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Lawrence Andrew "Drew" Hayes (July 20, 1969 – March 21, 2007) was a writer and
comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the literary ...
who is best known as the creator of the long-running independent comic book series ''
Poison Elves ''Poison Elves'' is a black-and-white comic book by the late artist/writer Drew Hayes, concerning the life and times of an elf named Lusiphur. Origins and influences Drew Hayes' work was influenced by ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Elfquest'', and ...
''.


Biography

Hayes' early influences included ''
Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...
'', ''
Elfquest ''Elfquest'' (or ''ElfQuest'') is a comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978, and still owned by them. It is a fantasy story about a community of Elves (Elfquest), elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and ...
'', and '' Cerebus''. Hayes began
self-publishing Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fro ...
''I, Lusiphur'' under the Mulehide Graphics imprint in 1991. He changed the series title to ''Poison Elves'' with issue #8 (Feb 1993), and continued through issue #20 (Feb 1995). During this period, he was a prominent example of creators distributing their black-and-white comics to the
direct market The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of: * three major comic distributors: ** Luna ...
. In 1995, Hayes brought ''Poison Elves'' to
Sirius Entertainment Sirius Entertainment is an American comic book company that operated from 1994 to . Sirius Entertainment was founded by Robb Horan and Larry Salamone and was dedicated from the outset to publishing creator-owned properties. Originally based in ...
; and, in 2000, according to Sirius publisher Robb Horan, Hayes "signed a long-term agreement for the property that was specifically intended to allow for an expanding universe and an unhindered continuation of the relationship under any circumstances." With Sirius, Hayes produced another 79 issues of ''Poison Elves'' and a color special, the last of which was published in September 2004. During this time, Hayes engaged in an ongoing mock "feud" with fellow comics creator
Brian Bendis Brian Michael Bendis (; born August 18, 1967) is an American comic book writer and artist. Starting with crime and noir comics, Bendis eventually moved to mainstream superhero work. While at Marvel Comics, Bendis worked with Bill Jemas and Mark ...
in the letters pages of their books. Sirius published twelve ''Poison Elves'' paperbacks, as well as a number of ''Poison Elves'' short series and one-shots, most of which were produced by other creative teams.


Death

Hayes suffered from health problems which hampered his ability to create comics. He was overweight, had suffered cardiac damage from
sleep apnea Sleep apnea (sleep apnoea or sleep apnœa in British English) is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which repetitive Apnea, pauses in breathing, periods of shallow breathing, or collapse of the upper airway during sleep results in poor vent ...
, and had been hospitalized more than once. After undergoing treatment in the hospital and losing weight, he planned to resume creating new issues of ''Poison Elves'', but died at the age of 37, of a heart attack while suffering from
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
.


Works

* ''Deaththreats, The Life and Times of a Comic Book Rock Star'' (
Sirius Entertainment Sirius Entertainment is an American comic book company that operated from 1994 to . Sirius Entertainment was founded by Robb Horan and Larry Salamone and was dedicated from the outset to publishing creator-owned properties. Originally based in ...
, 2009, 384 pages, ) — collects all 100 of the ''Starting Notes'' from ''Poison Elves'' (annotated and illustrated to provide context), as well as extended excerpts from Hayes' ''Deathreats'' letter columns.


''Poison Elves'' comics

* ''I, Lusiphur''/''Poison Elves'' * ''Poison Elves Overstreet Fan Edition'' * ''Lusipher and Lirilith'' * ''Requiem for an Elf'' * ''Traumatic Dogs'' * ''Desert of the Third Sin'' * ''Patrons'' * ''The Mulehide Years (collection of vol 1–4)'' * ''Sanctuary'' * ''Guild War'' * ''Salvation'' * ''Rogues''


Other art

* "Season in the Sun" (poster) * "The Pub Scene" (color print) * "Hyena" (B&W print) * "Dryad" (color print) * "Cover Prints" * "Strange Attractors/Poison Elves Jam Poster" – with Michael Cohen. * Poison Elves T-shirts (four different designs) * Poison Elves Limited Edition Portfolio I – A set of six plates reprinting covers from Mulehide issues of the comic and a new plate. * Poison Elves
trading card A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other t ...
s


Art in other comics

* ''Hunters'' printed in
Elfquest ''Elfquest'' (or ''ElfQuest'') is a comic book property created by Wendy and Richard Pini in 1978, and still owned by them. It is a fantasy story about a community of Elves (Elfquest), elves and other fictional species who struggle to survive and ...
—Hidden Years, #10, Blood of Ten Chiefs #4, and New Blood #13. * ''Necromancer'' #3 * ''Moon Marauders'' (pinup ) * ''Strange Attractors'' #6-#8 (coloring for the cover art) * ''Drew Fiend's Rare Bit Haze'' (appears in ''Roarin' Rick's Rare Bit Fiends'' #5) * ''G.A.S.P.'' contains excerpt from ''Poison Elves'' #17 * ''Indy'' #10 for interview with
Dan DeBono Daniel DeBono (born November 13, 1964, in Detroit, Michigan) is an American writer and novelist. Early life Daniel DeBono grew up in Chesterfield, Michigan. He graduated from L'anse Creuse High School North and attended Wayne State University in ...
(cover art with
Barry Blair Barry Blair (1954 – January 3, 2010)Muir, AdrianThe Art of Barry Blair and Colin Walbridge (Blair tribute web site).Accessed March 3, 2011. was a Canadian comics publisher, artist and writer, known for launching Aircel Comics (publisher of tit ...
) * ''Wandering Star'' #9 (pinup art) * ''Overstreet's Fan'' #7 (illustration of Lusiphur on the cover.) * ''Overstreet's Fan'' #10 (cover art) * ''The Crow'' (appears in ''Mythography'' #1)


Miscellaneous art

* "Lady Death Chromium II" (Card #64) * "Strangers in Paradise Card Set" (Card #76)


Further reading

* *


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Drew 1969 births 2007 deaths American comics artists American comics writers