Spotlight on Sunday strip layout
The full page years
The early Mandrake Sunday strips filled an entire newspaper page. Phil Davis layout his first Sunday story with 4 strips a page before he started experimenting with different variants of layout. The various pages could have 2, 3 or 4 strips and some panels could span more than one row.
Samples
February 3, 1935
July 12, 1936
February 21, 1937
The Sunday Strip Logo
In the first Sunday story Phil Davis also experimented with the logo for the pages.
The first logo and variants for the Sunday pages
The first logo
variant
synopsis variant
The second logo and variants for the Sunday Strip
The third logo and variants for the Sunday Strip
most common
synopsis variant
from time to time
from March 22, 1959
The full and half page years
Due to paper shortages during World War II some newspapers requested possibility to print the Mandrake Sunday strips on a half page. Phil Davis started to layout the pages so the numbered panels could be rearranged to fit both a full or half page. The last page made for full page only was at April 26, 1942. From the strip of March 22, 1959 the logo shrunk.
Samples
the last full page layout
the first full/half page
as half page
The full, half and third page years
To save the expense of printing so many color pages some newspapers requested possibility to print the Mandrake Sunday strips on a third page. The layout changed and one can find two common logos in this period. Only the full and half format is complete and the third page dropping the top row from the half page. Such "throwaway" panels often contain material that is not vital to the main part of the strip.
Samples
full page
half page
full page
half page
third page
The Sunday Page Logo
The fourth logo and variants for the Sunday Strip
before 1965
from 1965
The full, half, third page years II
Fred Fredericks was the new artist from the strip of July 27, 1965. Unlike Phil Davis drew his Sunday pages in the half page landscape format. The logo used for the half pages layput was similar to the one used on rearranged half pages by Phil Davis, except the text "by Lee Falk" vs "by Lee Falk and Phil Davis". In the strip of June 7th 1970 the layout changed a bit and now we can see a larger logo made by Fred Fredericks. The layout developed further to be divided into eight (nine with the logo) almost identical panel considering the size.
Samples
full page
half page
third page
The third, and tabloid page years
The strip of November 5, 1972 is the first made for third page and tabloid. The tabloid page dropping the two left panel from the third page. The "throwaway" panels contain material that is not vital to the main part of the strip.
Samples
third page
tabloid page
