In Memory of Ed Piskor

1982-2024

I had a 404EVER update ready to go with some new art, but it felt totally ridiculous to post it yesterday morning. Please forgive me, I’ll be back this weekend. The following message or eulogy or whatever you want to call it, is for a friend and comic creator who died yesterday. I know it may not make sense to some of you, but it will to those who knew Ed.

This is going to be about Ed, who he really was, and who he was to me. I’m trying to write something true and beautiful from a dark place and I’ve got a thousand different emotions trying to take control of my words. The e-mail I got from him yesterday morning was devastating, I can still barely get through it. Of course I’m sad and angry, angry and disappointed at some people. I can already hear Ed, in his deadpan way, saying “No shit, kiddo”. But I refuse to get into stuff that’s already making a bad situation worse. Nothing I can say will alter what some people think. Not telling anyone what to do, just talking about what I’m doing here. And I’m angry at myself, too. None of that matters right now.

The Ed I will always remember was the artist I could chat with at 4 or 5 in the morning, when I was still awake, drawing and learning at the same time, trying to untangle or just slice the absurd Gordian knot that is comics. And of course, Ed was already up and going at it, too; always on the grind. Jumping from the drafting table, to the camera with Jim, to the interview, to the plane. And he’d always have something funny or helpful to say, or some sage wisdom. Always something real and tangible. Some piece of advice from himself, or from the souls of legendary comic artists/writers he had absorbed into his brain. I’m telling you, Ed knew everything about the world of comics. It was his world.

He was that rare blend of the artist, the dreamer; mixed with the technician. He could do things the old way, the hard way, when he wanted to. He knew color mixing, the values, the paper types, the formatting, the drafting; the history and the why’s of it all. That’s not me, I’m a dreamy weirdo artist. I could scroll for miles through our messages and conversations about the craft, the never ending grind, the obsession, the gallows humor, the ridiculous horrors comic artists put themselves through to make art. There’s absolutely no chance I would be able to do the things I’m doing right now if not for very real support and education I got from Ed. And even if you didn’t know him personally, the viewers of Cartoonist Kayfabe know what I’m talking about.

He had so many more ideas and there’s no doubt he would have succeeded in bringing them to life. So many plans. I’ll remember the pictures he’d send of his workspace, his early drafts, art or ideas he wasn’t sure about yet. It’s hard not to see him as a historian and teacher, but he really was the eternal student. I’m going through and saving these photos so I’ll never lose them, never thought I’d have to do that. It’s crazy, I always saw him as a helpful hand to pull other artists OUT of confusion or darkness. To see things come to this for him, to see him plunged into chaos and so quickly is impossible to process. There’s a whole lot more I want to say about that but I won’t right now. I just want people to know that his work, his creations, his ambitions, his plans; it was as serious as life and death to Ed. He was absolutely all in.

Ed was the sort of person you think about in future tense. Always what he was doing next, what his big moves were going to be this year. I had plans to join the group on the latest expedition to Japan. Only a month away now. I will forever regret not going when I was invited last year because I didn’t feel worthy yet. No one knows how many times he tried to encourage and boost me (and so many other artists) up, never asking for a thing in return. He invited me to join panels on his show more than once. He would always reach out and ask me if there was anything specific I wanted to know when he had an upcoming interview with an artist I loved. I’ll never forget the amount of honest respect he showed to my little ambitions. I will never ever be able to repay his kindness. Even if he was still alive it would probably still be the case.

It’s not going to be the same without him, there are so many other creators who feel the same way. Ed was still quick with honest support. It never felt like BS ego inflation or yass-queen-girlboss-slay crap from him. It was usually the technical questions, his awareness of certain details, the small things he’d notice (things I didn’t even notice in my own work) that would make me feel like I belonged in this world. He always tried to stop me from seeing myself as an intruder, or someone trying to kick the clubhouse door in. So many kind things people will never know about.

The situation can flip in a split second. Everyone says the same things when something like this happens, but don’t ignore the truth just because it’s a cliche. A person’s life is a fragile thing that shatters more than itself when it’s destroyed. If you think someone you love is even remotely considering making that final dark choice, stop them. Do whatever it takes.

Ed was a rare person and a true talent. The comics community benefited from his work and presence. We’ll always have his books, his dreams, his creations. Some of his thoughts, some of his memories. To those of you who made it this far, I hope it helps you to understand another side of who he really was. And to Ed, I’m really going to miss you. It won’t be the same without you.

With love and support to his family,
Lordess