Segrid

King Segrid
First appearance:	"The Hawk"
Created by:	Lee Falk and Phil Davis

Segrid is a character from the Mandrake the Magician comic strip that first appeared in "The Hawk". King Segrid is King of the European nation Cockaigne. He made his first appearance in the second Mandrake story as Prince Segrid, a playboy and unlucky gambler.

Fictional Character Biography

The Phil Davis Era

To Mandrake Princess Narda described her brother Prince Segrid as a wild impetuous youth, fond of carousing and gambling. Mandrake and Narda met as a result of Segrid's bad habits where he had gambled in a casino owned by the Hawk and lost a lot of money. One night, Segrid had drunk too much and fell asleep in a room in the casino and Hawk took the opportunity to set a lucrative trap. Hawk killed Duke Alban in the room where Segrid was sleeping and put the gun in Segrid's hand, then he made sure that the alarm was raised. With several witnesses to the crime, the Hawk offered to cover up the incident and began to pressure Segrid until there was no more money left. Then he began to push to get his hands on the royal crown jewels.

The siblings were in Cairo when Segrid took up gambling and lost the national founds entrusted to him, which led to Narda being kidnapped and almost sold in a slave market. When it came to Segrid's gambling debts, Mandrake refused to help him. He said that Segrid had to be man enough to sort out his problems himself and that Narda had to stop playing nurse-girl for her brother.

But Segrid's penchant for gambling once again got him into trouble when he went with Lola to the West Indies, with the result that he owed a large sum of money to General Manuel ruler of the island Teiba. In return for his IOU's the general wanted Segrid to sign some trade concessions. And a marriage contract between the General and his sister, which he refused to sign. When Segrid later found out that Narda had broke off her engagement to Avery and planned to marry Mandrake, he devised a plan to prevent them. He hired an actress to play the role of Mandrake's lover and in her despair Narda went back to Cockaigne with her heart broken.

Segrid took advantage of his sister's heartbreak to get her to resume her engagement to Avery. Cockaigne had been under parliamentary rule since Segrid's father, King Karl, renounce the throne to marry Elsa, a commoner. Now Segrid had hope for regain the throne. And the rich and powerful Avery, Duke of Hectares, agreed to back him, at the price of Narda's hand in marriage. Segrid eventually realized that Narda loved Mandrake and helped Mandrake so that he could stop the wedding between Narda and Avery.

Family

Segrid is the brother of Narda and the son of King Karl and Queen Isabel of Cockaigne. Queen Isabel died when the children were small and their father remarried Elsa, a girl from the people. When Karl died a few years later Segrid became the King of Cockaigne.

Segrid has an aunt living in US, Janet, who is his mother's sister. Natalie the duchess of Kort is Segrid's cousin. Natalie married King Ferrand of Ferna, and she has one step son, Prince Randolph. Segrid has a distant cousin, Prince Michael.

Notable appearances

Some of the stories where Segrid has featured most prominently are:

Year	Daily/Sundays	Title	Artist	Comments
1938	Daily	"Mandrake in Love"	Davis
1939	Daily	"Mandrake in Cockaigne"	Davis	Narda renounced her succession to the throne
1947	Daily	"HRH Cuddles"	Davis	Segrid being crowned King of Cockaigne
1948	Sunday	"The Prince Who Never Smiled"	Davis	Natalie the Duchess of Kort
1955	Daily	"Michael"	Davis	Prince Michael
1967	Daily	"The Return of Evil - The Cobra"	Fredericks
1997	Daily	"Mandrake's Wedding at Cockaigne"	Fredericks	Segrid's's father was Darius 14.