{"product_id":"mandrake-the-magician-the-complete-dailies-volume-3-1938-1939-hurt","title":"MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN The Complete Dailies Volume 3 1938-1939 Hurt","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLong an underrated classic. These early strips feature top-drawer art and imaginative (often fantasy and even science fiction\/other worlds) stories that make this a strip worth reading for every serious comics fan - Bud.\u003c\/em\u003e Eight fine new stories: \"Mandrake in Hollywood;\" \"Sonny the Child Movie Star;\" \"Mandrake and the Haunted House;\" \"Blozz the Champion;\" \"Mandrake in Love;\" \"Visitors from Space;\" \"The Deep South;\" and \"Mandrake in Cockaigne.\" Outstanding detailed introduction by \u003cstrong\u003eErica McNatt \u003c\/strong\u003edetails how these stories related to real life in the 1930s during The Golden Age of Detective Fiction as well as The Golden Age of Hollywood.\n\nThe glitz and glamour of Hollywood is here in two stories, one when Mandrake goes to Hollywood himself...the other when he has to deal with a child star who, just as in real life, had real issues dealing with fame and fortune. \"Visitors from Space\" is a lot of fun, but a sceptical Mandrake soon figures out it's all an elaborate hoax...just like the \"War of the Worlds\" radio broadcast produced by Orson Wells, only weeks before this strip appeared, electrified a nation thinking we were really being invaded by aliens!\n\nWe also discover the humble and caring person who is Mandrake when his love for the beautiful Narda hits the rocks. When she is to be married to a Caribbean dictator with an iron fist and asks for help, Mandrake happily comes to her rescue.\n\nMandrake the Magician began as a daily strip on June 11, 1934, and whether \u003cstrong\u003eLee Falk\u003c\/strong\u003e knew it as a sophomore at the University of Illinois, he was making history. He was creating both his masterpiece, \u003cem\u003eThe Phantom, \u003c\/em\u003eand also \u003cem\u003eMandrake\u003c\/em\u003e at the same time during these years. The strips presented in this series of reprints feature two staple characters in addition to the master magician: Lothar and Princess Narda (princess of the mythical European kingdom Cockaigne).  Narda is similar to Flash Gordon's Dale Arden: beautiful, constantly in need of rescue, and the love interest of our hero. A Prince of the Seven Nations of Africa, Lothar is Mandrake's devoted servant, friend and companion. He is \"the strongest man in the world,\" and decked out in a fez, shorts, and a leopard shirt he provides the muscle for the pair of heroes.\n\n\u003cem\u003eOutstanding fine line art by \u003cstrong\u003ePhil Davis\u003c\/strong\u003e, who was quite nearly here as Alex Raymond was on Flash Gordon. Since these are dailies, they could not pack the punch of large Sunday panels such as Raymond would draw; nonetheless, Davis was doing an outstanding job on the beautiful women, glitzy men, speeding cars, action sequences and more. - Bud\u003c\/em\u003e\n\nMandrake was the magician (and more frequently, creator of illusions) that all the subsequent comic book magicians were patterned after...but he was and still is the best. The early adventures are exciting and great fun.\n\n\u003cstrong\u003eCondition: Bumped corners.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hermes Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":59643955052830,"sku":"MAND03HR","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0999\/0684\/7006\/files\/mand03h-mandrake-the-magician-dailies-vol-3-book_d1f9a1fe-67f0-48ca-9224-92b5b0386f7f.jpg?v=1784525607","url":"https:\/\/shop.budsartbooks.com\/products\/mandrake-the-magician-the-complete-dailies-volume-3-1938-1939-hurt","provider":"Bud's Art Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}