This week’s post on my blog isn’t about my tools, about pages from the Sunnyville comic, or about any of the characters. It’s about a friend who I won’t be seeing again…at least not in this universe.
I want to speak about a man by the name of Rusty Haller. Rusty Haller was a comic book pro from New Haven, Connecticut. He did his own work called Ace and Queenie, an independent comic series published about a crime fighting duo. Haller was much better known however for his work on various licensed properties. He did comics for famous characters like Deputy Dawg, Alf, the Flintstones, and Count Duckula just to name a few.
I first met Rusty in person while at Furfright 2007 being held in Connecticut back on October 19-21, 2007. I had a table in the dealer room where I was selling a comics zine I had done recently. Rusty Haller had a table down from me and on the final day, I was chatting with him. He was not only a good guy, but he drew so damn well. Eventually, he had to leave his home state of Connecticut due to money problems and anguish over the passing of his mother, eventually moving in with someone else over in Ohio.
I was preparing to mail a copy of the Rusty and Sam #1 minicomic I had done to my distant friend and colleague. It wasn’t until I returned late that night from one of my life drawing classes that I found out the awful news. In the early morning hours of September 30, 2009, Rusty Haller died.
I still don’t know of the exact cause. From what I understand, it was most likely due to complications from diabetes. He had mentioned that he had diabetes and it went undiagnosed for a long time.
His page on DeviantArt still remains up so you can view samples of his work. Sadly, it’s also turned into a memorial to the late artist. I still miss him so much.
Rusty Haller 1964-2009
