An untitled cover from 'Shanghai Manhua' (Shanghai Sketch) shows a naked young woman in flames surrounded by demons about to devour her. Later social critics have interpreted this as a portrayal of Old Shanghai as an urban dystopia.

The pictorial 'Shanghai Manhua' (Shanghai Sketch); published between April 21; 1928 and June 7; 1930; was a mixture of drawings; photographs and images ranging from advertisements to social criticism and political caricatures.

Shanghai Manhua was an outlet for professional cartoonists and sketch masters; generally of an avant garde or progressive nature. Many of the images printed in 'Shanghai Manhua' are observations of urban life in contemporaneous Shanghai; as well as often critical comment on the social mores of the time.