Spotlight on Lee Falk - The latest scripts for Mandrake the Magician and the Phantom
Timeline 1998-1999: Mandrake the Magician and The Phantom Stories
| 1998 | 1999 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MD | Big Jake & Co | Mandrake's Wedding at Xanadu | Aliens | The Fisherman | The Secret Mission | Siege at Xanadu | The Haunted Ballroom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MS | Mandrake Marries Narda | The Cloud | The Bullies | The Invisible Person | Rumble on the Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PD | Joomkar's Crown | The Crater | The Dakk Pirates | The Albee | Terror at the Opera | The Ghost Wall | The Halloween Kidnappers | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| PS | Waterman | The Vanished Village | The Floradon Mystery | The Kidnappers | The Wharf Rats | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| colors | parts based on previous stories written by Lee Falk | based on previous stories written by Lee Falk | written /finished by Elizabeth Falk | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mandrake the Magician
Dailies
The two stories "Aliens" and "The Fisherman" reuses the ideas (plots) Lee Falk had previously in 1964 and 1961. Although the ideas of the stories are almost the same, these are stories written differently and are new stories.
The story "The Secret Mission" stands out in that it lacks a clear progression in the script. The first weeks start with the calling card "8" is left on crime scenes but the week ends with Mandrake saying he's going on a cruise. This calling card beginning is probably an introduction to retelling the story of Octon and the criminal gang "8", because in week three Mandrake, Lothar, Narda and Karma go on the cruise - a secret mission. Then follows two weeks of depictions of good days on the yacht they are on. Weeks 6 to 12 retell a Sunday story from 1948 and then the real story begins to develop from the thirteenth week of the story. What is different about the retelling in this story is that Fred Fredericks has been inspired by Phil Davis' drawings. So it is obvious that Fred Fredericks used a copy of the 1948 story to create this story inside the main story. In 1972, Fred Fredericks said that he drew the daily strips five weeks in advance. If it was still like that in 1999, he should have received a script from Lee Falk sometime before the beginning of February 1999. But it seems he never got any more scripts from Lee Falk for the dailies.
Sundays
What is most striking about the Sunday stories is that the three stories "The Cloud", "The Bullies" and "The Invisible Person" are reuses of three daily stories from 1983-1984. Most of the art (and text) are actually identical. In 1972, Fred Fredericks said that he drew the Sunday strips ten weeks in advance. If it was still like that in 1998, he should have received a script from Lee Falk for the story after "Mandrake Marries Narda" sometime before the beginning of September 1998. But it seems he never got any more scripts from Lee Falk for the Sundays.
The Phantom
Dailies
According to the PhantomWiki the daily story "Terror at the Opera" Lee Falk's wife, Elizabeth Falk, finished this script. The seventh week consisted of five one-panel strips with little progression is said to be made to allow time to finish the script.
Sundays
According to the PhantomWiki the Sunday story "The Kidnappers" Lee Falk's wife, Elizabeth Falk, finished this script.