Happy Birthday, Rusty

Goodbye Rusty Haller

(August 12, 1964 – September 29, 2009)

Yesterday would have Rusty’s 48^th Birthday. Unfortunately it wasn’t because Rusty passed away in 2009 too soon at the age of 45. Rusty, in spite of his near anonymity, in the field of comics was a truly monstrously gifted individual and towering talent, he was a cartoonist, a writer, and perhaps one of the nicest guys that ever lived, and I feel personally privileged for having know him.

As it turns out, Rusty and I both came of age in this industry alongside each other, during the early ‘80s and — although we really didn’t know each other personally until recently, we lived amazingly near to each other. Both of us hail from Connecticut (me by the coast near NYC, and him more centrally located in the state), and we both initially got published by some of the same folks (including Marvel Comics). Unfortunately, Rusty had serious medical issues that took him from us way too soon.

Spanning his career, Rusty worked for several major comic publishers, including Marvel’s Star line, DC, Disney, Harvey, and Archie. He was also the creator, writer, and illustrator of the wonderful anthropomorphic romantic espionage and adventure series, Ace and Queenie. Self-taught, Rusty’s first published work was back in 1987 for a small Connecticut-based publisher, Spotlight Comics on a Deputy Dog story for Mighty Mouse Holiday Special #1.

He is best remembered for his work for numerous independent and small press publishers including (but not limited to) Radio Comix, Atlas Unleashed, and the Comicbook Artists Guild. Rusty created, wrote and illustrated Ace and Queenie, which first appeared in print as a feature in 2005 in the monthly anthology comic Furrlough. Ace and Queenie appeared in 13 issues of Furrlough from 2005 until the magazine ended its run in 2009 generating over 150 pages of printed art (not counting several online pages).

I really wish that I could say something of value or comfort, but this all feels hollow and useless. Rusty passed away, slipped through our fingers as it were, and I keep thinking that there was something more we all should have done to help him, though I’m not sure of that either. Still I morn for my, for our collective loss. Rusty we still miss you. There was so much more for you to give, and for us to get, and because that opportunity is now gone, we’re the poorer.

But Rusty is gone, and I almost missed his birthday. Sorry, pal, Happy Birthday, and we all still miss you.

Another pull from the Indie pile!

I’d like to talk a bit about a friend of mine, named Rusty Haller.

Rusty is a damn-fine cartoonist with quite an impressive history. His first published work was back in the late ‘80s for a small CT-based publisher named Spotlight Comics. Rusty did work on a Deputy Dog comic and Mighty Mouse Christmas Special as well as Terry Tunes (an assignment he landed though Jim Main at Main Enterprises). Soon after getting published at Spotlight, Rusty was able to score a very gig at Marvel’s line of Star Comics working on such titles as Danger Mouse, Count Duckla, Heathclif, and Alf. Rusty also produced some illustrations for Marvel Age (a title that I myself worked on back in the day). Over at DC he worked on Tiny Tune Adventures, Looney Tunes, and Animaniacks. In addition to this, he worked on various Flintstones and Harvey titles for Archie Comics. As well as book and magazine illustrations.

Not content wit working other people’s products, Rusty went on to create his own characters; Ace and Queenie an anthropomorphic action/adventure spy series that he has been producing for Furrlough Comics for over four years (generating over 150 pages of printed art). About 2 years ago, a little dissatisfied with his own progress on Ace & Queenie, Rusty brought his unique creation to the web, where fans can now not only read the new web adventure, but purchase print editions of Furrlough and other comics containing Rusty’s work. Rusty also posts his art at Deviantart and Furafininity.

Now I like Rusty a whole lot, he is a very knowledgeable and affable fellow, with a huge amount of talent, so I was extremely please when he give me a copy of The Licensable Bear(tm) Big Book of Fun!. This book is a collection of The Licensable Bear’s(tm) comicbook.

To be sure there are other cartoonist's art filling up the pages of the book, and the Bear himself is created and written by Nat Gertler, but I was there for Rusty’s work. To be fair to Nat and his Bear buddy, the book is a long joke, not several jokes, but a single joke. You see, the premise of the book is that Bear wants folks to license his image to put on stuff or promote their pet cause, and every single story is about the same exact thing.

You might wonder how many variations you can do on a single theme, and bless Nat’s dark little heart, he has found them all. Some of the stories are ordinary, and some are quite entertaining. Reading them all in one sitting is probably impossible (it took me a couple of months of going back to it over and over to finish it off), it is worth the endeavor.

In addition to all of the above, Rusty has contributed to CAGDog, the online comic produced for the web by several of the members of that group. He has also contributed to my buddies over at Free Lunch Comics.



Then, as stated, there is Rusty’s work on the very entertaining, and very sexy Ace and Queenie. If you are a fan of action/adventure, anthropomorphic comics, very exotic-looking characters (yes, they are quite attractive), or simply well-drawn, and well-written comics, then you owe it to yourself to run (don’t walk) over to Ace and Queenie and check out what Rusty has in store for you. The while you’re there, you should blow your entire allowance on as many back issues as you can afford.