about these bloviating know-alls that come on TV and talk about almost everything under the Sun.

But in the Mandrake stories, we encounter a different group of talking heads - wise men with extra-ordinary powers. And when they join forces with Mandrake and friends in battling extra-terrestrial terrorists all in the middle of Nardraka's 10th birthday celebrations, it will be some story.

Download the story from here.

Enjoy,

Venkit

#278 - Happy Valentine's Day & Enjoy the Mandrake Narda Wedding Sunday strip

We in India grew up on a staple diet of Mandrake, Narda and Lothar living in Xanadu. We never had any idea about how Mandrake and Narda met each other. Or even that Lothar started off being Mandrake's servant.

So where and how did Mandrake meet Narda? Balaji and I had posted that story in this blog nearly 3 years ago. It all happens in the second Mandrake daily strip - D002_TheHawk(MandrakeMeetsNarda)_(11-26-34_to_02-23-35). Here are the 2 panels where Mandrake and Narda meet and introduce themselves.

But in the realm of the Sunday strips, we do not see Narda till we reach the 28th Sunday strip - S028_TheSantaClausPirate_(09-03-1944_to_12-03-1944).

It is not until D0225 that we learn that Mandrake and Narda take the decision to marry. If you see that, it is much later than Mr. Falk's other character Kit Walker decided to marry Diana. In D0225, it is actually Theron (Mandrake's father) who brings up the subject of marriage. See panel below:

There were 3 weddings for Mandrake and Narda. D0225 covers the wedding in Cockaigne, Narda's home country. D0226 covers the wedding in the College of Magic, in front of Theron. D0225 and D0226 were posted by Balaji and Paulo in this blog on another Valentine's Day.

After an adventure called "Jake and Co" in D0227, Mandrake and Narda have their third wedding at Xanadu in D0228. D0228 can be downloaded from Lothar's wonderful Mandrake blog.

In 1997-1998, came a Sunday story - S176_MandrakeMarriesNarda).

Download the Sunday story from here

Enjoy,

Venkit.

BTW, we are just 11 strips away from a complete set of Mandrake Sunday strips, albeit in varied forms and sizes.

#277 - S170_TheBeeThief_(08-29-93_to_12-26-93)

I am posting the above story, which reminded me of at least 2 previous Mandrake stories.

Download the story over here.

Enjoy,

Venkit

P.S. My next post will be on Feb 14, Valentine's Day. What better story than the Sunday Mandrake Wedding strip?

#276 - A belated Happy New Year

Unfortunately, I had to spend the period between Christmas and New Year in a hospital. I am now back at home and shall try to start posting .

I am posting S169_TheBikersOfGhostTown_(01-31-93_to_08-22-93, which is a rehash of a few other Phantom and Mandrake stories.

I am enclosing only the MF Link. So please download the story from here.

Thanks,
Venkit

#275 - S168_ThePrisonBreak_(08-09-92_to_01-24-93)

This is an interesting story of a jailbreak and hostage situation involving school kids. Part of it is in color (thanks Magnus Magnusson) and part of it in B/W.

I am providing only the MF link. So download this comic from here. The RS links are not very popular.

Thanks once again to Magnus, for the color strips.

Venkit

P.S. I am working on the 60 week Sunday story of Mandrake's marriage to Narda, which I am planning to have as the first post of 2014.

#274 - D068_Cleopatra'sTreasure_(04-14-52_to_07-26-52)

This is an old classic, in book format. This was sent to me by my good friend Ajay Mishra. Most visitors are familiar with him, if they are fans of Indian comic books. He is one of the pioneers of scanning Indrajal Comics. I still fondly remember those heady days of 2006 thru 2008, when a few of us worked hard to put all 803 Indrajal comics online.

Download RS version here

Download MF version here

Thank you Ajay, for this one as also the numerous other comics you have been sharing with all of us via your blog. 

Enjoy,

Venkit

#273 - S167_Capt.CC'sCrazyCircus_(04-26-92_to_08-02-92)

Like the name suggests this is one crazy circus and one small story. Not sure if this has been posted in any blog before. If yes, I crave forgiveness.

Download MF version here

Download RS version here

I have to thank Magnus Magnusson for the strips.

Enjoy,

Venkit