Patrick Lugo here! I’m an author-illustrator creating comics that combine the fantastical with the philosophical, often tapping into my background in kung fu.
I’m running a Kickstarter campaign for my latest comic, Undead Kungfu Ghost Killer. Perfect for Halloween.
Janna Morishima asked me some questions about this project, which I’m answering below!
What made you decide to tackle a horror story?
I was a kid with lots of bad dreams, but my imagination became my tool and my toolbox for dealing with whatever was causing them. So I wanted to try using comics to capture those frights, and still create comics set in the fictional world I’d already been building for my graphic novel series A Tiger’s Tale.
It turned out I had a Monster Hunter archetype that fit right into the genre I built the series in.
Considering the time it’s taken to get volumes one & two of A Tiger’s Tale done, I knew I wanted to tackle something smaller in scope. With comics coming out in two anthologies in 2025, I figured it might be a good idea to work on something I could release in 2026.
So a Halloween-timed comic one-shot became a realistic goal, something I could try and get into local comic shops and that would be an inexpensive offer while tabling at a convention.
Who is your target audience, and what do you hope they’ll like most about this book?
I like to describe this comic as for TEEN+ fans of KPop Demon Hunters, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Walking Dead. It’s the indie-comic equivalent of sneaking into an R-rated movie.
If people like issue 1 of UNDEAD KUNGFU GHOST KILLER, I’ll treat it as a Halloween annual, and aim to publish a comic every spooky season, but if people really like it, maybe I can accelerate that schedule.
Either way, by the time I’ve produced enough pages for a collection, the middle-grade readers of A Tiger’s Tale may be just about old enough to read such a collection – theoretically.
But this comic project is also directed at the Kickstarter comics buying community. Halloween is a popular time for kickstarting a monster comic, plus there’s still a strong “coolness” factor associated with the martial arts. It’s been my growing belief that Kickstarter comic buyers (many of whose are creators) are very responsive to a cool “high concept” title.
I’m actually a little surprised at how positively people react just to the title alone. Then, when I ask them to imagine Kung Fu Hustle meets Night of the Living Dead, suddenly they’re offering to share a mention of it in their own backer update. Some of them have even picked up a copy of the comic.
Once they’ve cracked it open, I hope they experience the thrill of a chase, the fear of a relentless pursuit, and the absurdity of ultra-violence that’s equal part ewww and owww!
I want readers to feel like they’re in a painting, a scary painting; or better yet, a scary painting on a roller-coaster. With a sword.
But like with my work in A Tiger’s Tale, it’s rooted in some deep research into some obscure texts. And it features Hopping Vampires.
Describe the process of developing the story. Where did the initial idea come from, and how is the final book different from early drafts?
The comic and character is based on a Taoist folk myth and one of the older literary examples of the “monster hunter” archetype, one that precedes Dr. Van Helsing by a large margin.
It’s one of the many examples of the rich history and folk mythology of the traditional martial arts of Asia. That research and folklore made fertile ground for the seed on an idea.
Using the lore as an origin point, I worked backwards, asking myself, what formidable antagonist would be suitably iconic and equally obscure?
Enter one of Taoism’s weirder creatures, the jiāngshī (殭屍) or hopping vampire.
Wikipedia defines the jiāngshī as “a type of undead creature or reanimated corpse in Chinese legends and folklore… commonly represented as hopping or leaping. In folkloric accounts, however, it is more formidable, capable of giving chase by running, and if sufficiently ancient or if it has absorbed sufficient yang energy, capable also of flight…. In both popular culture and folklore, it is represented either as anthropophagous (i.e. man-eating), therefore resembling Eastern European vampires, or as killing living creatures by absorbing their qi, or ‘life force.'”
Once I had my conceptual Yin & Yang, antagonist & protagonist, it occurred to me I could build the comic around the genre tropes of horror, kung fu, and comedy.
All of that conceptual work resulted in a short comic, a zine which worked as a rough proof of concept. I printed some ashcans and gave many away, but set that experiment aside to work on the more recent projects I mentioned.
Then a number of things happened at the very beginning of 2025:
- I noticed my comics would be published in three books in 2025 but I had nothing for 2026
- I felt I needed to check with my Kickstarter audience and test my reach.
- I stumbled upon a bit of research that inspired expanding upon that initial zine.
- I realized the story could fit into my larger series but stand alone and maybe draw an older audience.
After checking in with some people whose opinions I trust, I determined the format 1-shot; something which can act as a proof of concept for where I’m at as an artist, storyteller, indie-publisher & crowdfunder.
The title came last, it was originally going to be Main Character + Subtitle, but that subtitle proved to make a much more evocative title. Thanks once again to good feedback and timing.
What was your favorite part of making this book?
Revisiting an idea that I thought wouldn’t grow any further. I don’t know that the project changed, I think it was something in me.
My vision for my work changed just enough to let new info foster new inspiration. Then expressing and exploring all of that visually is great fun, it’s also maybe my best form of meditation.
Are there any other books or creators who especially inspired you for this project?
I would definitely point to Geoff Darrow’s comic series Shaolin Cowboy, as well as Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima.
Those were both books that left a long-lasting impression on me, and I wanted to uncover some of that energy in this comic. I’m really far behind in my reading for inspiration so many of my references for the craft side of things are drawn from memories.
As I mention above, a lot of my current reading is for research; the lore stuff and also the crowdfunding.
How can people connect with you?
I post comics, news & reviews on PLUGOarts.com – that’s where anyone can subscribe to my newsletter, much of my comics stuff shows up there first. I’m not too hard to find on social media @PLUGO or @PLUGOarts.
But if people want to immediately connect, UKGK.site points to the Kickstarter campaign for my current comic and its associated activities. I would love for you to support me there!
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