The Blackout Caper

The Blackout Caper
Start date:	January 1st, 1967
End date:	April 23rd, 1967
# of strips:	17 (17 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"The Astro Pirates"
Followed by:	"The Meeting of Mandrake and Lothar"

"The Blackout Caper" is the 100th Mandrake Sunday story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

A mysterious doctor gather gangster chiefs from several cities, offering them two hours complete darkness for 500 miles in every direction -if they pay him 2 millions in cash.

During the two hours blackout it was chaos and crimes. But strangly during the blackout the generators kept working. Was the blackout a cover for stealing the power, if so - why ?

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake
• Lothar
• Narda
• The Police Chief

One-time characters

• Doctor Zed, inventor of a thermonuclar reactor. And a mad scientist.
• Dudley, works for dr. Zed.
• Scar, a gangster chief.
• Finger, a gangster chief.
• Helmsman, a police man.

Locations

• New York City
  • Xanadu
• Goat Island, formerly state hospital, now hide out for dr. Zed.

Behind the scenes

Title

• The story title is from the strip of January 1st, 1967 (Continued: The Blackout Caper).

Easter Eggs

• On tv, a Phantom movie.

• 

  15 Jan, 1967

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Argentina

• "??", Fantasía Suplemento #118 (197?)

Brazil

• "O Roubo da Luz Elétrica", Mandrake #133 (1967)
• "O Roubo de Energia Elétrica", Mandrake #319 (1982)
• "O Apagão", Coleção King Komix #3 (2001)

France

• "Le secret du docteur Zède", Mandrake #415 (1974)
• "La grande panne", Le Journal de Mickey #1174 to #1180

India

• "இருளின் விலை இரண்டு கோடி", Mutu Comics #63 (1977) Mutu Comics #466 (2022)

Italy

• "Il segreto del dottor Zeta", Mandrake #33 (1967)
• "Il segreto del dottor Zeta", Mandrake #61 (1974)
• "Il colpo del blackout", Tavole domenicali 1965–1969 (2022)

Portugal

• "Um Génio Diabólico", Ciclone #415 (196?)

Spain

• "El golpe del Apagón", Mandrake el Mago: Sundays pages 1965–1968 (Dolmen Editorial) (2018)

Sweden

• "D:r Zeds hemlighet", Blixt Gordon #2/1969

Turkey

• "Karartma Harekâtı", Mandrake #65 #66 (1975)
• "Karartma Harekâtı", Mandrake Albüm #22
• "Karartma Harekâtı", Mandrake Albüm #97 #98
• "Karartma Harekâtı", Mandrake #18 #19
• "Karartma Harekâtı", Mandrake Süper Albüm #5
• "Karartma Harekâtı", Mandrake Süper Albüm #41 #42
• "Karartma Harekâtı", Mandrake Süper Albüm #19 #20

United Kingdom

• "The Blackout Caper", Mandrake the Magician - The Sundays Volume 1: The Meeting of Mandrake and Lothar (2018)

Yugoslavia

• "Tajni projekt", Plavi Vjesnik #702 - #718 (1968)
• "Grad u tami", Super EKS Almanah #40 (1983)