Mandrake - Il Vascello [Series One] #2
Il Vascello #2 stands as one of the earliest Italian comic-book showcases for Mandrake the Magician, a character whose 1934 newspaper-strip origins made him one of the first costumed, hypnotic-power heroes in all of comics. The issue belongs to the pivotal transitional run during which the anthology title Il Vascello was shifting from a multi-character vehicle toward a Mandrake-dedicated publication — a shift that was fully confirmed by issue #7, making the early Mandrake-led numbers a visible turning point in Italian adventure comics publishing. It also represents the formative years of what would become an extraordinarily long Italian relationship with Lee Falk's magician, one that ultimately produced hundreds of issues across two decades and even generated original Italian-made Mandrake stories distributed internationally.
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The Il Vascello second series was launched on April 15, 1959 by Edizioni La Freccia, the Rome-based publishing imprint managed by Mario Nerbini, with Fratelli Spada's printing division handling production. Issue #2 (dated May 1, 1959) featured the Mandrake story 'Il misterioso signor Bean,' drawn from Lee Falk and Phil Davis's King Features Syndicate newspaper strip material. When Nerbini's publishing activities wound down due to financial difficulties around 1962, he transferred the Mandrake and Phantom titles to Fratelli Spada, who continued the Il Vascello line under their own imprint — explaining why catalog databases sometimes attribute the early La Freccia-era issues to Fratelli Spada, since that company had been the printer throughout. The series was published biweekly (quindicinale) in a 15.3 × 21 cm format of approximately 32 pages.
Trivia · 8 facts
- The story featured in Il Vascello #2 is 'Il misterioso signor Bean,' a Mandrake the Magician adventure translated and reprinted from the Lee Falk / Phil Davis King Features Syndicate newspaper strip.
- Issue #2 was dated May 1, 1959, part of the second Il Vascello series that launched April 15, 1959 — making catalog descriptions citing '1960' potentially a misattribution or confusion with a later issue numbering; this warrants verification.
- Mandrake appeared as the lead feature in issue #2, and again in issue #5; it was not until issue #7 that Mandrake became the permanent main character of the series.
- Back-up strips in the first six issues included 'Hopalong Cassidy' by artist Dan Spiegle.
- Covers for issues #1–4 of the series were illustrated by Italian artist Enzo Carretti.
- Mandrake the Magician was created by Lee Falk and debuted in syndicated newspaper strips on June 11, 1934, with Phil Davis joining as illustrator shortly thereafter — the same creative team behind the strip material reprinted in these Italian editions.
- The Il Vascello publisher of record for this era was Edizioni La Freccia (directed by Mario Nerbini), with Fratelli Spada acting as the printer; Fratelli Spada did not become the publisher until 1962 when Nerbini ceded his titles.
- A selection of early Il Vascello Mandrake stories was later reprinted in the Italian anthology series I Classici dell'Avventura, and many Fratelli Spada-era Mandrake issues were also translated into French and published by Éditions des Remparts.