[1] Hayes and his younger brother were into pop culture and comic books, including Little Lulu, Uncle Scrooge, Sugar and Spike, and Dick Tracy.

All through their teens the boys continued to make comics, home-made movies, and later, fanzines.

[1] After high school, Hayes moved to New York City to pursue a career as an illustrator and cartoonist.

He contributed to a few underground comix during this period (including Bogeyman and Arcade), mostly in collaboration with Rory, who was developing a reputation as a groundbreaking cartoonist in that genre.

Hayes died on June 2, 2017, of natural causes in Asheville, North Carolina at age 69.