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NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE -->MandrakeWiki has been disabled by one.com <-- NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE NOTE

This is because they claims that three core MediaWiki files are malware and nags me to delete them.

Sadly, a MediaWiki installation will not function without these files.


I KNOW the files are NOT malware

but it is very difficult to convince their support that their malware scanning tool is mistaken

(AI powered I guess)


For the conspiracy theorists among us:

I believe it was the Cobra who developed this malware scanner

to cover his tracks after stealing the content of this unique website

so

he could claim he wrote it all himself

and then...

(within a few months from now)

RULE THE WORLD!

Jokes aside

(I think)

I am moving MandrakeWiki to a different web host, and hopefully MandrakeWiki will be back up within a few days.

In the meantime, feel free to take a look at the origins of MandrakeWiki.

Using this translation turn the pages a bit odd - sorry


The hard way -

to read the first strip of the story Mandrake’s Gangster Gallery from 29 jan 1979 in English.

This could be easy, if one had the newspaper from this day - in English language – somewhere in the house. But… the oldest newspaper I have is only 3 days old, in Norwegian language.. and it does not have any Mandrake strips insides. So what to do… Hmmm.

Perhaps one could find the strip through internet ?
Google’ing it – negative.
Search NewspaperARCHIVE.com – negative.

Looking at the great Xanadu site I found that Mandrake’s Gangster Gallery was printed only in a few comic books.

SwedenFantomen # 1988_23, 1989_06 and 1989_22Parts only
NorwayFantomet # 1990_23Parts only
FranceJournal de Mickey # 1824Parts only
IndiaIndrajal Comics # 375Edited version
IndiaDiamond Comics - # unknownEdited version
SpainMandrake, Merlin el Mago # 17First part – end 2. June
SerbiaSuper # 7“Original”
PortugalMundo de Aventuras # 377 and 399“Original”

Looking through my Mandrake collection I found that I had them all, except the two issues from Portugal and the one from Diamond Comics.

I had a look for the pictures from 29. Jan 1979 from the various comic books.
Hmmm. Hmmm.

The Indrajal Comics have English text, but the first picture from the strip I want to read is missing.

The strip from the Serbian issue was original with KFS copyright and Falk-Fredericks date so I’m going to use that one for my reconstruction of the strip:

I opened the Serbian strip in PSP, took away the text, the ksanadu sign and cleaned the pictures a bit.

Then opened the Indian strip, made a copy of the Xanadu sign, took away the yellow color, resized it and glued it into the old Serbian strip:

Then - time for the English text.

First I did try to use an online translator from Serbian to English. I wrote:

Serbian: Ako dođete u posetu Mandrakovum zamku, Ksanadu… Kao ovi ljudi… Uputno je da se oglasite sirenom…

And the translator output this:

Whether dodete from visit Mandrakovum cobweb , Xanthippe. For ovi folks. Opportunetly had yes yourself advertiser mermaid.

Hmmm ???
I found my Spanish comic book and made a copy of the pictures from the strip.

Text in the first picture of the strip-->

Something like this:
If you visit Mandrake at Xanadu, honk the horn… two times…

Text in the second picture -->

Comparing the text from the Indrajal with the one from Serbia and Spain – it looks like the text in the bobbles are ok

Text in the third picture -->

Comparing the text from the Indrajal with the one from Serbia and Spain – it looks like the text are ok. But…

In the Indrajal Lothar said: “Enter… Please”.
Serbian: Uđite… Sledite oznake…
Spanish: Entren, por favor, y ebedezcan.

So I guess the text should be: “Enter… Please. And obey…”

Using the text tool in PSP I wrote in the text and added it into the old Serbian strip, using an arial font. Not perfect, but… :

After 1 hour - almost the original strip from 29 jan 1977 – in English:

And only 305 strips left to read the complete story in English :-)

Mandrake the Magican and the Phantom is copyright 2018 King Features Syndicate Inc., The Hearst Corporation