Lawrence Andrew "Drew" Hayes (July 20, 1969 – March 21, 2007) was a writer and graphic artist 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'', an ...

'' . Hayes began self-publishing ''I, Lusiphur'' under the Mulehide Graphics imprint in 1991. He changed the series title to ''Poison Elves'' with #8, and continued through #20. During this period, he was a prominent example of creators distributing their black and white comics to the direct market. In 1995 he signed a "lifetime contract" assigning the rights to the series to

Sirius Entertainment Sirius Entertainment was an American comic book company which operated from 1994 to 2007. Sirius Entertainment was founded by Robb Horan, Joseph Michael Linsner, and Larry Salamone, Fassbender, Tom. "A Sirius Interview: With Two Sirius Guys," ...

, where he produced another 79 issues and a color special, the last of which was published in September 2004. His work has been collected in Twelve ''Poison Elves'' paperbacks. He engaged in an ongoing mock "feud" with fellow comics creator Brian Bendis in the letters pages of their books. Hayes suffered from health problems which hampered his ability to create comics. He was overweight, had suffered cardiac damage from

sleep apnea Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder in which pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep occur more often than normal. Each pause can last for a few seconds to a few minutes and they happen many tim ...

, 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 inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

Works

''Deaththreats,The Life and Times of a Comic Book Rock Star''

Sirius Entertainment, 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 Drew's ''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 cards

Art in other comics

* ''Hunters'' printed in Elfquest—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 (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 titl ...

) * ''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)