The Ghost Whale

The Ghost Whale
Start date:	June 11, 1950
End date:	August 27, 1950
# of strips:	12 (12 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Phil Davis
Preceded by:	"Jungle Adventure"
Followed by:	"The Department Store Mystery"

"The Ghost Whale" is the 45th Mandrake Sunday story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Phil Davis.

Plot Summary

While the S.S. Argos leaves the West African port Mandrake runs into two seperat mysteries: A native fishing fleet destroyed by a "ghost whale", and a cruise ship attacked by pirates who come from nowhere and return into the sea.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake
• Lothar
• Narda

One-time characters

• Arlen Blaine
• Jans, one of the "ghost pirates"
• Captain of the "ghost pirates"

Locations

• West Africa
  • A port
  • At sea

Vehicles

• S.S. Argus, Blaine's yacht.

Behind the scenes

• At the deepwoods.org index the title for this story is "The Ghost Whale", which is lifted from the plot.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Argentina

• "La ballena Fantasma", Mandrake el Mago en La ballena Fantasma (1970)

Brazil

• "Os Piratas da Baleia Fantasma", Novo Gibi #1783 (1952)
• "A Baleia-Fantasma", Mandrake #147 (1969) note: may be wrong !

France

• "La baleine fantôme", Mandrake #29 (1964)
• "La baleine fantôme", Le Journal de Mickey #951-#953 (1970)
• "La baleine fantôme", Mandrake #319 (1971)
• "La baleine fantôme", Mandrake #428 (1975)
• "La baleine fantôme", Mandrake le Magicien #4 (1982)

India

• "The Ghost Whale", The Phantom #12 (2001)

Italy

• "Il fantasma del mare", Mandrake #44 (1963)
• "Il fantasma del mare", I Classici dell'Avventura #87 (1965)
• "La balena fantasma", Mandrake #74 (1975)
• "Il fantasma del mare", Mandrake - New Comics Now #169 (1986)
• "Il fantasma del mare", Mandrake #3 (1994)
• "no title", Mandrake - La rotta delle meraviglie (2004)

New Zealand

• "The Ghost Whale", Mandrake the Magician #51 (1953)

Norway

• "Spøkelsehvalen", Skippern (1954)
• "Spøkelseshvalen", Fantomet #5 (1997)

Portugal

• "O Velho das Baleias", Condor Popular #3 Vol. 3 (1955)

Spain

• "La ballena fantasma", Mandrake el Mago: Sundays pages 1949–1953 (Dolmen Editorial) (2019)

Sweden

• "Spökvalen", Fantomen #5 (1997)

USA

• "The Ghost Whale", The Official Mandrake Sundays #4 (1989)