Next year Dynamite is kicking off the King Features crossover event which is fiv

e miniseries that will all merge into one. Part of that event is a Mandrake the
Magician series written by Roger Langridge. Byron Brewer chatted with the writer
about taking on such a classic character.
KingMandrake01CovACookeColBYRON BREWER: Roger, what is there about Mandrake that
separates him from all the other magic-based characters in comicdom (Dr. Strang
e, Dr. Fate, etc.)? And please do not answer, He s not a doctor. (laughs)
ROGER LANGRIDGE: I suppose the snarky answer is, He was first! All the other magic
al characters are, to a greater or lesser degree, imitators of Mandrake. Some, l
ike Zatara, were even direct knockoffs. And Mandrake s a lot more human than eithe
r of those characters you mention; he s got some warmth and charisma, which your D
octors really don t. Terrible bedside manner. Very cold hands
BB: I cannot remember if we have ever seen Mandrake s sanctum/home as we do in Man
drake #2. Do you know? And if so, did you use any of that material here?
RL: My version of Xanadu is what I think it should logically be like given the c
ircumstances. Lee Falk s Xanadu was a very high-tech affair, but our series is set
in a world where technology has been devastated by Ming the Merciless invasion,
and Mandrake (as Jeff Parker and I have been playing him) is uncomfortable with
anything too technological in any case, so it made sense that he s eschewed all th
at in favor of a more magical form of security. Our series takes place a while a
fter the end of the strip, so it shouldn t be too surprising that he s made some cha
nges since then.
BB: Can you give us a hint as to who/what invades Mandrake s home in #2 and also w
hat are these demonic entities his very presence (or the powers of his home) hol
d at bay?
KingsMandrake02CovAZdarskyRL: Without giving too much away, it s the voice Jeff es
tablished back in Kings Watch #1, which I thought had too much potential to just
leave hanging there. I ve tied it in to what s happened with Mandrake s wife, Narda.
All will be revealed before we re through
trust me!
BB: Will we be privy to any of Mandrake s spells/magic secrets during the course o
f this battle in #2? This character certainly has a ton of potential!
RL: The main thing you need to know is that Mandrake knows more magic than he s co
mfortable using. What we ll find out during the course of this series is why that s
the case. Why is always more interesting than what , don t you think?
BB: Can you say how Mandrake s corner of the KING universe will unite with the res
t as these celebratory miniseries end?
RL: Not really, because I don t actually know! There was one thing editor Nate Cos
by asked me to line up for the next story, of which there is a brief mention in
Mandrake #2 (King Features strip scholars, to your books!)
and that s about all I
can tell you.
BB: Roger, how do you like working with Jeremy Treece?
RL: I like it very much! I knew his style would be fresh and yet wholly appropri
ate from the samples I saw, but I wasn t prepared for the crazy amount of detail h
e s putting into it. Every page I ve seen has knocked my socks off. I m running out of
socks!