The American writer Lee Falk is the creator of two on the longest running newspaper comics, 'The Phantom' and 'Mandrake the Magician'. He was born in 1911, in St. Louis, Missouri. From his days in high school, when he edited the school paper, and throughout his adult life, Lee felt the urge to write. He wrote stories, articles and poems for his college newspapers. After graduating from the University of Illinois, he found work as a copywriter for a St. Louis advertising agency. There, he met Phil Davis, with whom he created 'Mandrake the Magician', his first attempt at comic strip writing. In 1934, he succeeded in selling 'Mandrake' to King Features Syndicate. The success of the feature was so huge that Falk sold the silent avenger 'The Phantom' to King Features two years later. For this comic, Falk pencilled the first two weeks himself, but later worked with the artists Ray Moore, Wilson McCoy, Sy Barry and Bill Lignante, who mainly drew for Phantom comic books.
