The Rockaby Thief

The Rockaby Thief
Start date:	December 26, 1960
End date:	March 4, 1961
# of strips:	60 (10 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Phil Davis
Preceded by:	"The Ambassador"
Followed by:	"Mystery of the Bikini Girl"

"The Rockaby Thief" is the 109th Mandrake daily story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Phil Davis.

Plot Summary

Mandrake and Narda had been invited by Countess Donna to a dinner party in her penthouse apartment. But Mandrake had had a benefit show the same evening and had wanted to come after his performance. In the meantime, the Chief had acted as Narda's date. The dinner had been a pleasant affair, and while they had waited for Mandrake, several people had noticed that the evening's waiter had stood out from the usual waiters from the agency.

After Mandrake had finished his show, he had gone to the Countess' penthouse apartment, only to find all the guests fast asleep. When the guests had eventually woken up, they had discovered that all their jewels and money were gone, even the Chief's badge. Mandrake had initially suspected that there might have been some drugs in the food or drink, but even those who had not eaten or drunk anything had also fallen asleep. Then suspicion had fallen on Mandrake, as all the guests had seen him perform incredible magic tricks before.

The next day, the thief, who had been posing as a waiter during dinner, had been sitting and talking to his wife about the successful robbery. He had looked at the Chief's badge and had decided to call in an anonymous tip to the newspaper about the ingenious robbery where the Chief had also been robbed and had lost his badge. The next thing that had happened had been in a bank, where all the employees had fallen asleep, and when they had woken up after half an hour, they had discovered that the bank had been robbed. The thief, now emboldened by two successful robberies, had read in the newspaper that there would be a charity ball soon. He and his wife had imagined all the rich people who would attend with their jewels and had decided that this would be their next heist.

Meanwhile, Mandrake and the Chief had discussed the unsolved cases, and Mandrake had decided to investigate whether a sleeping gas might have been used during the robberies. He had visited a chemical warfare laboratory and had been informed that they had developed a sleeping gas, but that now the card with the formula had disappeared from their top-secret file.

Mandrake and Narda had dressed up for the costume ball, as had the thief and his wife. Mandrake had entertained the guests as the clock had ticked towards midnight, when the masks were about to fall. The thieves had also decided to strike at midnight and had thrown a glass ampoule of sleeping gas onto the floor just before the masks had fallen. The thieves, dressed in pilot suits with oxygen tanks, had watched as the guests, one by one, had collapsed asleep. From the stage, Mandrake had understood what was happening and had managed to get unseen backstage and over to an open window. From there, slightly affected by the sleeping gas, Mandrake had seen the thieves leaving the building where the ball had been held. He had managed to get out into the street and had alerted the police about the robbery from an emergency phone, and a squad car had managed to stop them.

The thieves had been taken to the 22nd precinct, where they had been questioned, but when asked how they had managed to pull off the robbery, they had demonstrated by putting on their helmets with oxygen and throwing out a glass ampoule of sleeping gas. However, as they had run out onto the stairs, Mandrake had arrived and had pounced on them, overpowering them. It had turned out that the thief had been a file clerk in the chemical warfare laboratory, where he had stolen the formula for the sleeping gas with the intention of committing a robbery

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake
• Narda
• The Police Chief, as Chief Bates.

One-time characters

• The Rockaby Thief
• His wife
• Walters, a waiter from an agency
• Jenks, aka the Rockaby Thief
• Donna, Countess of ?

Locations

• New York City
  • Euclid, a street
  • 22nd precinct station. a police station

Behind the scenes

• The title for the story taken from the strip of December 26, 1960 (Beginning: The Rockaby Thief).
• The Police Chief is mentioned by name; Chief Bates !
• There are some small things in this script that could be references to Lee Falk's real life. Something related to his family.
  • Several streets are named after Euclid, the ancient Greek mathematician. One of the is in Cleveland (Ohio), not fare away from Zanesville. - Where his second wife Constance was born.
  • Mandrake invites a young woman on stage to demonstrate mind reading. She is not named in the story but Mandrake says she was: 22, born in Oregon, two years of college, a secretary, broke her engagement last week, at the party with a new boyfriend on first date. - About the age of his daughter Valerie Falk.

Signifiant covers

• 
  Argentina
• 
  Brazil
• 
  Italy
• 
  Italy
• 
  Portugal
• 
  Spain
• 
  United Kingdom
• 
  USA

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Argentina

• "El ladron del sueño", Mandrake el Mago #28 (1962)

Australia

• no title, Mandrake the Magician #17 (1962 (?))

Brazil

• "O ladrão", Mandrake #62 (1962)
• "O Golpe do Sono", Mandrake #306 (1981)

Finland

• "Univaras", Mustanaamio #22 and #23 (1980)
• "Univaras", Sarjakirja #120 (1987)

France

• "Les visiteurs de minuit", Mandrake #26 and #27 (1964)
• "Les visiteurs de minuit", Mandrake #179 (1968)
• "Les visiteurs de minuit", Mandrake #351 (1972)
• "no title given", Mandrake le Magicien (Collection Clair de lune) Volume 3 - 1957 à 1961 (2012)

Italy

• "I rapinatori di mezzanotte", Mandrake #2 (1962)
• "I rapinatori di mezzanotte", I Classici dell'Avventura #39 (1963)
• "I rapinatori di mezzanotte", Mandrake #29 (1972)
• "I rapinatori di mezzanotte", Mandrake - New Comics Now #131 (1985)

Norway

• "Søvndyssertyven", Fantomet #5 & Fantomet #6 (1981)
• "Søvndyssertyven", Serie-pocket #127 (1987)

Portugal

• "O Gatuno Químico", Mandrake #4 (197?)

Spain

• "Ladrones de joyas", Coleccion Héroes Modernos #7c (1964)
• "Ladrones de joyas", Coleccion Héroes Modernos Album de Rip Kirby (1964)
• "Ladrones de joyas", Biblioteca Eterna - Coleccion Héroes Modernos #2C (1970)
• "El ladrón de los somniferos" Colosos del Comic Presenta: Flash Gordon #38 (1981) Note: ends with the strip of January 27, 1961.
• "Los Ladrones de Joyas", Mandrake #18 (1997)
• "El ladrón misterioso", Mandrake el mago Cobra: El regreso del mal (2005)

Sweden

• "Sömntjuven", Fantomen #16 and #17 (1980)

Turkey

• "Esrarengiz Soyguncu", Mandrake #165 & #166 (1977)
• "Esrarengiz Soyguncu", Mandrake Albüm #54 (1977)
• "Esrarengiz Soyguncu", Mandrake Albüm #150

United Kingdom

• "The Rockaby Bandits", Mandrake the Magician #18 (1960)

USA

• "The Rockaby Thief", The Classic Mandrake Series (second series)/ Episode: "The Rockaby Thief" (Pacific Comics Club) (2020)

Yugoslavia

• "Na maskenbalu", Denis #154 (1979)
• "Uspavajući gas", Mandrak magazin #13 (1990)