The Thieves

The Thieves
Start date:	January 20th, 1975
End date:	August 16th, 1975
# of strips:	180 (30 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"The Search for the Cobra"
Followed by:	"Super Shark"

"The Thieves" is the 160th Mandrake daily story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

One day Mandrake and Lothar visit Inter-Intel thieves came to Xanadu, pretending to be from the electric company. They almost managed to find the Crystal Cube.

Mandrake was unsure if he could protect the cube well enough, and he thought it had too much power for him to control. He decided to bring the cube to a safer place, the College of Magic.

The road to College of Magic had many obstacles. But Mandrake and Lothar did arrived safely, with help of Mandrake's magic powers combined with the amazing cube.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake
• Lothar
• Narda, at Xanadu only.
• Karma, at Xanadu only.
• Hojo, at Xanadu only.
• Theron

One-time characters

• SS Royal Pamet, a cruise ship.
• Mefo, man at College of Magic. Did try to steal the cube.

Locations

• New York City
  • Xanadu
• College of Magic

Organizations

• Inter-Intel

Objects

• The Crystal Cube

Behind the scenes

Title

• The title for the story taken from the strip of January 20, 1975 (Beginning: The Thieves).

Mandrake Lore

• Theron hide both the cubes in a vault under a hot-lava river, behind steel "dragon-like" gates at the bottom of a deep lake inside the College of Magic.

Real Life References

• The Moxley Jewels / The Moxley House, named after Lee Falk's wife.
• SS Royal Pamet, refering to Lee Falk's summer house near Truro at Cape Cod.

Easter Eggs

• Strip of January 21, 1975. Karma reading a book with the head of the Phantom on the cover.
• 39013 on a license plate.

• 

  3 Aug, 1975

Mystery

• Mystery: Hojo fight with some thieves at Xanadu, at same time Mandrake talk with the secret robot chief at Inter-Intel!

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Brazil

• "O Cubo Mágico", Mandrake #258 (1977)
• "O Colégio de Mágica", Mandrake #261 (1977) (part of the original story only)

France

• "Les voleurs", Mandrake #437 (1978)
• "Les voleurs de Xanadu" & "Sur la route du collège de la magie" & "Le torrent de lave", Janus Stark #126, #127 and #128 (1989)

India

• "The Magic Mantle", Indrajal Comics #286 (1977)

Italy

• "Il cubo di cristallo", Mandrake #82 (1977)

Portugal

• "O Enxame Ataca", Herói #3 (1976)
• "O Cubo Que Amplifica o Poder Mental Até Ao Infinito", O Grilo #16 – #60 (1976)
• "O Cubo Que Amplifica o Poder Mental Até Ao Infinito", O Grilo Colecção Completa (1976)

Spain

• "El cubo mágico", Supercomics Garbo #23 (1976) first part only
• "El Retorno del Cubo Mágico", Mandrake - Merlin el Mago #6 and #7 (1981)

Turkey

• "Sonsuz Güç", Mandrake #69 & #70 & #71 & #72 & #73 & #74 (1975)
• "Sonsuz Güç", Mandrake Albüm #23 & #24 & #25
• "Sonsuz Güç", Mandrake Albüm #91 & #92
• "Sonsuz Güç", Mandrake #8 & #9 & #10
• "Sonsuz Güç", Mandrake Süper Albüm #2 & #3
• "Sonsuz Güç", Mandrake Süper Albüm #33 & #34
• "Sonsuz Güç", Mandrake Süper Albüm #12 & #13

USA

• "The Thieves", The Menomonee Falls Gazette from #164 to #193 (1975)

Yugoslavia

• "Čudesni kristali", Super EKS Almanah #24 (1981)
• "Čudesni kristali", Mandrak magazin #6 (1989)