1026

Phil Davis - Original Comic Strip Art for Mandr

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Comics Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
Phil Davis - Original Comic Strip Art for Mandr
Phil Davis - Original Comic Strip Art for Mandrake the Magician Daily dated 11-16-35 (King Features Syndicate, 1935). Comics' first super powered hero (beating out a certain Man of Steel by a full four years), Mandrake the Magician, with his trusted aide and companion Lothar, could be considered a half-brother to The Phantom, as both were created by Lee Falk. Interestingly, Falk created Mandrake in 1924 at the age of 19, and sold it to King Features ten years later. Not comfortable with his artistic ability, Falk hired Phil Davis, a former commercial illustrator, to draw the feature, and a legend was born. Originally gifted with true magical powers, Mandrake's abilities were toned down a bit as the years wore on. Still, being able to "gesture hypnotically" and have people believe what you want them to, is a pretty good superpower in its own right. Much of the strip's popularity must be ascribed to Davis' unerring artwork. Slick, clean, and dynamic, Davis was an artistic force to be reckoned with. He stayed with the strip until his death in 1964, at which point his assistant, Harold "Fred" Fredericks Jr. took over, and continues as artist on the strip to this day. This example, with Mandrake's magical creation of a "werewolf," is particularly attractive, with blue-pencil shading throughout. With an image area of 20.5" x 4.5", and in excellent condition, it won't take any "hypnotic gestures" to stimulate interest in this piece! The strip is signed by Davis in the second panel. Important notice: Heritage usually auctions material at the rate of 200-250 lots per hour. On some occasions eBay Live bid software or the Internet may not be able to keep up with the pace of the auction. We recommend placing a realistic absentee bid now as insurance to avoid disappointment. Occasionally the auctioneer may eliminate or reject an eBay Live bid, and the auctioneer may also reopen a lot after the close of the eBay live bidding (usually because we missed an audience bid), and may reject your bid even if it shows you as the winning bidder. By bidding via eBay Live, you agree that Heritage may award the lot to another bidder at its sole discretion under the circumstances described above or any other reasonable circumstances. Since eBay bids are not shown to us until we open the lot on the floor, we treat those bids just like floor bids. In most cases the floor responds before the eBay bid is presented to us, due to Internet lag time, so for consistency we have made it a policy that floor bids are always considered first over tie eBay live bids. Also please note that all Heritage lots purchased through eBay Live carry a 20% Buyer's Premium. Please make sure you read the Terms and Conditions before you bid.