The Rat Men

The Rat Men

Start date:	November 9th, 1980
End date:	July 5th, 1981
# of strips:	35
Writer:	Lee Falk
Artist:	Fred Fredericks
Preceded by:	"The Cave Mystery"
Followed by:	"Mandrake's Masquerade - The Xanadu Story"

"The Rat Men" is the 145th Mandrake Sunday story. The story was written by Lee Falk and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

Plot Summary

Mandrake and Narda are invited to attend the 12th birthday of Princess Nardraka at Magna. But there is trouble ahead. Magnon's star fleet had conquered the Rat-Men and turned their dismal planet, Ratana, into a prison. Now some vicious Rat-Men have escaped into space, and they landed in a deserted aera at Magna near the palace of Magnon.

They kidnapp Nardraka and their terms for release her was to remove all ships guarding planet Ratana and return the Rat-Men's ships and weapons. In addition they demand 50 000 two-legged humans and 50 000 four-legged creatures each year, for their food pens.

Magnon could not accept those horrible terms and ordered his ships to destroy the Rat-Men's ship, with Nardraka inside. But Mandrake asked Magnon to hold fire and wish permission to board the Rat-Men's ship and reason with them.

Appearances

Recurring characters

Mandrake
Narda
Magnon
Carola
Nardraka
Lothar, at Xanadu only
Hojo, at Xanadu only
Marshal Rodon

One-time characters

The Ratmen.

Locations

New York City
- Xanadu
Magna
Ratana, home of the Rat-Men.

Objects

The Galactic Star.

Behind the scenes

The story title is taken from the strip of November 9th, 1980 (Beginning: The Rat-Men).
First part, for those who came in late, re-telling the story The Miss Galaxy Beauty Contest and The Birthday Party.
Mandrake receive "The Galactic Star", the highest honor in the universe, awarded only once each century.
Magnon gives Mandrake a model of the Earth. It is a microcomputer programed on an atomic level to contain all Earth's knowledge. If one ask any questions in any Earth language, it wil reply in the same language.