Fratelli Spada

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Edizioni Fratelli Spada (in English Spada Brothers Publishing) was an Italian comics publisher, founded in 1956, which published many Mandrake and Phantom comics during the 1960's and 1970's.

History

The Fratelli Spada Mandrake production continued a similarly named series previously published by the publisher La Freccia, a company managed by Mario Nerbini. La Freccia's comics were printed by Stampa Stabilimento Grafico Editoriale Fratelli Spada; Fratelli Spada's printing division in Rome which posseded better and cheaper methods of printing. When Nerbini ended his publishing activities due financial problems, he sold his Mandrake and Phantom publications to the Fratelli Spada company.

From the first Mandrake release, issued on January 5, 1962 (Mandrake #1) until the last one in January 1980 (Mandrake #96), the 19 year long period of Fratelli Spada Mandrake comics was quite an achievement compared to the only four years long (1958 –1961) La Freccia period.

It is worth noting that the Mandrake (and Phantom) issues also contained many other American comics such as "Rip Kirby", "Tim Tyler's Luck", "King of the Royal Mounted", "Brick Bradford", and so on. At the end of the seventies, encouraged by the popularity of such reprints, Fratelli Spada was also involved in the reprints of other famous American comics, such as "Prince Valiant", "Flash Gordon", which received special individual releases, often published in bigger format.

As several Mandrake issues were released each month, Fratelli Spada obtained rights from King Features Syndicate to produce its own Mandrake stories, "home-made" by Italian creators (see list on Fratelli Spada stories).

A great part of the issues printed by the Fratelli Spada were also translated into French and published by Editions des Remparts in similar formats around the same time.

In the beginning of the 1980's, Fratelli Spada ceased to publish comics almost completely, but the company still exists as a printing company.

Mandrake publications published by Fratelli Spada

Title Year(s) Issues
Il Vascello - Mandrake 1962-1967
1967-1971
1971-1972
1972-1979
140
206
32
96
Super Albo / Special Mandrake 1962-1967 115
I Classici dell'Avventura 1962-1967 67 (of total 134)
I Giganti 1967 7 (14 in total)
Albi Spada 1972-1974 1 (of 6 in total)
I Quaderni del Fumetto 1973 – 1977 4 (of 25 in total)
Mandrake Selezione 1976 - 1979 19

Reference Book

See also

External links