Lothar

Lothar
First appearance:	"The Cobra"
Created by:	Lee Falk and Phil Davis

Lothar is a character from Mandrake comic strip that first appeared in "The Cobra", the very first Mandrake story.

Fictional Character Biography

Lothar is Mandrake's best friend and crime-fighting companion. Mandrake first met Lothar during his travels in Africa. Lothar was then "Prince of the Seven Nations", a mighty federation of jungle tribes. He passed on the chance to become king and instead followed Mandrake on his world travels, fighting crime and villains from all over the world (and the rest of the universe as well). Lothar is often referred to as the strongest man in the world with the exception of perhaps Hojo — Mandrake's chef and secret chief of Inter Intel.

One of the first black crimefighting heroes ever to appear in comics, Lothar made his first appearance alongside Mandrake in 1934 in the inaugural daily strip. In the beginning, Lothar was little more than Mandrake's servant. He spoke poor English, wore a fez, short pants and a leopard skin. His muscles far exceeded his mental abilities. When artist Fred Fredericks took over in 1965 (after original artist Phil Davis had died), Lothar was modernized; he began to speak correct English, and his clothing changed, although he still often wears shirts with leopard-skin patterns.