The story behind the "The Magician's Curse" - The new Phantom & Mandrake crossover story

Spoiler warning!

This is a behind-the-scenes account of “The Magician’s Curse”, one of the stories in Frew’s 2026 Annual. Make sure you read the comic first as we will be discussing spoilers.

I had already illustrated a Phantom two-parter ("The Pinstripe Wizards" published in Frew #1956 and #1957) written by Jason Franks and thought it would be exciting to do a Mandrake story as well. In my mind, they always go together! I grew up reading the newspaper strip reprints, and they often shared the magazine. I wish they’d teamed up more often! I loved them both. As a boy, I wanted to grow up and be like the Ghost Who Walks, strong and brave. As I grew older, I learned to appreciate Mandrake too, a man using his mind to solve problems (not to mention the dashing mustache).

As I cannot write, back in 2023, I asked my friend Jeff Dyer to come up with a script. Jeff is an accomplished writer whose stories have been published in Peanuts and Heavy Metal and who also penned his own graphic novels such as Every Waking Moment and MediSIN. It was Jeff who created Drayke, Mandrake’s doppelganger and the villain of the story.

Now, Mandrake fans will tell you he has already fought his evil twins. In fact, lots of the stories! It's a recurring theme! His brother, his stepbrother, this random impersonator... and the Mirror People. The latter sound amazing but are awful. Mandrake's mirror image is evil, whereas Lothar's is (wait for it) white. The opposite of good is evil, the opposite of black is white... Ugh. Such a can of worms. But I loved Jeff’s take! Drayke is part of Mandrake... He is Mandrake without the "MAN" part! He's the beast within. “Drake” also means “dragon” or "serpent," so I added the snake motif. Jeff came up with the roots motif.

You may have realized that chapter 2 was written first. It opens with the image of a mandragora (i.e. Mandrake) being pulled out of the ground. Mandrake’s roots don’t go deep. His origin kept changing. His father was Grando, no wait, it was Theron, his mother was not mentioned, no wait… Also, in their early adventures, Mandrake and Lothar often wander the world, without a secret base or a place to call home.

Unlike the Phantom, whose origin was explained early on and is vital to his story. In fact, it’s often repeated “for those who came in late." Twenty generations… The Phantom’s roots go deep. He knows who he is, and Drayke’s tricks can’t change that. Mandrake gets slowed down by roots in the final battle. Even in the very last scene, his portal is hovering, whereas the Phantom is depicted among the tree roots of his home.

Originally, part two was pitched as a standalone story to Frew. The editor liked it but explained it needed to be a team-up. It sounded like a dream come true! After it received King Features approval, Andrew Constant started to script the beginning and the ending.

I love the introduction; the face in the mirror is such a red herring. But the third act is the crux of the story. Is it too much for the Phantom fans? Those who enjoy superheroes are used to crossovers. If you think about it, Superman and Batman shouldn’t even exist in the same world. However, DC Comics has published hundreds of issues of World’s Finest, their team-up title. Readers know aliens can land in Gotham any minute, although nowadays no such thing would happen in the Batman solo book. Similarly, the Phantom might encounter a stegosaur or little people, but it’s mostly a realistic title. On the other hand, Mandrake is an “anything goes” strip: there are aliens, time travelers, and wizards in common accordance.

To the phans who think none of it belongs in this book, I’d say, "Don't worry, none of it actually happened; it was all an illusion." Mandrake fans know anything is possible, and it was all real. For example, I’m not sure whether Andrew wanted “Ghosts Who Walk” to be actual ghosts or not. I kept it vague in my drawings for the reasons above. When they appeared, I could’ve drawn Walker’s Table or the Mawitaan skyline in the background, but I felt it would have been too specific. By keeping it vague, we can have our cake and eat it too.

Such details kept changing along the way. Andrew wrote a great battle of the magicians, very cinematic, but I wasn’t confident enough to try depicting lightning in motion, so I drew illusions instead. Here we can see Mandrake’s worst fears.

In the end, I hope readers will see it as a fun comic, whether it’s canon or not.

The one thing I’m sorry we didn’t get to do is a chapter where the Phantom shows he’s a badass. He’s a master marksman, fighter, and tracker, but he didn’t get to do enough.

Jeff Dyer and I submitted another eight-page chapter in which the Ghost Who Walks fights his own evil twin. I call him the Ghoul Who Walks! Sadly, either there was no time or it didn’t fit, so it didn’t happen. Oh well. Here’s hoping… Below is a sample of them fighting each other.

Thanks for reading!

Kay

You can find me as @k_draws_comics on Instagram. You can buy my original Phantom art on eBay when I list it. I also have a new Kickstarter campaign (no ghosts who walk but a lot of zombies).