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.

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.

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

Signifiant covers

• 
  Argentina
• 
  Brazil
• 
  Brazil
• 
  India
• 
  Italy
• 
  Portugal

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)

Finland

• "Tohtori varastaa sähköä", Taika-Jim #5 (1971)

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)
• "இருளின் விலை இரண்டு கோடி", 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
• "Şehir Karanlıkta", Yeni Mandrake #2 (2011)

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)