I've not managed to find time to review my copy of MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN-- THE DAILIES, a hardbound reprint of the earliest appearances of the influential prestidigitator. But my reading did support the claim that in the early strips, Mandrake seems able to perform actual magic, rather than simply mesmerizing his victims to imagine their guns turned into snakes, et al. However, to keep the hero from having things too easy, creator Lee Falk occasionally threw in a monkey wrench by claiming that Mandrake could only effect his magic if he looked into the eyes of his opponents. Thus, if Mandrake was blindfolded, he couldn't do his magic.
I'm currently rereading the appearances of DC's Mandrake-imitation Zatara in ACTION COMICS, and though most of the time Zatara just does his magic with no restrictions, here's an interesting exception from ACTION #21:
Odd, that this mighty magician couldn't influence birds. Assuming this story was from the usual scribe Gardner Fox, did Fox have some Falk-like thought about limiting his hero's powers by claiming they didn't work on lower animals? Quien sabe?
No comments:
Post a Comment