Shadows on Devil Road

Shadows on Devil Road
Start date:	May 19th, 2002
End date:	December 29th, 2002
# of strips:	33
Writer:	Fred Fredericks
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"Return of the Tourist"
Followed by:	None

"Shadows on Devil Road" is the 187th and last Mandrake Sunday story. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

Years ago, when Lothar was head of the 12 Nations, a large amount of gold was shipped to establish foreign credit. The Gold was hijacked and Moru was accused, but nothing could be proved. Now, outside the gates of Xanadu, Moru died of natural causes. Leaving two mysterious clues; The Devil Road and Ben D.

Mandrake and Lothar heading to Bangalla for trying to solve the mystery.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake the Magician
• Lothar

One-time characters

• Moru, in charge of a gold shipment years ago
• The Phantom
• Ben Done, a crooked jungle trader
• Theba, daughter of Moru
• Ali Ben Dilla, a bandit warlord and Prince of Nepa

Organizations

• The Jungle Patrol

Locations

• Xanadu
• Bangalla
• Mawitaan Airport
• The Deep Woods
• The Scull Cave
• Devil Road
• Nepa, a Kingdom in Bangalla

Behind the scenes

• The title for the story is taken from the strip of May 19th, 2002 (Beginning: Shadows on Devil Road).
• This was the last Mandrake Sunday story, as Fred Fredericks decided to reduce his workload and focus on the dailies.
• Although Mandrake and The Phantom had made minor appearances in each other's stories before, this was the first time they appeared in a complete story together.

Refers to

• "The Devil Road", a Phantom story by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Australia

• The Phantom #1340 (2002)

Finland

• "Piruntie", Mustanaamio 12/2005

Jamaica

• The Daily Gleaner (May 19, 2002 - December 29, 2002)

Norway

• "Djevelveien", Fantomet 12/2005

Portugal

• Mistério Juvenil #2 (2006)

Sweden

• "Djävulsvägen", Fantomen 12/2005