It’s been confirmed by multiple sources that Ed Piskor is dead at 41. Piskor, whose most notable creation was probably Hip Hop Family Tree, also did X-Men: Grand Design for Marvel, as well as Wizzywig and Red Room, the latter a very detailed and often disturbing look at internet murder sites. Allegedly, he committed suicide, but it does not seem that’s official yet. So, Piskor is dead, and that’s a shame.
However … it’s the circumstances that led to his death that are controversial, and why many (male) comic creators are tweeting about it. I didn’t know Piskor, so I don’t feel the tragedy of it all – I’ve often said that I don’t get the emotional outpouring that accompanies the deaths of people we don’t know and who have very little real impact on our lives – but I get why so many people who did know him are distraught, especially if it is, in fact, suicide. Last week, Piskor was a darling of the indie comics scene. Then, allegations of sexual impropriety surfaced over the weekend, and now, he’s dead. A cartoonist accused him of grooming her when she was 17 (she’s 21 now), then another said he asked for a blowjob in exchange for his agent’s phone number. Jim Rugg made a statement that they would no longer be doing their YouTube videos together. Then Piskor posted a long “suicide note” on Facebook. It is certainly something to read. Piskor defends himself a bit, turns his baleful eye on several creators who he believes had it out for him, and bemoans his fate. He says he was “murdered by Internet bullies,” among other things. It’s a tough read.
This is a complex situation, made more so by the anger on both sides. As usual, things are difficult to parse, but the internet forces everyone into an either/or position, with nuance left on the side of the road. If Piskor really did commit suicide, as seems likely, then it’s clear there was a lot more wrong in his head than just this. Men have been accused of this kind of behavior for many years now, and even if it’s true, most of them manage to not kill themselves. Piskor’s note is written by someone who is obviously depressed, and I can’t imagine his family didn’t know he was suicidal even before this. I’m not saying that it’s partly “their fault,” but it’s clear from his note that this is something stemming at least from the COVID year, if not earlier. Piskor was, it seems, clinically depressed, and these accusations might have pushed him over the edge, but it doesn’t seem like it was all that difficult to get him there. It’s awful, but it’s clear that he was not all right, even before this happened.
Many people are angry about the “mob mentality” that “killed” Piskor. Yes, a “mob mentality” is awful, and mobs do horrible things. This stuff came so quickly that I haven’t seen much in the way of calling for Piskor’s head, even if it happened. I don’t spend hours on the internet looking for this kind of stuff. An art exhibition of his work in Pittsburgh (near where he lived) was canceled after the allegations came out, and according to Piskor, he was about to sign a lucrative deal with Abrams, which also evaporated. So that sucks for him, of course. But … he doesn’t really deny the allegations, does he? Well, the blowjob-for-favors thing he denies, claiming he would never do it, and he says the woman who made them initiated sex with him twice, but that was the extent of their relationship. It’s definitely he said/she said, and Piskor is correct in saying that women are capable of lying about this kind of stuff. But with the other stuff … he doesn’t deny it, just claims it was innocent. He says it was during COVID and he was lonely, and he was goofing around with her. But … he found out she was 17 and kept communicating with her, and as someone who has used the internet a lot, he should know that tone is very hard to translate across instant messages. I don’t understand how younger people, who have been using the internet for half (or more) of their lives still don’t understand its pitfalls. There are things you just don’t do, and Piskor – even if he was depressed because it was COVID and he was isolated – should have known that. He can claim “innocence” in his intentions even if he admits to writing the things he did, but that’s a tough thing to sell. On the other hand … is the girl herself completely innocent? Yes, she was 17, but 17 in 2020 is a lot different than 17 in, say, 1950, and she engaged with Piskor, presumably knowing who he was and how old he was. The minute he became “creepy,” why didn’t she disengage? I’m not saying she’s at fault, any more than Piskor’s family is at fault for not knowing he was suicidal, but if she didn’t like what Piskor was saying to her, she had the option of not communicating with him. I know it’s not that easy. I know, first-hand, how the trauma of sexual harassment can mess with a young woman’s psyche. But it’s not like she couldn’t avoid Piskor. She certainly could. And it also does not seem that Piskor ever actually met her. Internet harassment is a strange beast, because nothing Piskor did seemed to rise to any criminal level, and his defenders will argue it didn’t even rise to “harassment” level. Still, he was being creepy. He probably should have known better.
This is the horrible power of the internet. It connects us, sure, but it also gives rise to this kind of behavior, and it’s hard to disengage. If Piskor was clinically depressed and introverted, as it seems he was, the internet would have been a place where he could connect without being too vulnerable, which is a valuable thing. However, it’s far too easy to “joke” on-line and have it come off very poorly, if indeed you are joking. Also, Piskor writes in his note about his life being ruined, but it seems that he could have stopped going on-line for a while and everything would have blown over – this kind of thing does, especially if there’s no outright criminal behavior and the dude is just being creepy. But that seems like it wasn’t an option because of his own neuroses, which got wrapped up in an internet culture that is not terribly well-equipped to deal with shades of gray. People are calling Piskor a “predator,” which seems a bit extreme. His defenders are claiming he did nothing wrong, which also seems extreme. All I know is that a troubled and talented cartoonist is dead, and a young woman he made feel very uncomfortable might feel guilty about it and might become a target herself of the “mob mentality” – a different mob, to be sure, but with the same intent. Nothing good comes from this.
Here’s one of the stories about the allegations, and here’s a story about his death, which includes a link to his suicide note. It’s a tough read, if you do head on over there. This whole situation sucks, doesn’t it?