Back in the awesome 1980s, when I would hang out with my buddy, Thom Shepherd, (yes, thatThom Shepherd, the hit singer/songwriter), instead of just getting together to watch a movie we would often opt to make one instead. More fun. Our senior year of high school alone we somehow found the time, while still being students with homework, preparing for college, seeing other friends and family, and living an hour's drive apart, to make twelve short films on Super 8mm together. Some animated, some live-action, some a creative mix of both. All just goofy fun.
But sometimes if we didn't have any blank movie film, or maybe it was raining or something, we would stay inside, lie on the floor, and make comics together instead. Using colored pencils, markers or anything we could find, along with some old scrap letter paper. For years prior both Thom and I had already been making our own solo comics for fun. (I've called them "My Stories" since I started around age five.) So I found it a novel change of pace to collaborate with a like-minded creative soul. We never argued and the ideas just flowed. I found I could sorta draw in his style more easily than he could mine. So with that hurdle crossed, we could both write and draw with narrative and visual cohesion. Though, I was never great at drawing cars so when the need arose he would gladly handle those panels. Sometimes, I would draw hands for Thom which he sometimes struggled with. Strangely, neither of us comfortably drew girls so usually they remained off screen or in the background of our stories.
Our magnum opus, remains to this day, incomplete, mostly written but not fully rendered. Every time we got together to work on it, it grew larger and larger, as I constantly added new scenes. Eventually life got it the way, with no more time for silly "hobbies". And so the stack of finished pages sleeps quietly in a file folder in my home office. Although as the decades flew by, and similarly-themed projects like Stranger Things, feeding on 80s nostalgia, became popular, it crossed my mind whether it might be worth it to dust it off and finish our "80s suburban fantasy epic". But where to find the time? It's a daunting undertaking. And Thom's now busy with his career and can't contribute. So it would be all up to me to finish it alone. Hmmm. That's no fun.
And, of course, when we started the comic in January 1987 it was a modern day story. But now, finishing the art for a story set 40(!) years ago would have to approached as if it were a period piece. Being conscious not to accidentally include anything incongruous. But that does add a new layer of interest to the project. It would require a little research to get the details just right.
In going through some old files I came across a handful of odds and ends and various other comics we did. In 2019, I began compiling them for a possible book. I thought maybe I'd just print a couple souvenir copies. One for me and one for Thom. So I wrote some short essays about each piece and did some clean up on a few of the rough ones, as I laid out the book in Adobe InDesign. No one was really supposed to see these originally, as we did them mostly for ourselves just for kicks.
One such clean-up was for Thom's roughed-out comic "A STORY ABOUT SOME KIDS WHO LIKED TO LISTEN TO THE RADIO". This is a prime example of what happened when Thom had a spare 30 minutes, a pencil and a single piece of paper. Is it a cautionary tale of 'beware who your friends are'? Is it a 'biting commentary on the crassness of the news media' and how we've become immune to it? Meh. I guess. But really it's a story that runs out when the paper does. That's all. No long set-up, no three act structure, no real character arcs. Just a flow of ideas leading the story teller where it wants to go. Like life itself. And then.... his mom calls out "Lunch is ready!" And with that, the characters are killed off, the volcano erupts, the bomb explodes, the universe collapses in on itself, et cetera, END OF STORY. FULL STOP. And Thom trots off to eat some pizza. It's a perfect example of how a teenage mind functions. It's not the kind of thing you would write when creating something for public consumption. It's just a fun doodle. Ya know, about murder and suicide.
No one else was ever supposed to see it.
Then along comes the internet.
Below is Thom's original 1987 rough "comic". And below that, my 2019 cleaned up version.
Fast forward to 2026 and I started thinking again about our shelved "epic". And I wondered if it might make more sense to finish it as an animated film as opposed to a comic. Utilizing modern tools, with action, sound effects and music and voices. Wouldn't that be more fun? Ugh. Here I go adding more work for myself again. Wasn't this the same problem last time?
Okay, okay. Maybe before I go jumping in the deep end. Perhaps I should do a test to determine the level of work that's actually involved in converting a visually basic comic in this primitive style to an animated film. So I figured Thom's simple two-pager would do nicely as a source. Limited characters, only a few locations, basic dialogue. And again, a story told in only TWO pages. I should be able to finish this in my spare time. Right?
Actually, YES! It took me two weeks working about an hour or so a night. And cost about $30.
The main differences between telling a story via silent comic panels (where carefully chosen illustrated "key highlights" of each 'scene' must convey the story) and a film storyboard (where you illustrate the action of a story that will unfold with the luxury of sound and time) become quite evident when deciding how best to tell the same story, yet take full advantage of the medium of video.
A few things stood out immediately. The world wasn't populated. Their were no females. (Remember?) And there's no explanation of how the police caught Roger's car so quickly after the shooting. Later that SAME DAY in fact. So... I concocted a SINGLE solution to fix ALL that. I added two "very 80s" teen girls outside the 7-11 at the payphone ('member those?) who overhear the shooting, see Roger's car speeding away and jot down the license plate via what she had on hand, (literally)... lipstick. Plus I show an insert of the girl Tony mentions in the beginning. So now the world is populated, yes with females too, AND those female have a strong direct bearing on the plot. And I even added a little sympathy from the point of view of the police that wasn't in the original story. (That probably comes from me approaching this from the perspective of a much older, if not slightly more mature, person.)
During the production I learned quite a bit about the strengths and weaknesses of the current tools. Not sure what good that'll do me as they are all changing so quickly. What was true one month is not so true the next month. And I learned that a single page of comic art is approximately two minutes of film. So will I finish our forty-year old epic? As a comic... or animation? Wait and see.
Anyway here's my little test of Thom Shepherd's throw-away "no one will ever see this" 1987 doodle comic:A STORY ABOUT SOME KIDS WHO LIKED TO LISTEN TO THE RADIO.
(Try not to be offended. The 1980s were quite obviously a different time. But you can't know where you are, if you can't remember where you've been.)
Until next time when I finally- oh wait, I gotta run... my pizza's ready.
Here's a heartfelt piece I wrote and illustrated fifteen years ago,
If you are viewing this on a laptop/desktop screen, I think the best way to read it is to double click the first image and then use your arrow keys to "turn" the page.
This was a fun piece to make. It was used as key art for a independent low-budget horror film called MELVIN. The style and tone of the film felt to me like a throwback to the 1980s films like RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD or THE TOXIC AVENGER, so that's the direction my mind went when designing the poster art.
Here lies Melvin. Not for long....
Horror films are probably the most fun kind of movie to actually make. The bloody visual effects hopefully look gory on film, but on-set are often laugh-inducingly hilarious for some reason.
Anyway, that's all I got. Gotta walk my dog. Until next time. Be safe out there.
Last year author F.P. LaRue published the fourth fabulous book in her award-winning SCARY SHIVERS series of spooky mystery-solving adventures for kids who read chapter books. THE PET SHOP NIGHTMARE. As with the first three in the series, I illustrated several interior images in creepy black and white (actually grayscale) along with the full color cover.
Here's a few samples of the moody full-page interior illustrations. Scroll down, but, ONLY if you DARE.
I also created a promo video for each book as well as this SERIES PROMO video below, which gives you a little more idea of the story contents. The mysteries are fun and original, the main characters are funny, realistic and engaging, and yes, it does lead to some pretty dark and spooky shenanigans. And no, it's not "Ole Man Smithers" in a mask. These stories have actual stakes and require our heroes to muster real courage to 'save the day'. All the while being perfect mystery books for a twelve year old, ...or that twelve year old still lurking somewhere inside all of us.
Paula (F.P.) LaRue
Award-Winning Author
The Pet Shop Nightmare – First Place Juvenile Mysteries, Juvenile Action & Adventure – Spring 2026 BookFest Awards
The Legend of the Serpent Witch – First Place Juvenile Mysteries, Action & Adventure, Fantasy & Magic – Fall 2025 BFA
The Curse of Shadow Park – First Place Juvenile Action & Adventure – Fall 2024 BookFest Awards
The Weeping House – First Place Juvenile Mysteries, Juvenile Fantasy & Magic – Spring 2024 BookFest Awards
Here's a fun retro piece I did last year for a Blu-ray release of the 1988 Hong Kong sci-fi action comedy film I LOVE MARIA (aka ROBOFORCE) starring Sally Yeh, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Tsui Hark. The Hong Kong film industry did not produce many science fiction films, so it's interesting to view the ones they did manage to make on their typically constrained budgets. This one has obvious Japanese anime roots, as well as a nod to the robot "Maria" from Fritz Lang's 1927 German expressionist epic METROPOLIS, but leans heavily into situational comedy. Fun, inventive action scenes give the film the feel of a live-action cartoon.
Gorgeous Sally Yeh's performance as multiple characters, both human and robotic, is phenomenal. Everyone seems like they're just having a fun romp. If you can find the extended Taiwanese version, (running 122 minutes) seek it out for the additional action bits. It's my preferred version.
No time to reload! These guns only run out of ammo when the moment is most dramatic!
A year ago I got hired to illustrate a new poster for the Western re-release of John Woo's seminal Hong Kong 1992 action classic, HARD-BOILED, starring Chow Yun-fat and Tony Leung Chiu-wai. A fun project.
I tried to capture a sense of the energetic fun and explosive excitement of what is widely considered the apex of the heroic bloodshed film genre. I felt the original HK poster of Chow holding a toddler in a diaper (come on, THAT'S NO NEWBORN), although now pretty iconic, somewhat undersold the intense, over-the-top gun-fu spectacle audiences were about to experience. So my main priority was to put some excitement into the piece. (Of course most fans by this point have already seen this nearly 35 year old film multiple times so they know. They know.)
I caught John Woo's THE KILLER at Washington D.C.s The Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts in August 1989, (along with a double-bill of his A BETTER TOMORROW films.) And was blasted into the back of the theatre along with the rest of the audience.
One could argue, that film, starring Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee and Sally Yeh, was more influential, if not more popular, in the United States (and the UK), than with its native Hong Kong audience who perhaps saw it as just another heroic bloodshed picture. It was commercially successful in HK, but I think it did much more to woo (sorry) western audiences and wake up Hollywood to the amazing work of its writer/director. Of course, John Woo eventually did find a new parallel career working on American films as well as Hong Kong productions. Including a 2024 gender-swapped remake.
Long unavailable in the West due to corporate mergers and licensing issues, now THE KILLER is not only widely available again, but has been remastered from the surviving negative. It looks and sounds stunning in 4K.
A year ago I was lucky enough to be hired to produce new artwork for the long awaited "resurrection" of this beloved action film. I often pinch myself that this is really happening. In the year 2025. The irony is not lost on me. I'm doing hand drawn artwork (already replaced by AI) for a physical media release (already replaced by streaming) of an old celluloid film (already replaced by digital) of a story (already replaced by a remake). One could argue that the medium of the 90-minute film has itself been replaced in popularity by YouTube or TikToks or whatever. But let's not even go there.
As I've probably said before... this job combines my love of art, marketing and cinema, so I'll happily ride that train to the end of the line doing promotional art for films.
Below is the result.
Alas, there once was a time when I would routinely drive over an hour to another city to see a film, weekly, by myself usually. But now, I haven't even been to a movie theatre in six and a half years. Times change. And people do too. It's so much easier today to see these foreign films, and movies in general, from the relative comfort of my home. And the cost versus quality is about the same. Physical media on a modern television keeps improving, while the theatre-going experience keeps declining. From lengthy commercials to acrophobia-inducing ticket prices. Given the choice, for the same cost I'd rather own it than see it once. If I tire of the film I can always sell it and get my money back.
But it's true to say that something is lost amid the convenience. It's not just nostalgia for my youth, although there is some of that. (The power of that can't be underestimated.) I think the ritualistic experience of "going to see a film", much like dropping a stylus on a vinyl record, was something greater than just pressing a button from your couch. It's hard to explain, but, ahh, ... that's a whole other conversation. Don't get me started.
Anyway.... the bullets and bodies keep flying. Next time. Right here.
No, that's not a sad trombone. It's YUEN WAH! (Birth name Yung Kai-chi.)
It's a quickie piece I did for fun for a magazine cover. The cover boy is Hong Kong actor/stuntman/action choreographer (and, of course, martial artist) Yuen Wah, of the Seven Little Fortunes performing group from the 1960s—which also featured fellow classmates Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao.
One of his early claims to fame was as the body double for Bruce Lee in FIST OF FURY and ENTER THE DRAGON. Bruce could cartwheel, but not back or front flip. Yuen could do both in his sleep. So they stuck a fast friendship and Bruce hired him to work on several fights scenes with Bruce, as well as play small parts in the films. Wah was actually the one doing the acrobatics for Lee's character.
With AI poised to make our future entertainment, we are not likely to see the causes and conditions arise for performers like Yuen Wah to entertain us again onscreen. So it's important to recognize and appreciate their unique talents, especially while these actors are still around so they can see what they meant to us film fans.
He's still working, but naturally slowing down a wee bit at 75 years old. He's earned it. But thankfully he's still alive and, of course, kicking. Here's to you. Long live Yung Kai-chi.
Next up.... John Woo's gun-fu classics get a fresh coat of paint.
A year ago I was honored with the rare opportunity to provide some new original artwork for one of my absolute favorite films, Tsui Hark's 1986 genre-bending masterpeice PEKING OPERA BLUES.
My love for this movie, which I have exhaustingly chronicled here, has not waned over the decades. So I was thrilled for the priveldge to be involved with the much anticipated and long overdue restoration and revitalization of the film on 4K and Blu-ray.
Given my normal "4-day turnaround" (I typically only have a few days to complete each peice) I usually spend most of the first day watching the film a couple times (I know, hard work) and jotting down some layout ideas. It can be challenging to distill the essense of the movie into a single frame that is at least somewhat representative of the 2-hour experience. I attempted to capture and convey the vibrant energy, colorful pageantry, and vivid characters that Hark and his talented team crafted.
Asked to do it again I would probably do something quite different, but this is the first design that came out. And I used my full alotted time. I don't enjoy the luxury of test studies. Everything is the "first take", and move on.
Were the film's matte paintings seemless? Not entirely.
Did they re-use the same (only slightly redressed) street set? Yep. If you looked closely.
Are the general's luscious sideburns and ridiculous eyebrows over-the-top? Absolutely! And I wouldn't have my archetypal Chinese movie villians any other way.
Did that spoil any of the cine-magic? Heck no!
Hark's (along with Poon Han Sang, his director of photography) were successfully able to cinematically realize a fully immersive fictional world with limited resources through the use of frugal blocking and constructing only what was needed for the camera to see. Two or three-walled rooms accomplished the illusion. The result is a gauzy, romanticised 1913 China. Where the characters are not overpowered by expansive ornate sets, but rather they are constantly the focus of attention. And with gorgeous stars like Sally Yeh, Brigitte Lin, Cherie Chung and Mark Cheng, why would you look anywhere else?
The film spools out at a breathless pace with plots and subplots piling up like a jenga tower. Each one interlocking, building higher and higher to its inevitable thrilling conclusion.
For this US release, by SHOUT FACTORY, I also contributed an extensive image gallery in addition to my menu artwork.
Because of the later deadline for the UK release, by ARROW, I was able to add even more content to the image gallery.
And for the Australian IMPRINT release, I had even more time, so that image gallery is the largest of the three. They also commissioned me to write a 2500 word essay on the film's production and legacy. And I also produced a 20 minute featurette on the film's marketing materials and other collectible memorabilia.
My hope is that Tsui Hark's masterpiece can now find a home in the hearts of a whole new generation of cinema fans. And the work can have the longevity any work of art deserves.
Next up... Bruce Lee's body double finally gets the spotlight.
