A WNC native, Jeff Messer has worked for many years in the local theater scene. He spent five years with iHeartMedia as a radio talk show host, giving focus to Asheville’s political, arts, and entertainment scene. A late-in-life career shift saw him transition into the world of comics, with the 2018 book “Mike Grell: Life Is Drawing Without An Eraser” for TwoMorrows Publishing, which was nominated for a 2019 Eisner Award. The same year, he co-founded Mike Grell’s Masterstroke Studios, with the aim of bringing Grell’s creator-owned works back to publication. He also launched his own comic publishing endeavors in 2019, creating the graphic novel series “Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood,” and the ongoing comics series “Sex, Spies, & Rock ‘n Roll” (an anthology series of 1980s spy adventures.)
In 2019 and 2022 he filmed nearly 20 interviews with comic book creators for his series, “Issues With” which will see release in 2023.
He lives in Asheville, with his wife Kelli, and their three kids.
