The Basilisk

The Basilisk

Start date:	September 10th, 1972
End date:	January 7th, 1973
# of strips:	18 (18 weeks)
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"The Blue Thing"
Followed by:	"The Mystery of the Stone Face"

"The Basilisk" is the 118th Mandrake Sunday story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

The first eight weeks of this story exist in three variations. Fredericks drew the strips with three rows in landscape format which scaled down to fit half a newspaper page. By cutting the top row, the strip fills a third of a newspaper page. By rearranging the panels to portrait format, the strip fit a tabloid page.

As of November 5, the strip only exists in two variations. Fredericks now draws the strip in two rows, so that it covers a third of a newspaper page when scaled down. The two panels on the left side are cut away and the remaining panels are scaled to fit half a tabloid page.

Plot Summary

At a dinner at the Explorer Club, honoring Mandrake and Lothar they meet Dr. Dove. She who claims the mythical creature basilisk really exists in the Amazon. Our friends joins Dr. Dove on a secret mission deep into the jungle of the Amazone, in search of the weird hypnotic beast.