A FAMOUS cartoonist who won awards for his best-selling series of comics about hip-hop has died suddenly at the age of 41.
Ed Piskor was a talented illustrator from Pennsylvania. His family and friends remember him as a beloved brother or sister.
According to his obituary, Piskor died out of the blue. He lived outside of Pittsburgh in Munhall Borough.
In a touching Facebook post, his sister Justine Cleaves talked about how sad she was about her brother’s death.
She wrote next to a picture of her family, “You’re the one who gave me my nickname JP.”
“You made me afraid of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song, which is what made me hate Will Smith in the first place.”
“Thank you for introducing me to Dexter and making me love Batman even more.”
“I will miss you more than words can say.”
Piskor made the popular series Hip Hop Family Tree from 2012 to 2016. These were cool and educational graphic novels about the history of rap culture.
The first collection, which came out in 2014, was named one of the best graphic novels of the year by The Washington Post and the New York Times.
In 2017, Piskor expanded his fan base with the first issue of his comic series X-Men: Grand Design, which looked at how Stan Lee’s X-Men comics changed over time.
A trilogy that came out in November 2023 was the last book in that series.
Fans have written touching comments on Piskor’s Facebook page thanking him for his life and work.
After meeting the artist at Comic-Con in Baltimore, one fan said they were moved by the artist’s work.
“Your work spoke to me, brother,” they wrote.
“Wish you were still here.”
Someone else thanked Piskor for helping him when he was a young artist and said that his comics would always be around.
They wrote, “You are loved.”
“You were so nice and signed art for me,” said another fan.
“I will always remember you and will never forget how awesome you were to me.”
According to Piskor’s website, he started drawing cartoons for a living with his friend Harvey Pekar in 2005. He then started self-publishing his work.
Over 80,000 people followed him on Instagram, giving him a cult-like following.
Piskor has been sharing his work through the subscription-based site Patreon for the past few years.
The obituary for Piskor says that he is survived by his parents, siblings, nieces and nephews.
On Thursday, he will be buried.
