The Sign of 8

The Sign of 8

Start date:	August 16th, 1965
End date:	February 5th, 1966
# of strips:	150 (25 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"The Odd Fellow"
Followed by:	"The Witches"

"The Sign of 8" is the 129th Mandrake daily story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

Adult education is quite the thing now and Narda is back at school. She is doing graduate work in history. By accident, in a footnote, she discovered a medieval gang of thiefs, called "The League of 8". While doing a fascinating report on the 800 years old gang she found clues of the acient gang closer to our time. Then the league of 8 strike....

Appearances

Recurring characters

One-time characters

Antone, Ambassador.
Andros, president. mention only
Dr. Ludd, professor in history and Narda's supervisor.
Miss Percy, a librarian.
Dan Goon, ganglord and local chief of the league of 8.
Bello, gang member.
Adams, a police woman.
Q, a quizzer of 8.
X, a executioner of 8.

Locations

New York
Xanadu
Bartlett Street, where Narda lives.

Organizations

8
Blue Cow Dairy.

Behind the scenes

The title for this story is taken from the strip of September, 4 (Next Week: Sign of 8)
This story have a long intro about Mandrake's new home, Xanadu, spanning the first 20 strips.
Narda lives in Bartlett Street, a real street name in the Broadway Triangle New York.
The members of 8 wearing cuff links with the sign 8, the X and Q wearing a ring with the sign 8 on their left ringfinger.
In a hidden place far away is the top unit of 8 and their giant computer, Octo. If they are in doubt about what to do in a case feed the information into the computer, and get a short reply.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Brazil

"A Casa dos Sonhos" & "O Signo do Oito", Mandrake #113 and #114 (1966)
"Xanadu", Mandrake Especial (1974) note: strips from 16 August to 7 September 1965
"O Signo do 8", As Grandes Aventuras do Mandrake #3 (1986)
"A Origem de Xanadu", Mandrake Especial #22 (1988)

Denmark

"Den hemmelige liga: I en dødelig fælde & Forhørslederen", Fantomet #242 and #243 (1984)

Finland

"Salainen liiga" & "Salainen liiga (II): Kuulustelu", Mustanaamio #14 and #15 (1982)

France

"La bande du Huit" & "Prisonniers du Huit", Spécial Mandrake #93 and #94 (1971)
"La ligue des 8", Le Journal de Mickey #1484 to #1502 (1980-1981)
"La ligue des 8", Mandrake (Les récits du Journal de Mickey) Volume 2 (2015)

India

"The Treacherous Gang" Indrajal Comics #77 (1969)
"The Claws of Treachery", Indrajal Comics Vol. 22 No. 39 (1985)
"The Dangerous Gang" Diamond Comics Digest - Mandrake #4 (1992)
"The Dangerous Gang" Diamond Comics Digest - Mandrake #51 (1997)

Italy

"La lega dell’otto" & "Allarme squadra volante", Special Mandrake #183 and #184 (1966)
"La lega dell’otto", "Allarme squadra volante" & "La lega dell’otto", Mandrake (1972)
"La lega dell'Otto", Mandrake - New Comics Now #380 (1997)
"Xanadù", Mandrake (I classici del Fumetto) (1999) - (intro part only)