Mandrake gestures hypnotically - creates 48 years of strips

A recent story about the writer changes to the
Mandrake movie, in the development stage,
deletes the entirety of current artist/writer Fred
Fredericks tenure on the strip.

"It's hard to imagine how Wheeler will be able to
make hypnotism seem fresh and thrilling within
the context of an action movie. However, as the
comic ran from 1934 until 1964, he has a variety
of cultural backdrops to choose from."
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Warner-Bros-Taps-Puss-Boots-Scribe-Rewrite-Mandrake-Magician-31388.html

Artist Phil Davis died at the end of 1964
and his wife Martha took over for a while.
Fred Fredericks began doing the strip in
mid-1965 and has done it ever since,
or so I thought.

Apparently it has all been a magically
induced hallucination for five decades.

D.D.Degg,
who always gets a kick when reading that
Dick Tracy or Andy Capp or Mandrake are
referred to in the past tense.
.