Drew Hayes, creator of "Poison Elves", Dead.

[captain_slinky]

Sirius Entertainment is saddened to report that Drew Hayes, the maverick creator of POISON ELVES, has died in his hometown of Bellingham, Washington. Drew had a heart attack while suffering from pneumonia. He is survived by his daughter, Mary and his mother, Sharon.

This is a hard one for me. The early days of Poison Elves bck in the 90's were some of the most defining issues of my post-highschool world! You really can't get the feeling for Poison Elves from a trade paperback collection, because 40% of the story was contained in Drew's letters page each month. He would ramle on about his personal life, and you could completely see it translating in to the story that was unfolding in the pages of his magazine. It was a magical experience, and he made every single reader feel like they were a part of the writing process.

I met Drew on a few of the rare occasions when he would do a convention or two, and even once (*choke*) bought him a pack of smokes to show my appreciation for the excellent series. And now he's dead, from a heart attack. Can't help but feel a little responsible.

If you get the chance, buy the back issues of Poison Elves from your back issue boxes at your local shop; don't waste your money on the TPB collections. Read each issue from cover to cover, including the ads and even the small-print copywrite statement of ownership (different in each issue). And by the end of issue 12 you'll agre that this is an epic story unlike any other comics experience.

Goodbye, Mr. Drew Hayes... thanks for the great comics.

Comments

[dotgirl.livejournal.com]

Oh, man ...

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

Exactly.

So I guess I have a new mission while at the ECCC this year... locate all the back issues of Poison Elves!

[sasjhwa.livejournal.com]

He lived down the hall from me for a while at college. I'm not sure if he was a student or not (he wasn't there long if I recall) but he liked the Audio Land comics and gave me some drawing advice. Sad.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

It may have been one of the times he was shaking-up with a girlfriend or his ex-wife... he was very transient right up till the end of things. Pretty much stayed in the Ferndale/B'ham area, spent a *tiny* amount of time drifting around Sedro Wooley/Burlington... always wanted to move to Texas.

His death really has me thinking aout stuff. Alot.

[supernovame.livejournal.com]

You know, at a convention once, you know the freebies table at the front? Well, at the end of the show, when everyone was packing up, I glanced at it to see if anything new had been put out. There was a bagged and boarded copy of Poison Elves. I had not even heard of them before. The only one sitting there too. It looked like it had actually been personally colored and had some changes, like someone had made their own comic and colored it and did the letters and all. I didn't think it was a real comic at the time. It is somewhere in my many boxes. I should pull it out and take a look. I didn't know the guy was local. Maybe he left it himself?

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

He may have done just that. He hated doing conventions.