From “Stan’s Soapbox”, Bullpen Bulletins, December 1970

Let’s lay it right on the line. Bigotry and racism are among the deadliest social ills plaguing the world today. But, unlike a team of costumed supervillains, they can’t be halted with a punch in the snoot, or a zap from a ray gun. The only way to destroy them is to expose them – to reveal them for the insidious evils they really are. The bigot is an unreasoning hater – one who hates blindly, fanatically, indiscriminately. If his hang-up is black men, he hates ALL black men. If a redhead once offended him, he hates ALL redheads. If some foreigner beat him to a job, he’s down on ALL foreigners. He hates people he’s never seen – people he’s never known – with equal intensity – with equal venom. Now, we’re not trying to say it’s unreasonable for one human being to bug another. But, although anyone has the right to dislike another individual, it’s totally irrational, patently insane to condemn an entire race – to despise an entire nation – to vilify an entire religion. Sooner or later, we must learn to judge each other on our own merits. Sooner or later, if man is ever to be worthy of his destiny, we must fill our hearts with tolerance. For then, and only then, will we be truly worthy of the concept that man was created in the image of God – a God who calls us ALL – his children.

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.

Drew had been hospitalized more than once over the last several years, but his return to good health had been anticipated, so the suddenness of his passing was an unexpected shock to those that knew him. Drew was 37 years old.

Drew Hayes entered the comic book field in 1991 by self-publishing his cult-hit series, I, LUSIPHUR. Over the next four years, he published twenty issues (collected in POISON ELVES: THE MULEHIDE YEARS trade paperback), changed the series title to POISON ELVES, and became known as one of the most singular and respected voices in the self-publishing world. In a bold transition, Hayes brought POISON ELVES under the Sirius Entertainment banner, where his creative freedom remained wholly intact. The last completed issue of the on-going series was issue #79, published by Sirius in September of 2004. Hayes’ total output has surpassed 100 issues, many of which are collected in the ten POISON ELVES trade paperbacks.