In 1998, Kelly graduated from the
Minneapolis College of Art and Design where he studied under comic book artist
Peter Gross. He began illustrating for magazines and newspapers before obtaining commissions for comic book illustration. He worked with Gross on the
DC Comics series
Lucifer and
The Books of Magic, both under the
Vertigo imprint. From 2000 to 2007, he was part of the MCAD staff, teaching classes on Comic Book creation and illustration. In 2004, he illustrated the political satire
Giant Robot Warriors He illustrated the entire twelve issue run of the
Oni Press comics series
Local, written by
Brian Wood, a story arc ("The Cross + the Hammer") for Wood's
Northlanders, and the
DC/Vertigo ongoing series
Saucer Country by
Paul Cornell. In 2020, he pencilled the
Stranger Things tie-in comic miniseries
Stranger Things: Into the Fire published by
Dark Horse Comics. In addition to his comics art work he has had various Minneapolis area exhibitions of his painted work. He has produced illustrations for Time Magazine and Rolling Stone. ==Bibliography==