What do you think?
Rate this book
Deathreats: The Life and Times of a Comic Book Rock Star
Deathreats provides an intimate look inside the mind of Drew Hayes, one of the comic book world's most controversial and colorful celebrities. It's a primary source of publishing history in the independent age of popular arts. In each issue of Poison Elves, Drew wrote a "Starting Note," his own deeply personal editorial in which he spoke his mind on everything from the state of the comic book industry to the state of his love life, with an occasional diatribe on music, movies, modern art, and anything else that intrigued him - or pissed him off! This volume collects all 100 of the Starting Notes from Poison Elves (annotated and illustrated to provide biographical context), as well as extended excerpts from Drew's most revealing Deathreats letter columns.
384 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2009
About the author
Drew Hayes
111 books31 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Drew Hayes
Drew Hayes (Lawrence Andrew Hayes, 20 July 1969 – 21 March 2007) was a writer and graphic artist who is best known as the creator of the long-running independent comic book series Poison Elves .
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, 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 ten 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, 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.
From Wikipedia
Please see: Drew Hayes
Drew Hayes (Lawrence Andrew Hayes, 20 July 1969 – 21 March 2007) was a writer and graphic artist who is best known as the creator of the long-running independent comic book series Poison Elves .
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, 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 ten 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, 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.
From Wikipedia
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 27, 2016
When I gave up buying individual comic issues in favor of hardcover or trade collections, Poison Elves was the one title I kept up with on a monthly (or not so monthly) basis, due entirely to creator Drew Hayes's Starting Notes and Deathreats columns. It was through these columns, particularly the Starting Notes, that readers got to know the man behind the incredible stories. In fact, the stories about his personal life often rivaled his characters' adventures.
Drew died a couple of years ago, way too young. That thought still hits me hard, especially when I see that brick of Poison Elves trade paperbacks on my bookshelf. Fortunately series publisher Sirius has come up with the perfect way to remember the man behind the elves. Deathreats is a complete collection of every Starting Note and Deathreat column from the Poison Elves and I Lusiphur issues, as well as the various trade paperbacks, all presented chronologically with a few choice illustrations.
This collection is the perfect back story to the Poison Elves saga. We got to witness Drew go from a self-publisher to a minor star in the comics world, and get his heart broken (repeatedly) along the way. That and you'd hear about the latest crazy psychobilly band he was digging. You felt like you knew the guy, and you always knew where he stood. That, and he just plain had a way with words that made me smile.
Honestly, I feel like I got some closure thanks to this collection. Obviously we'll never know how Poison Elves would have played out, but reading Drew's writings in a format likes this is the ideal way to eulogize the man and say goodbye to one of comics' most under-appreciated geniuses.
Drew died a couple of years ago, way too young. That thought still hits me hard, especially when I see that brick of Poison Elves trade paperbacks on my bookshelf. Fortunately series publisher Sirius has come up with the perfect way to remember the man behind the elves. Deathreats is a complete collection of every Starting Note and Deathreat column from the Poison Elves and I Lusiphur issues, as well as the various trade paperbacks, all presented chronologically with a few choice illustrations.
This collection is the perfect back story to the Poison Elves saga. We got to witness Drew go from a self-publisher to a minor star in the comics world, and get his heart broken (repeatedly) along the way. That and you'd hear about the latest crazy psychobilly band he was digging. You felt like you knew the guy, and you always knew where he stood. That, and he just plain had a way with words that made me smile.
Honestly, I feel like I got some closure thanks to this collection. Obviously we'll never know how Poison Elves would have played out, but reading Drew's writings in a format likes this is the ideal way to eulogize the man and say goodbye to one of comics' most under-appreciated geniuses.
January 5, 2021
The must read companion to the Poison Elves series. It contains great notes for context and some artwork. Loved the series and I am so glad to have finally finished reading the series and this gem. Joy, laughter and ultimately melancholy await inside. Glad I was able to meet this dude.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews