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.