Back in 1939, the year that saw what is understood to be the first comic book adaptation in Mandrake the Magician, the idea of an expanded cinematic universe would’ve been unfathomable. While nearly every major comic book character created by Marvel and DC has made multiple appearances on screen, the big screen’s first superhero, based on a real-life magician, has now been lost to time.
‘Mandrake the Magician’ Was Based on a Real-Life Charismatic Magician
Lee Falk, the renowned cartoonist and writer, paved the way for the modern superhero with The Phantom, the comic strip pulp hero who became a prototype for Batman. Prior to The Phantom, Falk, under the publication of King Comics, created Mandrake, the eponymous hero of the comic strip series, Mandrake the Magician. With drawings by Phil Davis, the debut Mandrake comic was published on June 11, 1934. Described by The Encyclopedia of American Comics as an “irresistible combination of stylish art, well-paced plotting, and terse, witty dialogue,” the strip demonstrates the limitless possibilities of the art form with its dazzling visual effects. The titular character, a debonair donning an opera hat, a cape, and a mustache, could be read as a proto-Doctor Strange. Like the Marvel character, Mandrake has an arsenal of hypnotic and spiritual powers. Through sheer ingenuity, Mandrake could solve any inscrutable mystery or upend his foes.
Mandrake, while embellished on the page, was loosely based on a real-life magician with a similar infectious charm. Hailing from Canada, Leon Mandrake was a born entertainer, captivating audiences with his skills as a mentalist, illusionist, escapologist, ventriloquist, and stunt performer. Although Falk’s character was not explicitly inspired by Mandrake, the magician’s resemblance to the Mandrake on the page was too striking for anyone to shake. In fact, the Mandrake name originated with the comics, as his original surname was Giglio, but he sought to capitalize on the strip’s success. In a mutually beneficial relationship, Mandrake was more than happy to lean into his vaudeville flair and cash in on the strip’s popularity.
Hollywood Has Tried to Adapt ‘Mandrake the Magician’ in Recent Years
We tend to think of early pulp heroes like The Phantom and Dick Tracy as the original superheroes — pastiche, minimalist characters that became modernized by seminal icons like Superman and Batman. According to comic historian Don Markstein, who established Toonpedia, known as “the world’s first hypertext encyclopedia of toons,” Mandrake the Magician was the first published superhero comic. Even in the 1930s, superhero comics called for adaptations on the big screen.
In 1939, a watershed year for cinema that included Gone With the Wind and The Wizard of Oz, the first superhero received the first superhero movie treatment with a serial film of the comic strip’s namesake. Released by Columbia, Mandrake the Magician stars Warren Hull as the titular mythical hero and Al Kikume as his trusted assistant, Lothar. This serial predates the more well-known primal superhero films, like The Shadow from 1940, the various Batman serials from the ’40s, and the 1966 Batman based on the television series. However, if one considers Zorro to be a proper superhero, then the 1920 Mask of Zorro would have the title of the debut comic book adaptation. If we’re being really thorough, the 1916 French film, Judex, an adaptation of the early 20th-century pulp hero, could be classified as the film that kickstarted the genre.
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Mandrake the Magician‘s limited cultural impact is a result of its prevalence in other forms of media. Compared to today, when every ancillary side character receives a stand-alone film, superhero movies used to languish in development hell. Throughout the years since the 1939 film, creative figures ranging from Federico Fellini to Sacha Baron Cohen have flirted with the prospect of bringing Mandrake to the screen. The claim that the legendary 8½ director wanted to adapt Mandrake was merely a rumor, although he was supposedly friendly with creator Lee Falk. In 2016, during perhaps the peak of the superhero boom, the Borat star signed on to play the character. Since this announcement, the project has seemingly fizzled out or is stuck at a creative standstill. For all we know, Mandrake will emerge out of a portal from a multiverse in the next Marvel movie.
Mandrake the Magician
- Release Date
-
May 6, 1939
- Director
-
Norman Deming
- Cast
-
Doris Weston
, Warren Hull
, Al Kikume
, Rex Downing
, Edward Earle
, Forbes Murray
, Kenneth MacDonald
, Don Beddoe
, Dick Curtis
, John Tyrrell
, Stanley Brown
, Beatrice Curtis
, Robert Sterling
, Sam Ash
, Lester Dorr
, Ernie Adams
, Eddie Fetherston
, Eddie Foster
, Knox Manning
, Ernie Alexander
, Harry Bernard
, Stanley Blystone
, Buel Bryant
, Budd Buster
, George Chesebro - Runtime
-
215 minutes
- Writers
-
Basil Dickey
, Joseph F. Poland - Producers
-
Jack Fier
