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<HEAD><TITLE>Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Fu Chang </TITLE> <script language="JavaScript"></script> <META name = "author" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "description" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "subject" content = "Hypertext encyclopedia of comics and animation"> <META name = "keywords" content = "comic books animated cartoons animation comics comix syndicated comic strips"> <META name = "publisher" content = "Donald D. Markstein"> <META name = "format" content = "text/html"> <META name = "language" content = "EN"> </HEAD><BODY> <body onload="if (self!= top) top.location = self.location"></body> <BODY BGCOLOR="FFFFFF" TEXT="000000" LINK="0000EE" VLINK="551A8B"> <TABLE><TR><TD WIDTH=310 VALIGN="CENTER"><IMG GALLERYIMG="NO" ALIGN="LEFT" HEIGHT=319 WIDTH=300 ALT="Fu Chang uses traditional martial arts against a modern weapon." SRC="fuchang.jpg"> <TD VALIGN="CENTER"> <H1>FU CHANG</H1><FONT SIZE=4> <B>Original Medium:</B> Comic books <BR><B>Published by: </B>MLJ Comics <BR><B>First Appeared:</B> 1939 <BR><B>Creators:</B> Joe Blair (writer) and Lin Steeter (artist) <FONT SIZE=3> <! BEGIN DONATION CODE> <HR><FONT SIZE=2 COLOR="993366"><CENTER> If this site is enjoyable or useful to you, <BR>Please contribute to its necessary financial support. <BR><A HREF="http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T1237L0BCY25QA" TARGET="_blank">Amazon.com</A> or <A HREF="https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=don%40toonopedia.com&no_note=1&tax=0&currency_cod e=USD" TARGET="_blank">PayPal</A> </FONT></CENTER><HR> <! END DONATION CODE> <P><A NAME="cont"> Fu Chang was an Asian stereotype in an era of stereotypes. But at least he wasn't an evil mastermind like Fu Manchu or <A HREF="yeloclaw.htm">The Yellow Claw.</A> He was more the Charlie Chan type — he used the same style of shorthand characterization, but was  <P ALIGN="RIGHT"><A HREF="#cont"><FONT SIZE=2><I>continued below</A></FONT> </TABLE> <CENTER><! BEGIN ADSENSE "LEADERBOARD" CODE> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <! END ADSENSE CODE></CENTER> <P><TABLE><TR><TD VALIGN="TOP"> a good guy. Fu Chang was an American-educated resident of San Francisco's Chinatown, as depicted in American comics around the beginning of World War II. <P> Specifically, it was <I>Pep Comics</I> #1 (January, 1940), which introduced <A HREF="shield1.htm">The Shield,</A> first comic-book symbol of America's involvement in that war (tho it went on sale in 1939, when the war was still strictly overseas), that depicted Fu Chang's Chinatown. The depiction was made by writer Joe Blair (<A HREF="madam_s.htm">Madam Satan,</A> <A HREF="fox.htm">The Fox</A>) and artist Lin Streeter (<A HREF="kalthar.htm">Kalthar,</A> <A HREF="capflag.htm">Captain Flag</A>). The publisher was <A HREF="mlj_arch.htm">MLJ Comics</A> (<A HREF="bobphan.htm">Bob Phantom,</A> <A HREF="archie.htm">Archie</A>). <P> Fu was mostly a modern man in public, but in the privacy of his home, he dressed in traditional robes. His back-story, in place as the series opened, included having sworn to devote his life to aiding the oppressed. Because of this and his devotion to the teachings of the Chinese gods, the elderly magician Sing Po, a direct descendant of Aladdin (<A HREF="aladdin.htm">fuzzy relation</A>), bequeathed him a set of magic chessmen that possessed all the powers of the original lamp without, apparently, the involvement of a genie. As early as the beginning of the first story, they'd already been responsible for his "spectacular solutions to great international mysteries." His series was subtitled "International Detective", tho he seemed to take more interest in local affairs. <P> In other words, Fu Chang was a plainclothes <A HREF="glossary.htm#superhero">superhero,</A> like <A HREF="dickcole.htm">Dick Cole</A> and, during some phases of his existence, <A HREF="bunglton.htm">Bungleton Green,</A> except at home, where he dressed funny. He shared <I>Pep Comics</I> with more conventional superheroes, such as <A HREF="comet.htm">The Comet</A> and <A HREF="presguar.htm">The Press Guardian</A> (who skirted the edge of plainclothes status himself, dressing like <A HREF="spirit.htm">The Spirit</A> and <A HREF="clock.htm">The Clock,</A> with a mask added to a regular suit, at least in later adventures). Superheroes ruled American comic books at the time, so even international detectives tended to have overtones of the genre. <P> So much so, that the less superheroey ones went away in <I>Pep's</i> first overhaul. After #11, the less stellar stars were dropped. In #12 (February, 1941), Fu and The Press Guardian were replaced by <A HREF="fireball.htm">Fireball</A> and Danny in Dreamland. Neither of them was ever seen again. <P ALIGN = "RIGHT">— DDM <P><A HREF="index.htm">BACK</A> to <I>Don Markstein's Toonopedia</I> Home Page <BR><A HREF="today.htm">Today in Toons:</A> Every day's an anniversary! <P><! BEGIN ADSENSE BANNER CODE><CENTER> <script type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> </CENTER><! END ADSENSE CODE> <TD WIDTH=10><TD WIDTH=180 VALIGN="TOP"> <! 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