I, Lusiphur #4
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeI, Lusiphur #4 holds a firm place in the continuity of Drew Hayes' groundbreaking creator-owned universe as the debut issue for Jace san Lanargaith — the elven soldier who would become one of Lusiphur's most enduring companions throughout the entire Poison Elves saga. The issue also introduces the Purple Marauder, a deliberately absurdist superhero parody that signals Hayes' willingness to blend tonal registers in a fantasy-noir black-and-white series that helped define the early-1990s independent comics aesthetic. Both characters proved significant enough that this issue's material was reprinted as part of Sirius Entertainment's Poison Elves #1 ("Requiem for an Elf") in 1996, giving the debut appearances a wide second life once the book moved to a mainstream indie publisher. As part of the I, Lusiphur run — itself a pivotal stop on the road toward the creator-owned movement that exploded later that decade — every issue in this short-lived original series carries weight as raw, self-published evidence of what one determined solo artist could accomplish outside the direct-market mainstream.
In "Similitude of a Hero," Lusiphur finds himself caught between camaraderie and temptation when a mysterious elf named Jace and the enigmatic Farallah draw him into an unexpected evening. The night takes a bizarre turn when the absurd, over-the-top superhero parody "The Purple Marauder" crashes the scene—leaving Lusiphur to wonder if the real danger lies in the illusion of heroism itself. Written, drawn, inked, and lettered by Drew Hayes, with cover art by Hayes, this 1992 Mulehide Graphics gem blends surreal humor with a touch of unease in a story that’s as sharp as it is strange.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Drew Hayes launched I, Lusiphur under his own Mulehide Graphics imprint in December 1991, writing, penciling, inking, and coloring every page himself — an almost entirely solo production typical of the era's most passionate small-press autodidacts. Hayes' admitted creative touchstones were Elfquest, Cerebus, and his own Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, and the visual personality of Lusiphur himself was consciously modeled on punk and industrial music figures including Lux Interior of The Cramps, Glenn Danzig, and Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy. Issue #4 was lettered by Sarah Hayes — the only consistent outside contributor named in the GCD's production credits for the run — and published in June 1992, mid-way through the seven-issue stretch before the title rechristened itself Poison Elves with #8 after a fan letter prompted Hayes to distance the book from its Lucifer-adjacent name.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Story title: 'Similitude of a Hero' — written, penciled, inked, and colored entirely by Drew Hayes; lettered by Sarah Hayes.
- Published June 1992 by Mulehide Graphics; 28 pages, black-and-white format.
- First appearance of Jace san Lanargaith, described in the Poison Elves mythos as a fully trained elven soldier and one of Lusiphur's few genuine allies.
- First appearance of the Purple Marauder, a self-aware superhero parody who attacks Lusiphur and his companions in the story.
- Plot: Lusiphur drinks with new companions — including the newly introduced Jace — and is lured home by the character Farallah, only for the evening to be interrupted by the Purple Marauder's assault.
- The entirety of this issue's content was later reprinted in Poison Elves (Sirius Entertainment) #1, subtitled 'Requiem for an Elf' (1996), giving both first appearances a major-publisher reprint.
- The series ran under the I, Lusiphur title for seven issues (December 1991–December 1992) before retitling as Poison Elves beginning with #8; the Mulehide run as a whole totaled 20 issues.
- The Mulehide-era issues, including this one, were published in a larger magazine-size format and were all self-published before Sirius Entertainment picked up the title in spring 1995.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Poison Elves #1 (1996), Poison Elves: The Mulehide Years #[nn] (2001)
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