Mirage in Space

Mirage in Space
(original art)
Start date:	April 25th, 1977
End date:	July 30th, 1977
# of strips:	84 (14 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"The Pacific Circle"
Followed by:	"8"

"Mirage in Space" is the 167th Mandrake daily story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

Two manned rocket to Mars had to interrupt their mission when the astronauts saw strange visiones in deep space. As a master of illusions Mandrake was asked to help.

Appearances

Recurring characters

• Mandrake
• Lothar, until strip of May 16.
• Narda, at Xanadu only

One-time characters

• An admiral, (from the previous story)
• Rondi, grandchild of the admiral
• Patrick, grandchild of the admiral
• Colonel Borg, an astronaut
• Smiley, an astronaut. Note: Named Connor in the strip of June 1st.
• A general, at the Space Control Center
• Astronaut #1
• Astronaut #2

Locations

• New York
  • Xanadu
• Space Control Center
• Space

Behind the scenes

Title

• The story title is lifted from the plot.

Easter Eggs – Cameos

• Rondi is the name of Lee Falk's granddaughter.
• Patrick, likely named after Fred Fredericks' son Patrick.

Reprints

This story has been published in the following publications:

Brazil

• "Mistério No Espaço!", Mandrake #300 (1981)

France

• "Mirages dans l'espace", Spécial Mandrake #17 (1978)
• "Cap sur Mars", Le Journal de Mickey #1791 (1986)
• "Cap sur Mars", Donald Magazine #86-42 (1986)

India

• "50,000 Miles in Space", Indrajal Comics #310 (1978)

Italy

• "Visioni nello spazio", Mandrake Selezione #14 (1978)

Portugal

• "Mistério no Espaço", Mundo de Aventuras #239 (1978)

Spain

• "Visiones Siderales", Mandrake - Merlin el Mago #12 and #13 (1981)

Turkey

• "Uzay Hayaletleri", Mandrake #182 & #183 & #184 (1977-1978)
• "Uzay Hayaletleri", Mandrake Albüm #59 (1978)
• "Uzay Hayaletleri", Mandrake Albüm #161 & #162
• "Uzay Hayaletleri", Mandrake Süper Albüm #34 & #35
• "Uzay Hayaletleri", Mandrake Süper Albüm #16 & #17

Yugoslavia

• "Ekspedicija Mars", Super EKS Almanah #2 (1979)