Wu Fang is actually the name of several characters in crime and adventure fiction, who are nearly identical, but may vary in their details. In the Exploits of Elaine (1914), Wu Fang is a criminal mastermind and gang leader from China, operating in the United States. He wears western clothing on the street to remain inconspicuous, but dons traditional Chinese garb at his headquarters. He is very treacherous, outfitting his headquarters with trap doors, poisonous snakes, and a pool with a deadly giant octopus. He battled Craig Kennedy and Elaine Dodge. In The Lightning Raider (1919), Wu Fang is a rival to two other criminal masterminds, The Wasp and The Lightning Raider. In Top Notch Comics #5-6 (1940), Wu Fang is back in China, working off a ship called the Sea Scorpion, when he comes into conflict with Shanghai Sherridan. In The Exploits of Elaine, Wu Fang’s gang includes Long Sin, a henchman who poisoned the Clutching Hand and sought his hidden treasure of seven million dollars. Wu Fang smokes a pipe, and wears a heavy gold watch and gold rings, which are attached to gold chains that bind two white rats that he carries up his sleeve. He is described as “of the mandarin type, with drooping mustache, well dressed in American clothes, and conforming to the new customs of an occidentalized China.” Hop Sing, in The Lightning Raider, is Fang’s top lieutenant, addicted to opium. Notes: More research would be required to determine if the pulp character from “The Mysterious Wu Fang” stories (starting with “The Case of the Six Coffins” in 1935) by Robert J. Hogan are actually under copyright or not, but for now, it would be best to assume that they are. The name Wu Fang is probably derived from Wu Tingfang, a famous Chinese diplomat who spent time in the United States at the turn of the century.
First Appearance The Exploits of Elaine (Film, 1914)
First Publisher Pathé Exchange
Appearance List The Exploits of Elaine (Film, 1914), The Exploits of Elaine (Novelization, 1915), The Lightning Raider (Film, 1919), Top-Notch Comics #5-6 (1940)
Description Wu Fang is actually the name of several characters in crime and adventure fiction, who are nearly identical, but may vary in their details. In the Exploits of Elaine (1914), Wu Fang is a criminal mastermind and gang leader from China, operating in the United States. He wears western clothing on the street to remain inconspicuous, but dons traditional Chinese garb at his headquarters. He is very treacherous, outfitting his headquarters with trap doors, poisonous snakes, and a pool with a deadly giant octopus. He battled Craig Kennedy and Elaine Dodge. In The Lightning Raider (1919), Wu Fang is a rival to two other criminal masterminds, The Wasp and The Lightning Raider. In Top Notch Comics #5-6 (1940), Wu Fang is back in China, working off a ship called the Sea Scorpion, when he comes into conflict with Shanghai Sherridan. In The Exploits of Elaine, Wu Fang’s gang includes Long Sin, a henchman who poisoned the Clutching Hand and sought his hidden treasure of seven million dollars. Wu Fang smokes a pipe, and wears a heavy gold watch and gold rings, which are attached to gold chains that bind two white rats that he carries up his sleeve. He is described as “of the mandarin type, with drooping mustache, well dressed in American clothes, and conforming to the new customs of an occidentalized China.” Hop Sing, in The Lightning Raider, is Fang’s top lieutenant, addicted to opium. Notes: More research would be required to determine if the pulp character from “The Mysterious Wu Fang” stories (starting with “The Case of the Six Coffins” in 1935) by Robert J. Hogan are actually under copyright or not, but for now, it would be best to assume that they are. The name Wu Fang is probably derived from Wu Tingfang, a famous Chinese diplomat who spent time in the United States at the turn of the century.
