Cartoonist Kayfabe's Ed Piskor Dead At 41

[ZariusTwo]

Comic book artist Ed Piskor, best known for “Hip Hop Family Tree” and “X-Men: Grand Design” as well as being the cohost of YouTube talk show “Cartoonist Kayfabe,” died Monday, his family announced. He was 41 years old.

“It is with the most broken heart that I share my big brother, Ed, has passed away today,” his sister Justine wrote on Facebook. “Please just keep our family in your prayers as this is the hardest thing we’ve ever had to go through.”

Piskor’s cause of death has not been made public. But prior to his death, he posted what appeared to be a suicide note in which he addressed — and denied — accusations of inappropriate sexual behavior that became public just a week earlier.


The weekend of March 24, artist Molly Dwyer, 21, accused Piskor of attempting to “groom” her when she was 17 years old and called him “a creep.” As evidence, she released screenshots of texts between her and Piskor from 2020, including one that read, “Are you 17 or 18? Imma be so mad if you say 17 because this crushes me at that age.”

Soon after, another woman, Molly Wright, accused Piskor of asking her for oral sex in exchange for giving her his agent’s phone number.

An exhibition of Piskor’s art was scheduled to begin in April at the 707 Penn Gallery in Pittsburgh, but on March 25 it was indefinitely postponed after the allegations became public, according to the Pittsburgh City Paper.

On March 30, “Cartoonist Kayfabe” cohost Jim Rugg publicly broke business ties with Piskor, writing, “In light of this past week’s shocking revelations, I find it necessary to reevaluate my professional associations to ensure they align with my values of respect and integrity. Therefore, I have ended my working relationship with Ed Piskor.”

On Monday morning, Piskor wrote in a Facebook post, “I’m helpless against a mob of this magnitude. Please share my side of things. Sayonara,” including a link to an apparent suicide note that directly addresses a number of people close to Piskor. He also addresses people who have criticized him, including the aforementioned women.

https://www.thewrap.com/ed-piskor-di...y-tree-artist/