Mandrake's Gangster Gallery

Mandrake's Gangster Gallery
Start date:	January 29th, 1979
End date:	January 19th, 1980
# of strips:	306 (51 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"The Demon Dance"
Followed by:	"Derek"

"Mandrake's Gangster Gallery" is the 172nd Mandrake daily story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

Joe and Mae have come from a magazine to interview Mandrake. He shows them Xanadu and his rogue's gallery and briefs them about the various characters. As they are leaving, they identify one of the characters seen in the gallery; Ud, the evil helper of Luciphor - the Cobra. Joe and Mae contact Mandrake, but before they could communicate anything they are trapped..

Mandrake found that Luciphor (aka The Cobra) had survived their last battle, and was looking for revenge. Ud had brought the reporters 100 miles above the earth, in a black shark like plain, -powered by the solar wind.

Luciphor had created the most deadly poison ever known; one tiny drop would shrivel a man to a cinder in seconds. Luciphor put some of his deadly formula on Joe's palm, after first given him antidote. When Joe next time would meet Mandrake, their handshake would be Luciphor's evil revenge. Luciphor then removed the memory since the kidnapping from Joe and Mae, and dropped them back at the phone boot where they were trapped.

When Luciphor's first plan came to nothing, he decided to use his remote controlled plain to the final solution for Mandrake. Flying over Xanadu Ud was to drop a mini h-bomb. But Mandrake had a hidden ace, General Huges with his ground to air missile. The plane was shot down, but almost like a miracle Ud manage to escape.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake
• Lothar
• Narda
• Karma
• Hojo
• The Police chief
• Theron
• The Cobra
• Udd

One-time characters

• Joe, a weekly magazine reporter.
• Mae, a weekly magazine reporter.
• Huges, a general.

Locations

• Xanadu
• The College of Magic

Related stories

First part of this story retelling the stories of some unusual and dangerious criminals:

Character	Story
"The Mole"	The Mole
"The Clay Camel"	a new story
"The Horse Thief"	The Horse Thief
"Goliath"	Goliath
"The Flying Thief"	The Penthouse Mystery
"Luciphor aka The Cobra"	a new story
"Udd"	a new story

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Brazil

• "A Galeria dos Vilões", Almanaque do Mandrake #2 (1980)
• "A Vingança do Cobra", Almanaque do Mandrake #3 (1980) note: starting with the strip of August 6, 1979.

Finland

• "Taika-Jimin gangsterigalleria", Mustanaamio #7, #17 and #6 (1989/90) note: ending with the strips from the Horse Thief.
• "Kobran kosto", Mustanaamio #11 (1988) note: starting with the strip of August 6, 1979.

France

• "Le cheval qui volait", Le Journal de Mickey #1824 (1986) note: only the strips from the Horse Thief.

India

• "Satan's Disciples", Indrajal Comics #375 and #376 (1981)

Norway

• "Mandrakes ganster-galleri", Fantomet #23 (1990) note: only the strips with the Mole.

Portugal

• "Os Maiores Criminosos do Mundo", Mundo de Aventuras #377 and #399(1981) and
• "O Cobra Volta a Atacar", Mundo de Aventuras #416 (1981) note: starting with the strip of August 6, 1979.

Spain

• "La Fantástica Galería de Rufianes", Mandrake - Merlin el Mago #17 (1981) note: ending with the strip of June 2, 1979.

Sweden

• "Mandrakes gangster-galleri", Fantomen #23, #6 and #22 (1988/89) note: ending with the strip of May 19, 1979.
• "Kobrans hämnd", Fantomen #4 (1988) note: starting with the strip of August 6, 1979.

Turkey

• "Suçlular Galerisi", Mandrake Albüm #163 #164 #165 #166 #167
• "Suçlular Galerisi", Mandrake Süper Albüm #65 #66 #67

Yugoslavia

• (no given title), Super EKS Almanah #7 (1980) Note: ending with the strip of August 4, 1979
• "Otrov na usnama", Super EKS Almanah #21 (1981) Note: starting with the strip of August 6, 1979