Acclaimed comic book artist Ed Piskor passes away at the age of 41.
Piskor’s passing was confirmed on April 1 in a Facebook post by his sister, Justine Cleaves. Piskor is best known for the Eisner Award-winning Hip-Hop Family Tree which he produced in its entirety, as well as for writing and illustrating 2018’s X-Men: Grand Design. An obituary for Piskor notes, “he is survived by his loving parents, Edward R., Sr., and Diane (Blazevich) Piskor; cherished siblings, Robert (Natalie) Piskor, Justine (Joshua) Cleaves, and Brianna Piskor; and treasured nieces and nephews, Lucy, Calvin, Carson, and Brynn.”
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Hip-Hop Family Tree, which began as a one-page semi-regular ongoing feature in the pages of Boing Boing from 2012 until 2015, charted the beginnings of the genre as well as key moments in its history throughout the decades. The series was collected into an oversized format by Fantagraphics, which includes four main volumes and one omnibus. Individual entries within Hip-Hop Family Tree covered the rise of Hip-Hop as a whole, as well as the rises, careers, and continued influence of artists and industry mainstays such as DJ Kool Herc, the Beastie Boys, Ice-T, and Rick Rubin.
In 2017, Piskor wrote and illustrated X-Men: Grand Design for Marvel Comics. The two-part series served as a historical breakdown of the eponymous team of mutant heroes, its individual members, their adversaries, and many of their greatest struggles. The series is presented at least in part under the guise of being the tellings of Uatu the Watcher, who is recounting everything he has observed and learned regarding the mutants of Earth in the primary Marvel Universe.
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Piskor also co-hosted the podcast and YouTube channel known as Cartoonist Kayfabe, the latter of which has grown to nearly 100,000 subscribers on the platform. The podcast typically revolved around discussions about the comics industry, especially as it relates to artists. The series frequently featured artist-to-artist interviews, with industry icons including Hellboy creator Mike Mignola making appearances on the show. Piskor and his co-host Jim Rugg recently parted ways, with the latter stating that he was ending his “working relationship” with Piskor due to ongoing controversy surrounding allegations of sexual misconduct against the Hip-Hop Family Tree creator.
Source: Facebook
