Wednesday, January 4, 2023

DEPARTMENT OF COMICS CURIOSITIES #12




One of the earliest Asian protagonists created for comics was the detective Fu Chang, debuting in PEP COMICS #1 (1940). Fu had the odd talent of being able to summon tiny statuettes to do his bidding. Odd though the talent might be, the notion of a traditionally heroic Chinese character-- handsome, intelligent, and good with his fists-- would be a good thing in general. However, by accident or design, the colorist made the hero and the lady he rescues "Caucasian" in color, while only the criminal called "the Dragon" is given the standard hue for Far Eastern Asians, that of canary-yellow. Sort of like giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

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