It's August 4, 2026...the day Ray Bradbury's "There Shall Come Soft Rains" occurs!

Let's Start with a Little BackStory...

...now, we present an illustrated retelling (not a comic story) which appeared only once, in Bantam Spectra/Byron Preiss Visual Pubications/NBM's Ray Bradbury Chronicles #3 (1992).

Lebbus Woods, who illustrated this tale, wasn't a comic bool/graphic novel artist, but an archetect whose radical design concepts earned him a lot of attention as shown HERE!

But his pure illustration skills, as shown here, are undeniable!

Accompanying his fascinating re-imaging of the classic prose tale is a re-presentation of the only other visual version of the story, which originally-appeared in EC's Weird Fantasy #17 (1953), scripted by Al Feldstein and illustrated by Wally Wood.
Note that it has been recolored by Paul Rivoche, taking advantage of then-state of the art computer coloring.
This is in no way a insult to the amazing work Marie Severin did on the original coloring work, which extended what was possible with the primitive flat 64-color palate available to her!

Happy August 4th, 2026, everyone!

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Home to Stay!

The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories

(including "There Will Come Soft Rains" with Marie Severin's Coloring!)

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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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Serial Fu Manchu

Chinese SuperVillain and the Spread of Yellow Peril Ideology

Asian Antagonists MASK OF DR FU MANCHU Part 3

When Last We Left Our Protaganist...Who's Also Our Antagonist...

...under a flag of truce, Sir Denis Nayland Smith and Shan Greville meet with Dr Fu Manchu to make an exchange...Shan's kidnapped fiance Rima Barton for the artifacts Fu covets!

It's Always Darkest Before the Dawn...

Next Week: The Conclusion!

Though the adaptor is unknown, the tale is illustrated by young up-and-comers Wally Wood and Joe Orlando (who split the penciling and inking almost on a panel-by-panel basis)!

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Serial Fu Manchu

Chinese SuperVillain and the Spread of Yellow Peril Ideology

Asian Antagonists MASK OF DR FU MANCHU Part 2

We Have Already Seen...

May be NSFW due to xenophobic "Yellow Peril" stereotypes about Asians.

Sir Denis Nayland Smith foils Dr Fu Manchu's attempt to steal the Mask and Sacred Sword of El Mokanna which could unite millions of religious fanatics under Fu's command!

However, Smith's young associate, Shan Grenvile falls prey to the feminine wiles of Fu's daughter, Fah Loh Suee and is captured...

Do We Have to Tell You...
Continued Next Week!

Though the adaptor is unknown, the tale is illustrated by young up-and-comers Wally Wood and Joe Orlando (who split the penciling and inking almost on a panel-by-panel basis)!

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Yellow Peril

Dr Fu Manchu & the Rise of Chinaphobia

Asian Antagonists MASK OF DR FU MANCHU Part 1

NSFW Note: Racist, xenophobic Asian stereotypes ahead...

The most famous example of the Yellow Peril "evil Oriental" stereotype was Sax Rohmer's incredibly-popular Fu Manchu!

To Be Continued...

NEXT WEEK!

This 1951 one-shot from Avon Comics was based on the novel Mask of Fu Manchu, which had already been adapted for both a radio serial and a movie (starring Boris Karloff as Fu and Myrna Loy as Fah Lo Suee)!

Though the scripter is unknown, the tale is Illustrated by young up-and-comers Wally Wood and Joe Orlando (who split the penciling and inking almost on a panel-by-panel basis)!

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Yellow Peril

Dr Fu Manchu & the Rise of Chinaphobia