[4] His right arm was amputated above the shoulder in infancy because of a cancerous tumor;[5] he writes and draws with his left hand.

His first ongoing series was Journey: The Adventures of Wolverine MacAlistaire, about 19th-century Michigan frontier life, which he both wrote and illustrated.

He and artist Greg LaRocque introduced Linda Park as a supporting character in the series in The Flash vol.

[8] In 2005, following years of limited freelance work and the loss of his and his wife's home in the early 2000s, Messner-Loebs's financial condition was publicized in the local newspaper and comics news sites and Internet message boards.

[15][16] Author Clifford Meth teamed up with artist Neal Adams to create a benefit auction to help Messner-Loebs.

[17] The two also created an art tribute book entitled Heroes & Villains with all proceeds aiding Messner-Loebs.

A new "Journey" story was included in the one-shot Many Happy Returns in 2008, and IDW Publishing reprinted the original material in paperback.

He has done illustration work for the 2007 humor book Chicken Wings for the Beer Drinker's Soul and a monthly cartoon for the Livingston [County, MI] Parent Journal.

[22] In 2019, he co-wrote, with Amy Chu, issues #3–5 of the limited series Kiss: The End for Dynamite Entertainment, and contributed to an independent comic book anthology called YEET Presents.