DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH! Appreciation AND Continuity Order

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Maybe. If they had a round on Pointless where you had to name one of the Defenders, he would certainly be the highest scoring answer. Lothar would probably be the lowest scoring, as he’s the only one who wasn’t the star of his own adventures, he’s always been Mandrake’s sidekick (although has gone through a lot of transformations over the years!). I’d guess The Phantom would be the second highest scoring answer, because his appearance is the most distinctive.

I would like to think them acting out of character had something to do with being so near to Kronos’ magic and he clouded their judgment.

That doesn’t wash either. In that case, why wasn’t Mandrake similarly affected? Moreover, it’s made abundantly clear in the episode that Kronos’ magic doesn’t extend outside the circle, they had to go inside to be vulnerable.

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Being in such close range to the circle their could have been a some very slight power. As for Mandrake, and this is IF a slight bit f his powers could affect the others, it probably did not work on him as he is a magic user.

I can’t say I’ve ever read any of the DOTE or their separate title comics except for one graphic novel of The Phantom from several years ago which was quite good.
I heard a while back their was plans for a Mandrake movie. If they ever do a Lothar movie they need to include Lothar in it.

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Only trouble with that is, in “The Lost Jewels Of Tibet”, Mandrake is hypnotised along with Lothar and Atascadero. Then again, his powers do seem to vary from episode to episode. In part 4 of the Prince Kro-Tan movie, he says he can’t hypnotise robots, but does just that to Garax and his Ice Robots in “Escape From Mongo” and “The Lost Jewels Of Tibet”.

I can’t say I’ve ever read any of the DOTE or their separate title comics except for one graphic novel of The Phantom from several years ago which was quite good.

I haven’t read any of the actual comics per se, but I have the DotE annual, and it includes the comic strip version of the first two episodes. It also has a few text-format stories, none of which are that amazing.

I’ve also got a Flash Gordon annual from before I was born, and a couple of novelisations of his early adventures.

I heard a while back their was plans for a Mandrake movie. If they ever do a Lothar movie they need to include Lothar in it.

I presume you mean if they do a Mandrake movie they would need to include Lothar?

Lothar has been Mandrake’s sidekick since day one, as I understand it. You couldn’t do a Mandrake movie without him.

That said, his character has undergone a lot of changes. Initially, he was an African prince, a far cry from the Jamaican mechanics and strategy expert he is in DotE!

According to wikipedia:

“Lothar is Mandrake’s best friend and crimefighting companion. Mandrake first met Lothar during his travels in Africa. Lothar was “Prince of the Seven Nations”, a mighty federation of jungle tribes; but forbore to become king and instead followed Mandrake on his world travels. Lothar is often referred to as “the strongest man in the world”, with the exception of Hojo — Mandrake’s chef and secret chief of Inter Intel. Lothar is invulnerable to any weapon forged by man, impervious to heat, cold and possesses the stamina of a thousand men. He also cannot be harmed by magic directly (fire bolts, force bolts, spell incantations). He can lift an elephant by one hand easily. One of the first African crimefighting heroes ever to appear in comics, Lothar made his first appearance alongside Mandrake in 1934 in the inaugural daily strip. In the beginning, Lothar spoke poor English and wore a fez, short pants, and a leopard skin. When artist Fred Fredericks took over in 1965, Lothar spoke correct English and his clothing changed, although he often wore shirts with leopard-skin patterns.”

Also to be found in the Mandrake comic strip is Theron, headmaster of the College Of Magic (seen in “The Gods Awake” and “The Mystery Of The Book”).

Another noteworthy point regarding Mandrake’s strip is an organisation he has battled a few times called “8” - the leaders of which have the title “Octon”!

The most interesting point about Mandrake and Lothar, in all their incarnations, is that they provide the vital link between Flash and The Phantom - two heroes who would otherwise have no initial common ground (apart from their crime-fighting of course!). Mandrake and Lothar are accessible to both in that sense. Flash’s space antics and The Phantom’s jungle deeds are worlds apart, Mandrake’s contemporary magical goings-on can intermingle with both worlds; you couldn’t have the initial setup between Flash and The Phantom like that. That said, of course they do work together a lot on DotE, mainly I expect because Mandrake and Lothar are an established partnership, so they just associate more with each other as a result.

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LOL, yes I meant a Mandrake movie. It would have been interesting to see Lothar portrayed more in the cartoon like he was in the comic. Although if they had I guess they could then have got rid of the Phantom’s ten tigers ability, but then I suppose Phantom used the ten tigers power for more than just feats of strength.

I am not quite sure of Mandrake’s abilities. In one episode, either The Gods Awake or one of the Book of Enigma episodes, he tells Kshin about that type of magic not existing in our world/dimension, basically saying that all Mandrakes powers are illusion based, but maybe I heard it wrong. In a lot of episodes he does magic which is not an illusion like in the opening episode of the Kro-Tan movie when he levitates Kshin up to the chandelier…or is Kshin just hypnotised/under the illusion that he is stuck up the chandelier to keep him out of trouble.

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Besides which, without the Power Of Ten Tigers, the Phantom was no match for Lothar in the muscle department. The tigers gave him an edge.

As for the evolution of Lothar - well, a lot of that was political correctness. Look at the description of Lothar in the early days, wearing a leopard skin and not speaking very good English - not exactly de rigueur for 1986. This was eventually changed in 1965, far from coincidentally I’m sure, around the time racial attitudes in America really started changing, he began wearing more regular clothes and speaking English correctly.

Why they relocated him from Africa to Jamaica for the series is uncertain.

What’s equally intriguing is the change in Mandrake. I assume he was American in the comic strip, but in the show, while his origins are not specified, he does seem to be English for the most part - aside from the odd pronunciation slip-up by Peter Renaday!

The only thing to really cast any doubt on that assertion is in “The Mystery Of The Book”, when he describes Stonehenge as being in “Salisbury, England” - but even that has mitigation; there are a few American towns/cities called Salisbury, and he’s talking to Kshin, who might never have been to England at this point.

I saw The Book Of Enigmas last night. “Kshin And The Ghost Ship” is by far and away the best part of it. In that episode, and also “The Mystery Of The Book”, you really do get a feel for how much Kshin’s confidence has grown since those early episodes. He could never have stood up to Shogoth the way he stood up to Kronos.

I am not quite sure of Mandrake’s abilities. In one episode, either The Gods Awake or one of the Book of Enigma episodes, he tells Kshin about that type of magic not existing in our world/dimension, basically saying that all Mandrakes powers are illusion based, but maybe I heard it wrong. In a lot of episodes he does magic which is not an illusion like in the opening episode of the Kro-Tan movie when he levitates Kshin up to the chandelier…or is Kshin just hypnotised/under the illusion that he is stuck up the chandelier to keep him out of trouble.

Exactly. Exactly how much magical power he has varies from episode to episode. It’s one of the bigger inconsistencies in the show. And unfortunately can’t be used as a continuity measure! Mainly because in a later episode (part 4 of Prince Kro-Tan) he claims to be unable to do something he did twice in the very first episode! There are a few things where his magic can be used to say “this episode must come before that” - mainly the Doctor Dark episodes coming before “The Sleeper Awakes”, although that’s because the latter references the Crystal Orb Of Konos, which Doctor Dark wanted to assemble, so it’s a bit like “Battleground” and “Cold War” in that respect!

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Kshin and the Ghost Ship was always a personal favourite of mine. Interestingly I had the first part the Enigma series recorded off TV in the 80’s but I didn’t get the others until 90/91.
I must watch the Doctor Dark episodes as I haven’t seen any of them yet.

Also in your continuity are you putting ‘A House Divided’ and ‘Family Reunion’ together or will their be a few episode gaps?

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I had the first three recorded originally, missed the 4th for some reason, recorded the 5th, but then decided to record over it as the episode freaked me out as a kid. I distinctly remember whenever I was watching repeats on the telly, and “The Mystery Of The Book” was going to be next, I would avoid it like the plague!

I must watch the Doctor Dark episodes as I haven’t seen any of them yet.

In the DVD order they’re #14 and (I think) #54. Both well worth watching. These two don’t absolutely have to come next to each other, but they both need to come before “The Sleeper Awakes”, so “The Return Of Doctor Dark” must be quite an early one too. Also from the Garax perspective. You’ll see what I mean by that when you watch the second one!

Also in your continuity are you putting ‘A House Divided’ and ‘Family Reunion’ together or will their be a few episode gaps?

No gaps, these two are a two-parter, “Family Reunion” picks up EXACTLY where “A House Divided” ends.

Oddly, both of those above two-parters have the same glitch in animation - Jedda’s hair is brown in the first part and black in the second! In the first 17 episodes on the DVD, her hair is brown, then it becomes black. Obviously they decided to change it midway through the animation, for no apparent reason. It’s another of those details that can’t be used as a continuity point because of “A House Divided” and “Family Reunion”, so it has to be chalked up as an animation error.

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I watched ‘A Demon in his Pocket’ last night. Now that is the first episode I ever saw when I was young so based on that fact I am going to go by what was introduced in it. So I think we can definitely say that Mandrake does have magical powers. Yes, he is a specialist at illusions and uses them in his act and uses them to fool Ming’s robots a lot etc, but he definitely has magical powers. Perhaps the illusions are quicker and less of a strain to preform.
With all the non-violence in various cartoons at the time, perhaps it was more PC for him to perform illusions than be a full on sorcerer blasting them with lightning and fire bolts.

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I do agree on Mandrake having magical powers - I was having a go at the writers for not being consistent with what those powers were!

I watched “The Ghost Walks Again” and “Ming’s Household Helpers” last night. The latter is just awful. One of those episodes that should never have been made, along with “The Thunder Lizards Of Ming” and “The Panther Peril”.

“The Ghost Walks Again” is better, but it’s not as good as it could have been. It’s a very important episode, same as “The Adoption Of Kshin”, although while that is a masterpiece, this is only OK. A passable three stars, but nothing special. Jedda should have had a go at using the Ten Tigers!

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I always remembered bits of that episode and thought it was really cool Jedda becoming the Phantom. But after seeing it a couple years ago I didn’t like the whole alien anti-aging storyline.

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Like I say, an important episode (because of Jedda’s lineage) but one that could have been so much better.

Last night I watched “Deal With The Devil” and “Doorways Into Darkness”. The latter was just one of those B-movie style episodes, nothing really remarkable. It’s one of those that could (indeed should) have been brilliant, but was just OK. A bit of depth missing. Maybe if it had been a two-parter . . .

As for the former, well, that’s another interesting episode. It’s a bit like “Cold War” in a way, similar moral lesson, Rick (this time with LJ and Jedda) charges into Ice Station Earth without thinking things through, Kshin stows away again, and again it adds nothing to the plot. Where this episode falls down is the same again, it lacks depth. The divide in opinions is straight kids v grownups. Flash, Phantom, Mandrake and Lothar are all perfectly convinced it’s just a trick by Ming, there’s nowhere for the story to go. There could have been scope for a more interesting tension if one or two of the adults had agreed that it was worth trying.

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I watched ‘Doorway Into Darkness’ last night as well. It did have a B Movie style to it. It was okay but I agree it could have been a lot better.

I also watched ‘A House Divided’, ‘Family Reunion’ and ‘Doctor Dark’. I really enjoyed all of them.

Suspected Sabotage was okay. I noticed the bit with Flash saying ‘It’s not like Rick…’ It was a good episode for LJ.

The lost Jewel of Tibet’ is another fun episode. I used to have the last couple seconds on a tape, it got recorded over. I then got it on a bought tape as I recall the part with Jedda getting knocked down by Rick. Also it was pretty cool when Phantom and Flash started fighting.

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Could have made a good two-parter, we never really got to know the workings of the Night-Giants’ minds.

I also watched ‘A House Divided’, ‘Family Reunion’ and ‘Doctor Dark’. I really enjoyed all of them.

Is that just “The Evil Of Doctor Dark”, or did you watch “The Return Of Doctor Dark” as well? In any event, yes, all good episodes. And in “A House Divided”, I guess you saw what I mean about the Phantom in a Claw-Copter, and it being his first trip back to Africa since joining the Defenders.

Suspected Sabotage was okay. I noticed the bit with Flash saying ‘It’s not like Rick…’ It was a good episode for LJ.

And check out the Gripjaw!

Yes, that line of Flash’s puts it before “The Deadliest Battle”, where Rick really does fly off the handle (well, crash off the handle but he thinks he’s flying!).

The lost Jewel of Tibet’ is another fun episode. I used to have the last couple seconds on a tape, it got recorded over. I then got it on a bought tape as I recall the part with Jedda getting knocked down by Rick. Also it was pretty cool when Phantom and Flash started fighting.

It also shows that without the Ten Tigers, the Phantom and Flash are roughly equal on the muscle front. (Whether the two of them could take Lothar on is another matter though!)

It is a good episode. Again, could have been expanded to a two-parter. Atascadero had “recurring character” written all over her, and would surely have put in another appearance if they’d got a second season.

First time I saw it, I was recording it, while mum was watching a quiz called “Catchword” on the other side (actually, I watched it too, but was impatient for it to finish). For this episode, I can remember pretty much exactly where I joined it that first time, when the quiz finished and I switched over, it was during the volcano simulation.

The same also happened with “Hall Of Wisdom” and “The Evil Of Doctor Dark”. I don’t remember quite where I joined the latter, but I think the former was when Rick was on the table and they restored him to life.

I remember on that first airing I missed both parts of “The Mind Warriors”, which I guess must have been us taking a holiday, and either going abroad or going somewhere that didn’t have a telly. Hell, even when I did see this two-parter on Going Live, I only recorded the first part, I missed the start of the second (I can’t even remember why!); I remember switching on when Kshin was out looking for Zuffy.

Last night I saw “Terror In Time” and “Audie And Tweak”. The former is one of my favourites, even if Prince Valiant is nothing like he is in his own show (which wasn’t until 5yrs later, although I didn’t see this episode until after that show started!). Arugably closer to his original character from what I do know.

“Audie And Tweak” has never been a favourite, but it’s interesting in other ways; notably for the exploration of the character of Octon. I know there’s times when I can identify with Audie - I don’t suffer fools gladly. I’ve had to put up with too many of them over the years. But at the same time I’m not as head-in-the-sand as he is.

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It was ‘The Evil of Doctor Dark’. I need to watch ‘The Return of Docotor Dark’.

Oddly enough the tape I recorded ‘Hall of Wisdom’ on cut out just after Rick’s injury.

I also remember accidently recording over the first half of ‘Mind Warriors’ Part 2 with Gummi Bears.

I have got another painting complete so I will have time to watch a few more over the weekend.

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It’s pretty good. It doesn’t necessarily have to follow immediately after the first one, but soon after would be good.

Oddly enough the tape I recorded ‘Hall of Wisdom’ on cut out just after Rick’s injury.

Now that’s irony! Did your tape cut out on it a second time, though, like mine did twice on “Cold War”?

I also remember accidently recording over the first half of ‘Mind Warriors’ Part 2 with Gummi Bears.

I’m trying to think if I ever accidentally recorded over any DotE - not specifically, but I think I might have reused the same tapes a few times, so possibly. I know I deliberately recorded over “The Mystery Of The Book”, for reasons I’ve told you about already; and also Thundercats’ “Trouble With Time”, which also freaked me out, although I didn’t avoid that one when it was repeated. (I didn’t record the repeat, but I still watched it!)

I have got another painting complete so I will have time to watch a few more over the weekend.

Good on you! I got up to “The Adoption Of Kshin” last night. I thought of watching the next episode on my list, “Call Of The Eternals”, but I decided it would be an anticlimax after the death of ‘Captain Gramps’ brought tears to my eyes again!

One mistake I did spot in my continuity order - I was wrong to put “Audie And Tweak” in which Kshin ultimately befriends Audie, before “The Starboy”, where Kshin wishes he had a friend his own size.

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‘The Return of Doctor Dark’ is quite good but not as good as ‘The Evil of…’ although the ending was very good, with Dark disintegrating.

I do recall accidently recording over/ missing the beginning of ‘Rick Gordon, On Man Army’.

I also watched the very first episode. It is very good but it has an awful lot going on it for 20 minutes. I think they could maybe have expanded it to two episodes. But I suppose it was a more logical way of getting all the cast introduced in the first episode. Maybe they could have left introducing their kids until the end of the episode or the second episode.

Also in the first episode Mandrake has full on Magic not just illusions/hypnosis.

After watching so many episodes I was thinking how cool a toy Octon would have been. :rolleyes:

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I think we know where “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade” got it from!

I do recall accidently recording over/ missing the beginning of ‘Rick Gordon, On Man Army’.

I never had that episode recorded.

I also watched the very first episode. It is very good but it has an awful lot going on it for 20 minutes. I think they could maybe have expanded it to two episodes. But I suppose it was a more logical way of getting all the cast introduced in the first episode. Maybe they could have left introducing their kids until the end of the episode or the second episode.

Yes and no. The abduction of Rick and LJ at the end does seem like a bit of an add-on. Especially the way that the Phantom’s introduction is a bit hurried.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, the comic handled it better, it dispensed with the abduction from school. Moreover, we saw Flash, Mandrake and Lothar actually putting their case forward to the Phantom before he came down on their side.

The only question mark here is why they recruited him before leaving for Mongo. The setup for his recruitment is better after getting back from Mongo, as done on the TV series. But if they’d done that, then it would have left the last few minutes a little flat, without a baddie to fight.

All in all . . . I guess you’re right. “Escape From Mongo” should have been a two-parter. Recruit Phantom at the start of part 2, then have the abduction. As for how to flesh out part 1, show Flash’s initial escape in detail - simples!

Also in the first episode Mandrake has full on Magic not just illusions/hypnosis.

Actually it is mainly just hypnosis in the first episode - he hypnotises Garax and co. into believing that Flash’s ship is taking off, and then “evens out the odds with a bit of mass hypnosis” to make the ice robots think there are five swordships and not just one.

Well, there’s a little telekinesis at the end when he examines the crystal, I guess . . .

After watching so many episodes I was thinking how cool a toy Octon would have been. :rolleyes:

I guess - although I can sort of see why there wasn’t, he’s too big for a figure, but he can’t be used as a vehicle, unlike Mongor, who was designed for Ming to ride!

They should definitely have done some generic ice robot/man of frost figures though.

I’ve just watched “The Necklace Of Oros”, the only “movie” to feature identical writing credits on all five parts; the partnership of the two Marks, Zaslove and Edens.

And I still say part 3 (featuring both princes Barin and Kro-Tan) has nothing to do with the main storyline, and can be omitted without any loss of continuity!

Still good though.

Last night I watched “Call Of The Eternals” (this one improves every time I see it. This is sort of what “Doorways Into Darkness” could have been!), “The Time Freezer” (which introduces the Gripjaw, and has a memorable eponymous device, but is otherwise quite unremarkable really), “Suspended Sabotage” (A good episode for LJ, who got the least attention of all the kids), and “Flash Times Four” - the best episode Bunch & Cole wrote by a long way, for once they really done good!

Actually, I remember, the first time I saw “Flash Times Four”, I only caught the end of it, when Flash and Reynolds were fighting the three Scorpions - for the simple reason that it was next after “The Mystery Of The Book”, and on the initial transmissions on monday afternoons, they stopped after “The Mystery Of The Book”, so after that one was aired on Going Live, I assumed that was the end of the series again, so when I tuned back in the following week (I forget why I had switched off, maybe I was getting my hair cut), I got the shock of my life!

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You will find in Escape from Mongo that at the beginning Mandrake uses his magic to open the shuttle to get Flash out rather than let Lothar fry his hands opening it.

Thinking back, all my episodes were recorded on Saturday mornings. Because on the tape Rick Gordon One Man Army was on had all the later episodes like Book of Enigma and Necklace of Oros. I had the earlier episode before Rick all on various tapes.

Flash Times Four was another one that got the first half recorded over as I remember the tape I had it on also had the Flight of Dragons movie and the Thundercats episode Sixth Sense (?) in which Cheetara had a psyhic link with a small space ship. Oddly enough this also had the beginning recorded over.

Octon was acomputer they could have put a calculator feature in him. Still if he had been big and walked with numerous flashing lights and maybe some firing missles he would have been an awesome toy.
Some ice robots would have been cool as would men of frost. The men of frost figures would have been so easy to make as all they had to do was reuse the Flash or Phantom body with a new head. I used to use an X-Men Ice-Man figure. :smiley:

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Oh yes, I forgot. Stupid me! You’re absolutely right!

Thinking back, all my episodes were recorded on Saturday mornings. Because on the tape Rick Gordon One Man Army was on had all the later episodes like Book of Enigma and Necklace of Oros. I had the earlier episode before Rick all on various tapes.

Know the feeling. The first episode I ever recorded (on monday afternoons) was “A House Divided”, then got everything up to “Fury Of The Deep”, aside from “The Mind Warriors” (at which time I guess I was away, well-timed holiday by my parents to miss both parts of a 2-parter!), and the second half of “Cold War”. I then got “The Defense Never Rests”, “Like Father Like Daughter” and “The Would-Be Defender”; and then I think everything from “Ming’s Household Help” through to “Kshin And The Ghost Ship”.

I remember recording the saturday repeats at least partly from scratch, recording “Escape From Mongo” and somehow missing the next two (holiday again?), re-recording “Bits ‘N’ Chips” and “Root Of Evil”, which I think I must have originally recorded over, grabbing “The Mind Warriors” (part 1 only though - but that was no great loss!), and I must have recorded “The Frozen Heart” from those repeats as well. I remember on a later repeat run, recording the final part of The Necklace Of Oros, “The Gravity Of Ming”.

Flash Times Four was another one that got the first half recorded over as I remember the tape I had it on also had the Flight of Dragons movie and the Thundercats episode Sixth Sense (?) in which Cheetara had a psyhic link with a small space ship. Oddly enough this also had the beginning recorded over.

Yes, that is “Sixth Sense”, you remembered rightly.

Octon was acomputer they could have put a calculator feature in him. Still if he had been big and walked with numerous flashing lights and maybe some firing missles he would have been an awesome toy.
Some ice robots would have been cool as would men of frost. The men of frost figures would have been so easy to make as all they had to do was reuse the Flash or Phantom body with a new head. I used to use an X-Men Ice-Man figure. :smiley:

Come to think of it, they could have probably just done a differently painted Phantom figure!

Actually, that reminds me - in cartoons generally, they do their damnedest to avoid showing any actual death so as not to disturb the young audience; and you might notice in DotE, they probably show more death than most, but one particular detail that I’ve noticed - when they’re fighting Ming’s forces, the Ice Robots got destroyed all the time, but you never saw any fatalities among the Men Of Frost. Because they were human underneath I guess.

That said, as I mentioned, DotE shows more death than most:

Dale Arden (albeit her life essence is salvaged to become Dynak X)
Kshin’s grandfather
Kurt Walker
Doctor Dark
The Baroness (leader of the original Sky Band)

And I’m sure I’m forgetting some others.

Of course, the flip-side here, in “The Sleeper Awakes”, when Jedda says “no-one was hurt in Central City” - come on, that robot was massive and had all those lasers, are we seriously meant to believe nobody even so much as stubbed their toe in the panic? I can just about accept the idea that nobody was killed, but nobody even hurt? Billshut!

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That robot from The Sleeper Awakes would have been another great toy.

I believe some of the aliens died when they took the necklace of Oros and gave it to the phantom.

Galaxy Rangers really pushed it with bad guys getting killed. From what I recall there was a lot. The majority of USA shows never showed many deaths from battle. You really should watch an episode of G.I. Joe, so many laser blasts, missiles and vehicles exploding and no one ever got hit.
and Anime shows like Robotech and Gundam never shied away from characters getting killed in battle.