Dr. Fu Manchu (A Supervillain Trilogy)

Book excerpt: Dr. Fu Manchu is a villain introduced in a series of novels by British author Sax Rohmer during the first half of the twentieth century. The character was also featured extensively in cinema, television, radio, comic strips, and comic books for over 90 years, and has become an archetype of the evil criminal genius and mad scientist, while lending the name to the Fu Manchu moustache. Moreover, the supervillain Fu Manchu's murderous plots are marked by the extensive use of arcane methods; he disdains guns or explosives, preferring dacoits, thuggees, and members of other secret societies as his agents armed with knives, or using "pythons and cobras ... fungi and my tiny allies, the bacilli ... my black spiders" and other peculiar animals or natural chemical weapons. He had an abhorrence for the truth, and used torture and other gruesome tactics to dispose of enemies. Contents: The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu (aka The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu) The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (aka The Devil Doctor) The Hand of Fu Manchu (aka The Si-Fan Mysteries)