Derek (Daily story 1980)

Derek
Start date:	January 21st, 1980
End date:	April 26th, 1980
# of strips:	84 (14 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"Mandrake's Gangster Gallery"
Followed by:	"Aleena the Enchantress"

"Derek" is the 173rd Mandrake daily story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

The orphan twins, Mandrake and Derek, was raised in the College of Magic. Mandrake's class-mate and sweetheart, Aleena, found Mandrake good and honest while Derek was mean and dishonest. At the college Theron thaught them the secrets of magic, together with the chief assistant teacher, Luciphor. Luciphor fled the CM after he tried to steal the treasury and one of the Crystal Cubes and became the evil Cobra.

When the twins were 18 years old the time had came for them to leave the CM. Mandrake as the best student Theron ever had, as Theron said: "Your powers equal mine". Theron entrusted Mandrake as guardian of one of the Crystal Cubes.

Derek had powers almost equal to Mandrake, but Luciphor had put bad ideas in his head. The first day outside the CM he start mis-using his powers, and the twins chose two different roads. Mandrake as a famous magician and crime fighter, Derek as a major criminal.

Years later Theron, with help from the amazing Crystal Cube mentally called Mandrake. Asking Mandrake to stop his twin brother and take away his powers, like squeezing wather from a sponge. ...

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake
• Aleena
• Theron
• Derek
• Luciphor

One-time characters

Locations

• College of Magic

Objects

• The Crystal Cube

Behind the scenes

• The title for the story is lifted from the plot.
• Luciphor left the CM after he tried to steal the treasury and one of the Crystal Cubes.
• Mandrake and Derek left CM when they were 18 years old, Mandrake with one of the Crystal Cubes.
• Theron succeded his father as grandmaster when he was 25 years old, 308 years ago.
• Theron found Luciphor as a baby abandoned in the desert, and raised him as if he were his son.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Brazil

• "Irmão Contra Irmão", Mandrake Extra #1 (1987)

India

• "Aleena the Enchantress", Indrajal Comics #397 (1982) Note: Censored version

Italy

• "Aleena, l’incantatrice", Mandrake - New Comics Now #68 (1982)

Portugal

• no title, Mundo de Aventuras #562 (1985)

Spain

• "El Poder del Cubo Magico", Mandrake #20 (1997)

Turkey

• "Güzel Büyücü", Mandrake Süper Albüm #68

Yugoslavia

• "U svetu čarolija", Super EKS Almanah #28 (1982)