Friday, June 4, 2021

Asian Antagonists MASK OF DR FU MANCHU Part 4/Conclusion

We Have Already Seen...

Does that recap the story in style or what?
Avon Comics pioneered the concept of using the inside front cover to present background info and/or recaps which is so prevalent today.
What's really kool is that they used a page of new art, instead of a cut-and paste of text and already-used art!
And now, the conclusion...
Interesting to note that Dr Fu Manchu is shown to be honorable, and wouldn't attempt to retaliate after his defeat, simply to assuage his ego/vanity.
It goes against the usual "Yellow Peril" stereotype of Asians being without morals and ethics, doing anything, no matter how loathsome or inhuman to achieve their goals!
Though the adaptor of the Sax Rohmer-penned novel is unknown, the comic is illustrated by then-young up-and-comers Wally Wood and Joe Orlando (who split the penciling and inking almost on a panel-by-panel basis)!
Though Fu's comic book appearances were infrequent, he became an ongoing character at Marvel as the father of their resident martial arts master, Shang-Chi, who turned against his father when he discovered he was not the altruistic and benign person he deceived his son into believing!
The "Devil Doctor" battled not only his wayward son, but other martial arts heroes as shown HERE!
You'll note there's no mention of Fu in the upcoming movie Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings!, though Shang's father does appear!
When Marvel lost the licensing rights to Fu, they modified the character of Shang's father in comics to become Zheng Zu, an immortal sorcerer, and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as The Mandarin, based on a "Yellow Peril"-type supervillain dating back to the 1960s, who was Iron Man's arch-enemy.
(The movie Iron Man 3 introduced a false Mandarin, an imposter played by an out-of-work actor, into the movie continuity.
This one is the real character, heading the Ten Rings terrorist/criminal group which wounded and kidnapped Tony Stark, forcing him to become Iron Man.)

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