Tale of Aleena: Difference between revisions

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== Plot Summary ==
== Plot Summary ==
Aleena was Mandrake's girlfriend when they were 17 years old students at the College of Magic. During the years she had been married six times. Five of her ex-husbonds and her boyfriend she had enchanted so they remain, as her willing slaves.
One day Karma is alone on Xanadu strange things begin to happen - a pen starts to write by itself.  


With a magical smoke she manage to enchant her first and only love, Mandrake. Then she ordered him to bring her the crystal cube...
Mandrake comes home and reads what the pen has written all by itself: "''Mandrake, Contact me at once. Urgent. Aleena''." Mandrake told [[Karma]] that Aleena had been one of the few girls studying at the "College of Magic," and that he and Aleena had been friends and classmates. When they were seventeen, they became lovers; Mandrake described it as puppy love.
 
Mandrake tried to locate her mentally but failed. He used his Crystal Cube to contact Theron, hoping he knew Aleena's whereabouts. Theron was not fond of Aleena, describing her as a frivolous and vain woman who had misused her powers, mainly to attract husbands. She had been married and divorced six times, and Theron warned Mandrake that she was likely looking for her seventh husband, the true love of her youth whom she had never forgotten - Mandrake.
 
Aleena contacted Mandrake with a mental vision, claiming she was dying, and enchanted him to follow a mental beam leading to her house. Upon his arrival, Mandrake discovered that Aleena was indeed dying, but from boredom.
 
Aleena was accompanied by Set, a man disfigured by a lion who now served her and obeyed her every command. She recounted how, many years ago, Set had been jealous of a lion tamer who admired her. In an attempt to win her attention, Set had entered the lion's cage but was attacked and disfigured. Since then, Set had followed her as a loyal servant.
 
She also spoke of her first husband, Gurn. Although they had been together, she had grown bored and one day threw her necklace into a burning house. To prove his love, Gurn rushed into the house to retrieve it, suffering severe burns. Aleena married him mostly out of pity and spent a fortune on plastic surgery to restore his looks. After his recovery, he left her for the blonde singer Kimberly.
 
Her second husband was Pablo, a bullfighter whom she described as brave but foolish. Her third husband was Georgeous Cyril, a wrestling champion who quit wrestling but not overeating. Her fourth husband was a deep-sea diver, but she said ''she couldn't swim''. Her fifth husband was a rich banker who went bankrupt, and her sixth husband was King Rupert, who lost his crown. Her last five husbands remained with her and Set, bewitched to serve her.
 
Aleena lit an incense stick infused with an elixir given to her by a former admirer, a Welsh warlock. Mandrake inhaled the magical smoke and became enchanted by Aleena. She then revealed that her real goal was not Mandrake himself, but something he possessed - the Crystal Cube.
 
Back on Xanadu, Lothar and Hojo managed to break Aleena's spell and recover the crystal cube from her clutches. Aleena and her enslaved men disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a fiery message on the wall: "''We will meet again, Aleena.''"


===Appearances===
===Appearances===
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*Sath, Aleena's boyfriend.
*Sath, Aleena's boyfriend.
*Gurn, Aleena's first husbond.
*Gurn, Aleena's first husbond.
*Kimberly, Gurn new girlfriend.
*Kimberly, a blond singer and Gurn's new girlfriend.
*Pablo, bullfighter and Aleena's second husbond.
*Pablo, bullfighter and Aleena's second husbond.
*Gorgeous Cyril, wrestling champion and Aleena's third husbond.
*Gorgeous Cyril, wrestling champion and Aleena's third husbond.
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==Behind the scenes==
==Behind the scenes==
===Title===
*The story title is taken from the strip of September 25, 1973 (Tomorrow: "Tale of Aleena").
*The story title is taken from the strip of September 25, 1973 (Tomorrow: "Tale of Aleena").
===Mandrake Lore===
*9-3355 are the phone number to Mandrake's study.
*9-3355 are the phone number to Mandrake's study.
*Theron is about 300 years old.
*Theron is about 305 years old, and said that he has had fifteen wives during his 250 first years.
*Kimberly, ''named'' after Kimberly Farr who played Narda in the musical "Mandrake the Magician and the Enchantress" ?
*Theron had over twenty children, three of whom are now alive.
*Theron's father lived to be 408 years old.
 
===Real Life References===
*Kimberly, ''named'' after Kimberly Farr who played Narda in the musical "Mandrake the Magician and the Enchantress"?
**The name is also used in a daily Phantom story from 1984, "The Kimberly Diamonds".


== Reprints ==
== Reprints ==
Line 92: Line 113:
=== [[Image:mini_usa.gif]] USA ===
=== [[Image:mini_usa.gif]] USA ===
*"Tale of Aleena", [[The Menomonee Falls Gazette 93|''The Menomonee Falls Gazette'' from #93]] to [[The Menomonee Falls Gazette 111| #111]] (1973/1974)
*"Tale of Aleena", [[The Menomonee Falls Gazette 93|''The Menomonee Falls Gazette'' from #93]] to [[The Menomonee Falls Gazette 111| #111]] (1973/1974)
*"Tale of Aleena", [[The Daily Strips Mandrake Series / Episode: "Tale of Aleena" (Pacific Comics Club)|''The Daily Strips Mandrake Series / Episode: "Tale of Aleena" (Pacific Comics Club)'']] (2018)


=== [[Image:mini_yugoslavia.png|border]] Yugoslavia===
=== [[Image:mini_yugoslavia.png|border]] Yugoslavia===

Latest revision as of 19:43, 24 July 2024

Tale of Aleena
Md-1973-09-10.png
Start date: September 10, 1973
End date: January 19, 1974
# of strips: 114 (19 weeks)
Writer: Lee Falk
Artist: Fred Fredericks
Preceded by: "The Incredible Thief"
Followed by: "Super-Elec"

"Tale of Aleena" is the 155th Mandrake daily story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

One day Karma is alone on Xanadu strange things begin to happen - a pen starts to write by itself.

Mandrake comes home and reads what the pen has written all by itself: "Mandrake, Contact me at once. Urgent. Aleena." Mandrake told Karma that Aleena had been one of the few girls studying at the "College of Magic," and that he and Aleena had been friends and classmates. When they were seventeen, they became lovers; Mandrake described it as puppy love.

Mandrake tried to locate her mentally but failed. He used his Crystal Cube to contact Theron, hoping he knew Aleena's whereabouts. Theron was not fond of Aleena, describing her as a frivolous and vain woman who had misused her powers, mainly to attract husbands. She had been married and divorced six times, and Theron warned Mandrake that she was likely looking for her seventh husband, the true love of her youth whom she had never forgotten - Mandrake.

Aleena contacted Mandrake with a mental vision, claiming she was dying, and enchanted him to follow a mental beam leading to her house. Upon his arrival, Mandrake discovered that Aleena was indeed dying, but from boredom.

Aleena was accompanied by Set, a man disfigured by a lion who now served her and obeyed her every command. She recounted how, many years ago, Set had been jealous of a lion tamer who admired her. In an attempt to win her attention, Set had entered the lion's cage but was attacked and disfigured. Since then, Set had followed her as a loyal servant.

She also spoke of her first husband, Gurn. Although they had been together, she had grown bored and one day threw her necklace into a burning house. To prove his love, Gurn rushed into the house to retrieve it, suffering severe burns. Aleena married him mostly out of pity and spent a fortune on plastic surgery to restore his looks. After his recovery, he left her for the blonde singer Kimberly.

Her second husband was Pablo, a bullfighter whom she described as brave but foolish. Her third husband was Georgeous Cyril, a wrestling champion who quit wrestling but not overeating. Her fourth husband was a deep-sea diver, but she said she couldn't swim. Her fifth husband was a rich banker who went bankrupt, and her sixth husband was King Rupert, who lost his crown. Her last five husbands remained with her and Set, bewitched to serve her.

Aleena lit an incense stick infused with an elixir given to her by a former admirer, a Welsh warlock. Mandrake inhaled the magical smoke and became enchanted by Aleena. She then revealed that her real goal was not Mandrake himself, but something he possessed - the Crystal Cube.

Back on Xanadu, Lothar and Hojo managed to break Aleena's spell and recover the crystal cube from her clutches. Aleena and her enslaved men disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a fiery message on the wall: "We will meet again, Aleena."

Appearances

Recurring characters

One-time characters

  • Jet, Aleena's pet panther.
  • Sath, Aleena's boyfriend.
  • Gurn, Aleena's first husbond.
  • Kimberly, a blond singer and Gurn's new girlfriend.
  • Pablo, bullfighter and Aleena's second husbond.
  • Gorgeous Cyril, wrestling champion and Aleena's third husbond.
  • King Rupert, Aleena's sixth husbond.

Locations

Objects


Behind the scenes

Title

  • The story title is taken from the strip of September 25, 1973 (Tomorrow: "Tale of Aleena").

Mandrake Lore

  • 9-3355 are the phone number to Mandrake's study.
  • Theron is about 305 years old, and said that he has had fifteen wives during his 250 first years.
  • Theron had over twenty children, three of whom are now alive.
  • Theron's father lived to be 408 years old.

Real Life References

  • Kimberly, named after Kimberly Farr who played Narda in the musical "Mandrake the Magician and the Enchantress"?
    • The name is also used in a daily Phantom story from 1984, "The Kimberly Diamonds".

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Mini brazil.gif Brazil

Mini finland.gif Finland

Mini france.gif France

Mini india.gif India

Mini italy.gif Italy

Mini portugal.gif Portugal

Mini spain.gif Spain

Mini sweden.gif Sweden

Mini turkey.gif Turkey

Mini usa.gif USA

Mini yugoslavia.png Yugoslavia