The Fisherman (1998 story)

The Fisherman
(Re-released in 2016)
Start date:	December 14th, 1998
End date:	February 13th, 1999
# of strips:	54 (9 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"Aliens"
Followed by:	"The Secret Mission"

"The Fisherman" is the 230th Mandrake daily story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

Kathy paid a visit to her husband Clem, who was fishing by the pond, leaving him a lunch basket. On her way back home, she realized she had forgotten to include the milk in the basket. Hurrying back to the pond, she found only the fishing rod and the lunch basket, her husband nowhere in sight. To her shock, she noticed a fishing line descending from the sky, pulling up the fishing rod, a fish, and the lunch basket. Frightened, she rushed to town and straight to the police station. The police chief contacted Mandrake to share this bizarre story, prompting Mandrake's decision to investigate in the department for crazy stuff.

Kathy explained that her retired husband, a former mayor without enemies, had mysteriously vanished. Mandrake, using hypnotic projection, explored what Kathy had witnessed near the river. He saw the thin blue fishing line descending from the sky and caught the fishing rod, a fish, and Clem's lunch box. Kathy also recalled a hissing sound and a faint machine-like smell. Mandrake suspected the involvement of an unknown pure energy source in this mystery.

The following day, Mandrake and Lothar met with the Police Chief at the spot where Clem disappeared. Mandrake used a turkey as bait to lure the mysterious sky fisherman, but nothing happened. After two hours, the Chief of Police left for the station, leaving Mandrake and Lothar waiting patiently. A farmer arrives with a child and some cows in need of water. Amidst their vigil, Mandrake observed an oddly moving cloud in the sky. Just then, Karma called on the car phone, distracting Lothar. In that moment, the mysterious fishing line reappeared. Mandrake and the child accompanying them were whisked up into the enigmatic cloud.

Inside the cloud, Mandrake encountered three men resembling Clem. They revealed themselves as the cloud people, beings made of pure energy and offspring of lightning. Out of curiosity about Earth and its inhabitants, they had fished up various items to learn more. Their mission now complete, they intended to vanish into thin air, returning everything they had gathered back to Earth.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake
• Narda, at Xanadu only
• Karma, on phone only
• Lothar
• The Police Chief, as Chief Brand

One-time characters

• Clem, a fisherman
• Kathy, Clem's wife
• a Policeman
• a Farmer
• The farmers son
• The Cloud People, creatures of pure energy, children of lightning.

Locations

• New York City
  • Xanadu
  • Crazy Stuff Department

Behind the scenes

Title

• The story title is taken from the strip of December 12, 1998 (Beginning: The Fisherman).

The Story

This story is a bit special in its structure. It starts as a normal story, but in the Monday strip in week 5, there is a hint that this is a dream. This is reinforced in the Monday strip in weeks 6 and 7. In the last two weeks, it is clear that this is a dream Mandrake has had. It seems like the original idea for the story has changed: A man disappears under mysterious circumstances - someone who fishes from the sky. The Crazy Stuff Department at the police station is always formerly known as Silly Stuff Division or Department. Mandrake quickly concludes that the mystery has something to do with unknown pure energy. If this story is a dream Mandrake has then the case in the story is solved. But if the beginning of the story is not a dream, then the mystery was never solved!

Re-released story in 2016

• Start date: 23 May 2016 / End date: 23 July 2016

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Turkey

• "Şimşeğin çocukları", Sihirbaz Mandrake ve Abdullah (2009)