The Love of Ed Piskor's Life (Besides Comics)

The love of Ed Piskor’s life (besides comics) seems to have been a research scientist who taught at one of Pittsburgh’s many fine universities. Ed was even known to have ditched the Pirates cap and Public Enemy jersey and actually don a suit and tie for their cultural evenings on the town, I am told. In his final message, Ed wrote of her:

My greatest relationship began at the end of Covid thanks to meeting on Instagram. A rocky but amazing 3-year relationship with someone who taught me true love. That said, I’m so glad we broke things off when we did so that she doesn’t get any slack. She’s way better off. Hope you’re well, Clam. I never stopped loving you. This all happened before I knew you.

Ed Piskor's Agent: Don't Call Us, We'll Call You!

I keep returning to the point that no one has ever claimed to have been harmed by Ed Piskor in any way—not physically, emotionally, or in terms of their career. No one claims to have been assaulted, molested, raped, sexually harassed in the workplace or online, promised a tangible, concrete career benefit in exchange for sex, threatened with career retaliation if sex were refused, pinched on the bottom, or anything of the sort. No one claims to have been harmed or injured in any way whatsoever.

The Ed Piskor "Grooming" Hoax: A Recap

It has been ninety days since we lost Ed Piskor, a brilliant cartoonist and comics historian whose career was only beginning to ramp up. Here, in under 4000 words, is a comprehensive summation of what is known after three months:

Beat to Death: The Ed Piskor "Grooming" Hoax

On Saturday, May 30, 2024, an acquaintance messaged me: “Off topic, but can you believe all that crap going on with Piskor??” I hadn’t heard a word about Ed Piskor—apparently, I was living on the dark side of the moon—even though social media had blown up the Saturday before.

Newsflash: Multiple Women Were Fond of Ed!

This hasn’t gone viral (yet), but I’m sure when the “trained ninja” staff at comics’ most lethal gossip site finds out about this, that will change in a hurry. It’s a post from Reddit from a month ago:

The Death of Socrates and What We Athenians Should Do About It

One argument that will surely trigger me in 2024 and beyond goes something like: “For all we know, Ed suffered from depression and was already suicidal.” If you have the temerity or foolishness to run this notion past this 62-year-old cartoonist, you had best be on the other side of the table and prepared to run like hell and disappear into the crowd when you do so. And make sure somebody’s ready to capture all this on their smartphone, too—the video will surely go viral.

The Comix Beat-Up Complete Guide to Outing Your Groomer!

For decades, comix beat-up has been your source for finding out who will be rebooting West Coast Avengers six months from now! But we’re much more than that—

Ed Piskor and Figure Drawing

Jim Rugg and Ed Piskor discuss the importance of figure drawing in my work (transcribed from Cartoonists Kayfabe videos):

Read It and Weep: Collected Writings, April 2024

I’ve posted a number of times on social media since the passing of Ed Piskor (1982-2024) and have written a couple pieces for publication elsewhere. Several people have commented that they have found my words consoling, although I want to stress that I wrote purely for my own personal, selfish, therapeutic reasons—to help me process this awful tragedy and loss. For what they may be worth, I’ve gathered them here for the record:

F is for CKRS

It’s all too easy to blame some abstract, toxic social media for recent events. That notwithstanding, this is what I wrote down in my private journal last year (August 31, 2023) about one very specific, concrete element within that toxicity:

Writing on Ed and Life

It feels like I've written about 10,000 words since the passing of Edward R. Piskor, Jr. (1982-2024) on April 1, and it's only April 12, less than two weeks. I've been gratified to hear from several people, both friends and strangers, who have found some comfort in those words. Of course, I've been writing for completely selfish reasons, to process my own feelings about the tragedy.

You Want a Piece of Me? The Art of the Transactional

“You want a piece of me?”

Perhaps the most hilarious moment in Seinfeld is when Frank Costanza, played by the great Jerry Stiller, asks Elaine, played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “You want a piece of me?” Even funnier is the blooper reel of outtakes as Jerry repeatedly delivers the line to Julia, who can’t keep from cracking up.

Toxic Alan Fans and Their Disappointing Discourse

The author of X-Amount of Comics: 1963 (WhenElse?!) Annual assails the paucity of critical debate surrounding the work ...

Convoluted Comics & Stories: Retroactive World-Building the Megaton Man Universe!

My former publisher recently remarked on how I should have ditched my convoluted storylines and just focused on hit-and-run spoofs of industry trends back in the day. That advice comes about forty years too late, since I have since fallen down the rabbit hole of continuity and retroactive world-building.