Comics artist Ed Piskor, known for his multivolume “Hip Hop Family Tree,” died last week after posting a lengthy note on social media about an accusation of sexual misconduct led a Pittsburgh gallery to indefinitely postpone an exhibition of his work.
The death of Piskor, who lived in Munhall, Pa., was confirmed by a funeral home, but no cause was given. Many people are reading her social media note – where she repeatedly mentions her death – as a suicide note.
Two of Piskor’s relatives declined to comment. The chief of the Munhall Police Department said Piskor died outside of Pennsylvania.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, a nonprofit arts group, announced last month that it would not be opening the five-month exhibition as planned after a woman accused Piskor of trying to “marry” her in 2020, when she was in high school, and posted screenshots from their online conversations.
Piskor, 41, apologized for the messages on his note and said he shouldn’t have spoken to the teenager. He also addressed separate allegations from another actress, who said they had a consensual sexual relationship.
His agent, Bob Mecoy, said the artist defined himself through his work and was devastated by what the future held.
Piskor felt that “no matter what the circumstances were, what the reality of the situation was, his career was over, and what he had to offer would be undesirable no matter what he did,” Mecoy said.
In Piskor’s note, he expressed frustration that his exhibition had been postponed, and criticized what he called online lynch mobs, saying they contributed to his death.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust said in a statement last month that the allegation against Piskor was “very serious” and that the exhibit, which was supposed to feature original illustrations from the “Hip Hop Family Tree,” would not open as planned.
In a statement after his death, the trust said: “We are deeply saddened by this tragic news. Our thoughts are with Ed’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
“Hip Hop Family Tree” chronicles the early history of hip-hop, including its feuds and friendships. The comic series — for which Piskor did the research, writing, illustrations, lettering and coloring — began in 2012 as an ongoing one-page feature on the website Boing Boing and was compiled by Fantagraphics. Its second volume was named best fact-based work at the 2015 Eisners, the comics industry’s equivalent of the Oscars.
Rapper Chuck D, of Public Enemy, said in a statement that he salutes Piskor’s work.
“His detail in the story and artwork for myself and all of hip-hop served as an informative foundation of visual reality in places that other media could not reach,” he said.
For Marvel, Piskor created “X-Men: Grand Design,” a chronological retelling of the history of the X-Men that tried to make sense of the twists and turns in the lives of mutants. The collection is presented in yellow pages, giving it the appearance of an older comic.
The goal, Piskor wrote in 2018took thousands of pages of the first X-Men volumes and created a “satisfying 240-page story that includes all the essential elements, but none of the fluff, excess or deus ex machina from the series.”
Piskor also had a popular comic book podcast, “Cartoonist Kayfabe,” with artist Jim Rugg. He will be remembered for his boundless enthusiasm and as a proselytizer for comics, said Gary Groth, the co-founder of Fantagraphics and the editor in chief of The Comics Journal.
“A lot of artists are obsessed and a lot of artists are focused and driven, but Ed has a kind of indiscriminate, omnivorous passion,” Groth says. “He loves everything about comics.”
If you are having suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources.
