Kid Phantom recently shared a big announcement on their Facebook Page: a new title Kid Mandrake is coming soon! This is the first new publication featuring Mandrake the Magician in many, many years, and comes from Frew Publications on the back of their successful Kid Phantom comic book series.
The artist for Kid Mandrake is West Australian Brenton McKenna (creator of Ubby's Underdogs for Magabala books). The character was hinted at as far back as Kid Phantom #2, when posters featuring the magician's father could be seen in some panels.
We look forward to seeing the new story Kid Mandrake as a complement to the successful Kid Phantom book. It would also seem likely that young Kit and Mandrake would meet in a future Kid Phantom comic.
It has not taken long at all for some phans to cheekily apply the nickname 'Boydrake' to the youngest incarnation of the character, who was first created by Lee Falk way back in 1934.
On the right is Kid Phantom artist Dr Paul Mason’s character design mock up of the Young Mandrake, from when the pins and cards (currently being issued with Kid Phantom comics) were being planned last year. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice the rabbit in the hat... perhaps this rabbit will be like Paul's birds which appear in various panels and some kids find in a Where's Wally-style activity.
Editor Glenn Ford has told us that we will first see Brenton's work in the Sydney & Perth Supanova Program guide; we saw Frew use this technique last year to introduce us to Phantom by Gaslight with a #0. It can be assumed that this will be a similar concept, giving us an introductory look at Mandrake as a boy.
It would also seem likely that the next pin to be released with Kid Phantom #5 might be Kid Mandrake, and it would be great to see a poster featuring the two released at Supanova. Hopefully, Brenton will also be at Supanova Sydney to meet and mingle with Phantom and Mandrake phans.
No word yet if or when Kid Mandrake will become a regular comic book series or used as a bonus in the Kid Phantom comic book series.
Below is a copy of the local Broome (North West WA) newspaper article and a photo of the two artists together.
