The L’Uomo Mascherato postcard was produced by Fratelli Spada in Italy in the 1960s. The postcard was used as a way to reply back to those who wrote to publishing house Fratelli Spada, editors would mail an attractive postcard which contained a pre-printed note of explanation. Unfortunately a date of production isn’t printed on the postcard.
Fratelli Spada, which translates to Spada Brothers, was established by Giuseppe Spada in Rome, Italy in 1957. Fratelli Spade published magazines, books and comic books.
The Fratelli Spada comic book arm focused on featuring comic characters from America, including the Phantom, Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, Prince Valiant, Rip Kirby and Secret Agent X-9.
In 2012, Fratelli Spade ceased operating.
The L’Uomo Mascherato postcard is printed on heavy stock paper measuring 10cm x 15cm. The colorful front of the postcard depicts the Phantom in his red Italian costume riding Hero. The Phantoms Italian title is also printed ‘L’Uomo Mascherato’ alongside the Phantoms Skull mark.
The reverse of the postcard contains a preprinted message from the editor, with space for a stamp and address. Translated to English, the postcard reads:
Dear friend,
we regret to inform you that the albums you requested are sold out. However, we recommend that you request them from some collector who owns them in duplicate, by placing an ad in the column – Exchangeably – located on the 2nd page of – L’UOMO MASCHERATO – and – MANDRAKE -.
Kind regards, Spada Brothers
The L’Uomo Mascherato postcard is similar to that utilized by King Comics in the USA in 1967 for a similar purpose, to communicate with fans who took the time to write to the editor.
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