Piskors 'friends' turned away from him, his family home got doxed by a TV station, his business partners turned from him, his galery gig got canceled. He was failed by his support structures. All of these people should be ashamed. The rest was just noise that can easily be filtered out.
Saying “we” killed Piskor gives cover to the most active participants, Ramon Villalobos & Alex De Campi. Those scumbags were active participants in driving Piskor to suicide. We know enough information to understand Piskor did not commit a crime. He was unsophisticated & lacked good social skills with young women/girls. BFD. Creepy ain’t a crime. Your community isn’t some moral arbiter of what is right & wrong. It’s clear the community lacks the training, nuance & grace to handle this issue without driving someone to suicide. The comic community above the local shop (to include some shops) is garbage. I’ve debated leaving the hobby (not community) entirely. There are better hobbies out there.
You just described living in the former-USA the past twenty years. This is not just Piskor. No one will be allowed to express how the USA is a fake country, an evil entity that would never allow the news to point this out, as people pretend this is just something to do with Piskor. "I dont know what happened cuz I was not there" -you know enough then, since that is not "enough" to hang Piskor, or to cancel his art show and so on, -Piskor's friends are typical American, they are typical cowards. This is going on w/everyone that is 'different' from the current regime that runs the evil that is the former-USA.
What disturbed me the most about this whole thing was how quickly everyone turned on Ed. Sure he had some haters but once everything came out most people shut him out and banished him without a second thought
I was a bit dumbfounded to see Jim publicly sever ties with Ed. I don't know, maybe I'm stupid, or maybe they weren't as good friends as I imagined them to be but I'd stick by my best friend no matter what. I couldn't just toss him overboard like that and no way, no way at all that I could do it as quickly as Jim did. I'm pretty disappointed in him. He had the access to Ed to potentially make a positive change but it seems he did the opposite. It's incredibly depressing and highlights one of the awful truths of society in the 2020s. Men don't prioritize their friendships with each other. They don't protect and nurture them. Men are isolated and have no real resources to help with their mental health. This whole situation is just so sad.
@@OTOss8 Yeah that was sad to see. To me it seemed like Jim was trying to save face and distance himself from everything. Really unfortunate that was one of the things Ed cited in his note.
@@OTOss8 100% agree. Its clear from Ed's suicide letter than he did consider Jim a friend and he was deeply hurt when he turned his back on him. Now Jim gotta live the rest of his life knowing that he wasn't there for his friend when he needed him the most and there is no do-overs. Not to cancel Jim, or say that it was his fault, he wasn't the only one who bailed on Ed. Just saying its disappointing and its a horrible thing all around.
@@ryanesaki Yeah I agree with everything you said. I understand why someone who had mortgage payments to make and family to feed might make the same move Jim made but, I don't know, I guess I'm just too sentimental. I wouldn't abandon a friend, even if I had to pay a heavy cost to stand by him. It's just a horrible situation. I read the list of celebrity deaths every day but this is the only one in a long, long time that really left me stunned. Just a horrible thing to happen. Men lack proper support networks and fail to put their male friendships in a place of sufficient importance. The upshot is many guys feel totally alone and chose the same path as Ed.
Exactly. Say their names! Alex Decampi, Ramon Villalobos, Darryl Ayo, Evan Dorkin, Molly Dwyer, JB Roe, Molly Wright. If it weren't for these demons, Ed Piskor would still be alive today.
@@septillion2501 That's what I've been thinking since I read through what happened. I'm going to make sure I don't buy anything Alex De Campi, Molly Dwyer, or Molly Wright worked on. That's not cancel, it's I refuse to buy from or support terrible people
@@septillion2501I'm not a legal expert but from my limited knowledge he could have taken some of those people to court. Probably would have gotten money and the accusers would have gotten real legal trouble.
There are people responsible for his death who have not admitted it. On The Beat when someone (whom I know) tried to defend Ed Piskor (a man he did not know) and tried to say that people were rushing to judgement, Heidi replied, "When a woman says something, believe it." She has said nothing since. Even her post about Ed's death did not allow any comments.
Yikes. I'm a woman and I can't stand that mindset. It's the reverse side of the old era when women were almost never believed, and both sides are equally terrible. All humans can lie, all humans can misinterpret other humans' intentions, and we should ALL withhold judgment until all the facts are known. I wish the internet had learned something from Alec Holowka's death, but it's just as vicious as ever. Some people wake up every morning thinking, _Whose life can I destroy today?_ They're the same sort of people who were burning "witches" in Salem.
Yep. If you stand up against the online witch trial, then “you don’t believe women, you’re victim blaming” and other key words get tossed at you. This is why by standing becomes a norm. It’s gonna take a movement by companies and corporations as a whole to end this mob mentality.
@@zxyatiywariii8 How about we all withhold judgment until all of the facts come out in court after both sides have presented facts allowed by law? And it never goes to criminal or civil trial, give the benefit of the doubt to the accused and move on and assume it was much ado about nothing.
This is not a community. None of the things post-millennials call communities are communities. Possibly the most over used, and misused, words in our time
Exactly. Edit: I want to add, I think it's impossible to create a community without gatekeeping. And that's increasingly difficult to do online. IRL, I _know_ the people with whom I've played tabletop games, and we've all known each other for years. But online, where people can fake everything about themselves, and no one usually ever meets in person, it's almost impossible to vet people.
Eds parents really need to pursue legal action against Molly Dwyer and Molly Wright for this. And nerds really need to get over this "believe women" crap.
NO, the USA is an evil entity, are supposed to be ignored, if not rewarded, otherwise "it your choice" and "oh well im sorry that you feel that way" -the USA is an evil entity. This is going w/everyone here in the former-USA.
Unwanted? She answered and defined herself a slut of lineart. She was flirting and putting love icon everywhere. Avoiding stalking you can make advance even refused (an advance in definition is an attempt). But this is not the case! This was FLIRT. After years she change ideas and decide she feel manipulated. But what she did is ridiculous and terrible at the same time. The banality of evil. A man is death for some love icon and message the two exchange years ago at covid time. And because the false friends.
I have been on a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts about his death but the more I calm down the more I realise that “we” didn’t kill Ed. And he wasn’t “somehow convinced” to be dead by the internet. As horrible as his note was to read it was written by a man under extreme mental stress and no matter how level headed it sounds it’s not. If Ed wanted to blame internet bullies for his death that is what it is, and it goes without saying they conspired to make the situation worse, but ultimately Ed was the only person who had a choice and Ed chose to take his own life. As horrible as it is there is no blame to prescribe, there is just a very wonderful talent that made some bad choices and ended his own life because he saw no other way forward and wanted to end his own pain. Suicide is always an absolute nightmare for those still alive but the blame game will ultimately lead nowhere. My thoughts are with the people he left behind as it must be truly horrible right now.
I wish Ed would have released an explanation of his side before ending his life. We would have defended him! He chose silence instead and I think that left many of us to fear the worst
Nobody thought for a second that ED Piskor may be as vulnerable, more vulnerable or even a little bit vulnerable . He was the bad guy in the story and bad guys are fair game. There is a Slight contradiction in your post, "his note was written by a man under extreme mental stress and no matter how level headed it sounds it’s not" and " ultimately Ed was the only person who had a choice and Ed chose to take his own life". Even in the courts, it is recognized that 'extreme mental stress' can result in 'diminished responsibility', a lack of autonomy and control over ones thoughts and actions. Given the amount of external pressures that suddenly entered his life: causing fear , embarrassment , shame etc., It would be fair to say that these factors were influential in an already vulnerable person being pushed further. The suicide letter is written in a calm and seemingly lucid state, a stage of acceptance and planning which can follow periods of intense mental pressure/Trauma. Unfortunately this is very common and thats what makes for a terribly sad story . I certainly will pause and think before posting on similar issues in the future but Its a no win as you pointed out. I completely agree with your closing sentences. I don't think blame is the way to go but there are important hard lessons , always is.
@@edwardmemwah1610 that was exactly my thoughts when I read it; at the very least it started a dialogue and it could have developed in a much different way. But I think even by the time he wrote it his choice was made.
@@TomP-c7w I didn’t realise how vulnerable he was and like you it really has empathised the importance of waiting before assuming anything and like you I’m gonna be extra aware of that going forward. The diminished responsibility thing, and can certainly see what you mean but historically the courts have only recognised that (UK I’m talking about here) as a defence against causing harm to others, like for example a murder being reduced to manslaughter because of diminished responsibility. I do get the point mind. And I think this whole thing will be debated about for many years to come and I don’t think any of us will be fully confident we are right or wrong. We do all agree though that it’s horrible and a talent is gone way too soon.
@@OffMyShelves Yes, far too soon pal. For some reason I remember a line from an old movie that went something like, “In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.” - i think this is how i will navigate the internet
The thing is… there is *often* a huge difference between feeling you were wronged and actually being wronged. Only the latter deserves justice. Molly Dwyer made some pretty strong accusations but did not back it up with strong evidence. If you’re gonna launch a Molotov cocktail of an allegation like that, you really should offer more evidence than ‘feeling creeped out’ and a handful of cherry-picked, decontextualized ambiguous DMs (which, to me, read like an artist awkwardly reaching out to another artist - nothing more). As for the other Molly, who clearly did not like Ed and just piled on with her own vague accusations? What she did is beneath contempt. But the real villains here were the people who unquestioningly accepted these flimsy accusations (Dwyer’s initial accusatory post was even self-contradictory in places) and chose to believe the absolute worst about Ed. It’s shameful. This internet gossip feeding frenzy culture has to fucking stop.
Is there any credibility to what the other Molly (Wright, I believe) alleged? I thoroughly dismiss the controversy regarding Dwyer's age here (17 is the age of consent, let's be honest here). But yea, the internet mob pile-on calling Ed Pizkor a grooming child molester was horrendous.
I've seen a handful of other women come out with similar stories of Ed trying to chat them up on Insta and acting like this was evidence of some pattern of malfeasance. In all cases, it seems like Ed was sticking to women of legal age, even if they were on the younger side of the spectrum. I guess people will judge him for that... (They do with Leonardo DiCaprio too). What I really can't stand was this need to try and skew it like he was a pedophile, and these accusers using words like "grooming" and constantly referring to themselves as "little girls" with no agency or independent thought. When none of that was applicable in this case. He didn't break any laws! As a guy who's life revolved around comics... 18-21 is just the age the women who shared his interests tended to be. Maybe if he was into Pilates and gardening he could have met women closer to his age.
@@jabbadac 100% agree also, as a 41 year old nerd who now has a very very small world socially (see friends 2x a year because they have lives)... HOW THE FUCK ARE PPL SUPPOSED TO MEET OTHERS... Is the general idea that single 40 year old guys who DON'T have ex wives, DON'T have kids, or any of that drama...the outcasts of the adult world.. just have to be alone for fucking ever? Neo-Lepers? Jesus fucking christ I hate this world, and the youngest amongst us aren't making it better, its more cliqued and gatekeepered than anything I can remember from high school. I grew up online, what its become now that every stupid motherfucker on earth has access to it is SICK. What once was a haven away from the endless crap of the world is now just as polluted (or worse).
@nerdbot37 Preach! I read what Ed wrote and yup-one artist awkwardly reaching out to another. We are a nerdy awkward community (HEART). This stuff and these people: Molly Dwyer, Alex De Campi, and Molly Wright need to go
I appreciate the middle ground take on this. I read his letter, there is a difference between how Pisker talked about what he did and how a genuine creep would talk about poor behavior. Pisker did acknowledge he made a stupid mistake. He did say numerous times he was ashamed of his weakness. It seemed like the thing that sent him over the edge wasn't just the criticism he was getting online. It was that vultures were going after his parents and even doxxing their residence. You can critique an individual for their stupidity. But going after that individual's family is too far.
I do find it ironic a bunch of comic gossip RUclipss last week were saying Ed was a creep and always seemed like a bad guy…..and now the same channels are saying the woke mob cancelled him and led him to to end things. All those channels added to to this and helped his cancellation. RIP Ed.
His accusers started the fire and many people like the ones you are talking about had no problem throwing fuel on it - unlike Piskor who had no problem keeping his RUclips audience engaged with one subject - comic books. Too many creators use controversy to gain attention to their channels to sell crowdfunded books and never talk about comics as an artistic medium - or even talk about their own comic characters. I'm done with them no matter how they themselves were wronged in the past.
This sums it up. Thank you! The levels of moral and intellectual dishonesty from those same venues (most of which I'd never even heard of before I came on here looking for some kind of news) is off the hook: P
1. Ed didn't defend himself. We didn't hear his side until the death letter. 2. Jim Rugg do NOT abandon Ed. Jim had contracts floating with other companies who became skiddish about his association with CK/Ed. He had no choice. He went to talk with Ed. In a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the worst. This was a 2. Ed could have bounced back from this. This was unnecessary. You never know someone's mental state. Honestly, I thought Ed was going to fight this. He projected a harder personality. This is brutal.
Piskor knew his tormentors personally. He knew that there were going to be relentless in destroying him and anyone who gives him a break. It's a Reign of Terror in the comic book industry by a handful of talentless losers, primarily one non-American comic book "journalist" who stirs up a lot of sht for clicks, one who has the grammar skills of a monkey with ADD.
he projected a harder personality than was reality like so many others in this world.. like, he wore sunglasses for every video. it was right there, whatever made him feel comfortable enough to talk about the thing he loved more than anything
The only thing the "comic book community" needed to do in this case was mind their own business, the only thing the "comic book industry" needed to do was take note and wait for more news. I know that he had people in his corner, but it wasn't enough when you have the perception that everyone else is against you. I'm glad Ed Piskor's work is still here to bring us joy, but also as a stark symbol of what cancel culture/mob/herd mentality can do at it's worst.
I am a huge comicbook fan, but not a big user of social media. I have an instagram account and a couple of ancient youtube video's but that's it. I have a very low profile Twitter/X and Facebook account but quickly realised these outlets are absolutely flooded with black/white politics and overall crazy fanatics. In short, I steered clear from those outlets because of that. Instagram is steering towords that same blackhole idiocracy with Instagram threads and the divicive stance of the 'community' about A.I. I did follow Kayfabe RUclips though and am horrified by the events this week. But because I am not a Twitter/X/Facebook follower I did not know about the witchhunt leading up to his suicide. I wish I knew, and I wish I would have sent Ed a positive message but I didn't, and somehow that makes me feel like crap. Thinking about this, makes me think that even NOT being an active user of social media can somehow make you feel unhappy. Its a crazy crazy world we live in, and I fear for the younger generation.
Geeks were the outkasts so comic community should be inclusive. Also about the allegations: it should be dealt with the law first. Social media users are not judges and they shouldn’t have a mesiah complex and act like a vigilante. If they do that would end like that as we can see. Also about the specific SA issue: if warren ellis had a chance so should ed piskor have. The industry shouldn’t be hypocritical
@SmokeDrawRepeat he had multiple deals and jobs taken away almost immediately, including a 75k book deal that was the culmination of over a year of work. All within a few hours of the texts being out. The texts, if you had bothered to actually seek them out, were completely benign. He made someone feel uncomfortable, which he admitted to, but by then, over a year's pay had been taken away. So what exactly could he have done?
@@_gorezone_ Definitely not kill himself, for one. You sound like you're justifying it, which is exactly what I expected to see people doing as whatever the current "acceptable" take is changed after his death. There is more to life than fucking comic books, even if they're your career. Dude's latest work was funded by thousands of Patreon subscribers. Wait out the mob for a few weeks, make a video explaining your side, and basically pull a Louis CK and make a comeback. There are enough people online to take one side or the other, with your side allowing you to continue having a career. And if not, move on and find work elsewhere like everyone else on earth. The bottom line is that many people are put into this situation and don't kill themselves, which indicates that Ed already had demons in his closet and other issues that were lurking beneath the surface if he was fragile enough to do this over Internet comments and a few cancellations that definitely weren't career-ending. So we need to look at that rather than start projecting blame onto other people for exercising their right to freedom of speech. The lesson is: don't define your life by one single thing, no matter what it is.
Ed Piskor's death is a sad story. I just found out about it from your channel. Does anyone know what articles or resources I can read to find out the full story of these accusations against him? I was a fan of Ed's and I want to understand for myself whether these were valid allegations against him or exaggerations.
Brother, I want to sub, but your sub count is 616. Man, that is such a perfect amount for a comic channel... I joke, of course I'll give you a sub you seem very likeable. R.I.P. Ed Piskor, you may have made some mistakes. You were human. You will be missed, man.
I was in the Gospel/Christian music industry for years as a lyricist/songwriter, drummer, singer, etc.- look up "BEN*JAM." Then I was a literary author/novelist. Now, I'm writing/making comics - look up "B. L. Blankenship." They're all their own animals.
He didn’t have any opportunity. He was buried by the internet before he could present any counterpoint nobody would have believed anyway as long as he was still alive. Really couldn’t take it and had ultimately no other choice.
He had already lost a 75k book deal, a gallery show, and his daily RUclips show with his best friend within a few hours. The internet mob had already decided to ruin years of his career before he could have even typed a response. And the internet is about drama and damage, not building someone up and forgiveness.
This made me decide if I ever have a business deal announced with somebody, and allegations start coming up, I'm going to double the deal and announce new projects as soon as possible. We have a court system to determine guilt and award punishment. This stuff never pans out and people (almost always men) die from it. And I just had a comic printed, too, so it's not exactly an academic exercise. I wanted to send my comic into their show, and eventually meet ed in particular at one of the pittsburgh events, because that show gave much better information than any other ones about comics from an artist's perspective. I hated his comics, I thought they were awful. But more good video interviews with comic creators came out of that show in a couple years than from every other source combined in the previous ten. The anecdote about music is funny, I never trusted musicians (because they are scummy) so I didn't get burned in the same way, but it's totally relatable (If you check one of my videos you can see why). There's all sorts of horrible shit people can get away with in every aspect of life, but this one category of thing in this one context gets people deleted from the industry. This is why comics are where they are and dark horse's best selling book is reprints of berserk.
I don’t know I think Ed took his own life from the bullying or potential loss of his reputation? I feel like he was the kind of guy to fight back, that was his persona, to redeem himself and not let that be what took him down. Would have been a good story, rip Ed
It seems like the Ed Piskor drama has blown over leaving one causality that nobody really seems to care about as there's no content value in talking about anymore
HE killed HIM! Ed saying that bullies killed him is as credible as Trump saying he's as persecuted as Jesus. Ed said a lot of nasty things about creators he didn't like, so if any one of them was so distraught by his words that they harmed themselves would Ed be responsible? Only if the "victim" had a RUclips Channel you liked or once flipped through your indie comic for ten seconds?
I think there’s a fear to not be bystander at this stage. If you try to stand up for a proper due process and letting facts present themselves, you get cast into the flames as being “part of the problem” This week the comic community lost a great talent, art as a whole lost a great source of information and inspiration. A family lost a son, a brother an uncle. And for what? What does cancel culture set out to achieve, what is its end game? I fear we are just at a dangerous time where it’s beyond bullying and turning into lowkey cyber terrorism.
Its mad that if u look like Leonardo Dicaprio no bats an eyelid at a 50 year old man chasing young girls, its actually celebrated. We live in a crazy world
damn i just read abouit this, having noticed CK hadnt uploaded in over a month. anyway, he was probably already on the fence, no one commits suicide after just a few weeks of misery. he had living family. this was his excuse.
This is crazy i have been watching kayfabe off and on for like a year and just was binge watching the channel for the last 4 days when this all came up on me feed, this is just all terrible
I only Ed Pizkor from the "X-Men Grand Design" comic I bought a few years ago (which I think is great). Then I hear that he passed and that he was a pretty big deal in the comic book industry. I tried to ascertain the facts of the scandal: a former fan of his, who was 17 at the time, was interacting with him on the internet and called him out for being flirty and creepy years after the incident. But reading all of the internet comments that occurred when this came out were calling him a groomer and child molester which is clearly not the case here (she was over the age of consent). And then another young woman who was an aspiring creator came out and said that Ed made sexual advances towards her with the understanding that he could put her in touch with industry contacts if she acquiesced to them. I consider the latter to be a black mark against him if the allegation is true, however. But he wouldn't be the first famous person in history to take advantage of of women either. You can look up real stories of grooming of famous rock stars who were with 13 year old girls if you want evidence of that. However, I don't think these incidents amount to something that is akin to destroying his career in comics, which was his lifelong passion. Perhaps with the passage of time, he could have been rehabilitated somewhat. At worst, he was a sex pest. But he's not Harvey Weinstein or Vince McMahon, here. I feel sorry for his friends and family who I am certain loved and admired him. I think we need to be kinder to each other. Nobody is perfect.
Reading further, Ed's final letter addresses the second woman in question and he denies the allegation and describes a consensual relationship. So that one is a she-said/he-said if his words are true. Perhaps this entire thing would have blown over after the passage of time. I am not privy to what truly happened here and I might be wrong, but I think that I am in the camp that believes that Ed suffered a great injustice here. His career was destroyed. I've been listening to Cartoonist Kayfabe for the first time lately, and Ed & Jim are very knowledgeable about the history of comic books (almost like they are the Jim Cornette of their profession). The world lost a great historian and talent. I'm going to buy the entire run of X-Men Grand Design (I only have Second Genesis, which I really, really liked).
I completely agree with everything you say but he definitely knew what he was doing. Ofc we don’t for sure but from what was leaked or whatever it’s some gross stuff. Great vid
Every time I see that news reporter I hear the lyrics to Don Henley's Dirty Laundry in mind: I make my living off the evening news Just give me something Something I can use People love it when you lose They love dirty laundry Well, I coulda been an actor But I wound up here I just have to look good I don't have to be clear Come and whisper in my ear Give us dirty laundry We got the bubble headed Bleached blonde Comes on at five She can tell you 'bout the plane crash With a gleam in her eye It's interesting when people die Give us dirty laundry Can we film the operation Is the head dead yet You know the boys in the newsroom Got a running bet Get the widow on the set We need dirty laundry Dirty little secrets Dirty little lies We got our dirty little fingers In everybody's pie We love to cut you down to size We love dirty laundry We can do the innuendo We can dance and sing When it's said and done We haven't told you a thing We all know that crap is king Give us dirty laundry
Good take. You didn't shame him like I've seen a lot of other people doing in their videos on this. If a 38-yr old woman had said "naughty boy" to me when I was 17... I would not have cared at all. I would have just moved on. And, as far as we know, that's pretty much the entire extent of what happened here.
If I had had that same conversation with a 17-year-old boy, no one would have interpreted anything as "sexual." But since it was a man to a girl and "men just want sex." It is not even possible to doubt whether the guy could have been naive or immature and not realize the connotation that others could give to his words.
Being creepy is not a crime. It may be a behavior or vibe you don’t prefer however peoples feelings about Ed Piskor’s alleged behavior is not relevant. Jealous haters jumped all over an opportunity to cancel someone. I’m glad I’m not invested in anyway in the comics community.
Well… he was of the opinion that it was “Ramon Villalobos, Cam Del Rosario, JB Roe, Molly Wright, congratulations. You got your pound of flesh. Evan Dorkin, I hope skeletons from your closet get revealed someday. Alex DeCampi, may you continue to have zero success no matter how hard you continuously leverage other people's business from your bully pulpit.” But I’d say Jim Rugg kicking him to the curb over allegations, even if he did try to console him afterwards, didn’t fucking help.
Fantagraphics, regardless of their hollow words and sure-to-be-hollow (but more thorough) forthcoming obituary where they will kick the can down the road, also immediately made a statement that they had no future projects with him. Technically true, but clear in its implications. Also what the Hell did Evan Dorkin do wrong? Evan really has given a "pound of flesh" to comics, and not in the form of some cheap, garish, gore-shock "outlaw" comic, either.
This is a tragedy in that it never should have happened. It reminds me of the story of the young biy who took his life after being blackmailed over adult images he thought he sent to a girl. Who was Ed speaking with during his crisis?
Rest in peace Ed. Im so sorry that you felt so alone and rejected. I was sticking up for Ed from the start. Just not enoughi signel to get through the noise. 😢😢😢
Yes I love that terrarium! I wonder if there's any little lizards living in that awesome miniature jungle? Reminds me of the one we had for our lizards. . . they're so fun! Edit: Wait, I think I saw a fish, I think it's an aquarium! (My phone screen is old, lol)
Thank you! It’s my girlfriend’s tank (my saltwater tank is still back in Michigan), but I had to move this one down here last week, and I’m proud to report not a single casualty from the 12 hour car ride 🎉
Thank you for posting this. I agree with all you said and it was logically and intelligently stated and clear. You are awesome and keep doing what you do.
Really great video, appreciate your thoughts on this. Such a sad situation, it all happened so quickly that I don’t think anyone involved in the allegations realized how far Ed would take things. Hopefully this can serve as an example for the future.
Well, she wasn't underage by PA law, which is kind of crazy. There's a whole mindset of "Minds aren't even developed until 25, so they can't make adult decisions." Okay, great--now let's start passing laws. No voting, no signing contracts, no marriage, etc until you've reached the scientific consensus of what constitutes emotional adulthood.
But if this is the case, if you don’t want men to message underage girls, then what everyone needs to do is get together and lobby for laws to make this impossible; if this is indeed the case and this is indeed what happened. By law, the girl he messaged was not underaged. If you think she was, if other people think she was; what are we going to do about this? Are we going to do a very messy internet pile on every time? Are we going to damage the scene and the culture and bully people to suicide or are we going to create a framework, i.e. LAWS AND RULES, to prevent this?? The latter seems civilized and the former seems like mob justice. The internet, to me, seems to be wholeheartedly saying that it doesn’t want change, it wants cancel mobs to be empowered to be judge, jury, and executioner in a matter of minutes. When you say he messaged an underage person (which, by law, he didn’t), what do you, and the community, want to do about this- aside from knee jerk reacting? Do you want to change the age of consent? That’s a first step, that happens with lobbying. Do you want better messaging filters on social media that prevent certain age gaps from communicating, or perhaps communicating with supervision. Do you want a better public system of education about how messaging works so people like Molly feel a little more empowered to block him, which she didn’t do and she continued to accept messages in her 20s. When I read your comment, which is identical to thousands, my question is: can you get past the knee jerk, and wholly inaccurate claims you’re making and move forward to creating a positive and inclusive structure- or can you do what it takes to change laws and change society? If the answer is no, and I believe it is no, my next question is how can we get everyone to simply be quiet when someone makes allegations on social media and encourage them to get actual help and recourse in a way that not only respects the accuser but also the accused because we live in a world of innocent until proven guilty- not guilty at the moment of accusation. Could you promise not to be fooled or have a knee jerk reaction to what you see on social media, which, by design, is there to manipulate you, your emotions, and your perception of reality?
Strange the timing..just as he was taking off these women “suddenly” realize they need to bring all this up..not blaming them though…I’m guessing someone with an axe to grind helped “organize” because it certainly seems awfully coordinated.
Thank you for standing up for Ed. I didn't know him. I didn't always agree with him. Hell, I didn't even always vibe with him. But I recognize and respect his passion for the medium of comic books. That guy ate drank slept comics and if his passion carried him past acceptable social behaviour then there should have been someone to scruff him. Not this. Not like this. And not how this ended up. Cheers to you. Count me subscribed.
I use to have A friend who suggested that I get A normal job, but I wasn't sure because I feared that I wouldn't be able to get out of it if I wanted to get another job, or if they would keep me away from getting phone calls to do certain jobs for them. He thought I was crazy, and ditched me right away not listening to my concerns.
The mob will always turn on you. Never apologize to the mob. Apologize to real friends and real fans and that's it. Also this might come off as harsh but you need more in your life than comics. If that's all you have and get it taken from you, you're left with nothing to live for
I really don't understand how his friends all did this too. Like, i am too empathetic to be able to do this, because at the end of the day there is a person right in front of me. Even with people that said things to my girlfriend we felt forced to cut off, it didn't seem right. Like it wasn't really them. This world is hard
Artists NEED to be selfish, you need to do what excites YOU... If you are thinking about fan service you become The Eagles, every live performance sounds the same! This may mean you NEVER achieve any sort of recognition, but lets face it there are easier ways to become famous than through art and sadly more people are aware of Ed because he took his own life, rather than his groundbreaking work.
You make some excellent points here. Unless you were there you don't know what happened. But some people need to feel like they're heroic crusaders, destroying first and asking questions later. Foregiveness and grace be damned.
Great sentiments and good pointes. I found them in 2020 during Covid. It's kind of weird knowing that he won't be on CK anymore. I loved their commentary and their love of comics. I hate all the online bullying and I hope there was a way they could be held accountable. RIP Ed. Gone too soon.
You should come down on Ed Piskor's side because Molly Dwyer clearly lied about him and purposely left the context out of the DMs to make Ed look bad. She straight up lied and killed a man. And Molly Wright's accusations were ridiculous and shady as hell and not backed up by anything. Nerds really need to find their spines and stand up to these scummy women.
What a bangin' video. So sad we live in a world where every other sentence one utters regarding anything even remotely controversial has to include a qualifier. Whatever Pisker did didn't mean he deserved to die, and anyone who blames his death on him and him alone has never been ostracized to the point of being un-careered. People can be fucking awful- assuming, that is, that they're even real people. Oh well. Anyway nicely done, duly subbed.
honestly i feel sad for the young man, and it shouldn't have happened but ultimately at some point every man will need to be strong and stand on your own and he took the easy way out, Comics and America in general is a toxic hell hole and men are far too soft
Who Killed Davey Moore? by Bob Dylan Who killed Davey Moore, Why an’ what’s the reason for? “Not I,” says the referee, “Don’t point your finger at me, I could’ve stopped it in the eighth An’ maybe kept him from his fate But the crowd would’ve booed, I’m sure At not gettin’ their money’s worth It’s too bad he had to go But there was a pressure on me too, you know, It wasn’t me that made him fall, No, you can’t blame me at all” Who killed Davey Moore, Why an’ what’s the reason for? “Not us,” says the angry crowd Whose screams filled the arena loud “It’s too bad he died that night But we just like to see a fight We didn’t mean for him t’ meet his death We just meant to see some sweat, There ain’t nothing wrong in that It wasn’t us that made him fall No, you can’t blame us at all” Who killed Davey Moore, Why an’ what’s the reason for? “Not me,” says his manager Puffing on a big cigar, “It’s hard to say, it’s hard to tell I always thought that he was well It’s too bad for his wife an’ kids he’s dead But if he was sick, he should’ve said It wasn’t me that made him fall No, you can’t blame me at all” Who killed Davey Moore, Why an’ what’s the reason for? "Not me,” says the gambling man With his ticket stub still in his hand “It wasn’t me that knocked him down My hands never touched him none, I didn’t commit no ugly sin Anyway, I put money on him to win It wasn’t me that made him fall No, you can’t blame me at all” Who killed Davey Moore, Why an’ what’s the reason for? “Not me,” says the boxing writer Pounding print on his old typewriter Sayin’, “Boxing ain’t to blame There’s just as much danger in a football game” Sayin’, “Fistfighting is here to stay It’s just the old American way It wasn’t me that made him fall No, you can’t blame me at all” Who killed Davey Moore, Why an’ what’s the reason for? “Not me,” says the man whose fists Laid him low in a cloud of mist Who came here from Cuba’s door Where boxing ain’t allowed no more “I hit him, yes, it’s true But that’s what I am paid to do Don’t say ‘murder,’ don’t say ‘kill,’ It was destiny, it was God’s will” Who killed Davey Moore, Why an’ what’s the reason for?
There are all sorts of things in this video I can ONLY chalk up to most of the people involved being quite young and way too indoctrinated into Internet culture. Wisdom will flesh this out and even some of the things said in this vid though mostly positive will be looked at with regret and embarrassment. We ALL need to do better and turn off the fantasy machine. You know the one that amplifies voices that ought not be heard. I'm from before the Internet so I can take it or leave it. Screw the next guys opinion! Someone we all admire was put to death by this click bait culture....THAT is all that matters. ❤
She was 17 in a state where age of consent is 16. It's not like she was 6 years old.. Were his communications with her embarrassing, corny, and creepy? Yes, but that's all they were.. Embarrassing, corny, and creepy communications. Even if his true intentions were not nefarious, it was still creepy. However, it wasn't the end of the world, or it shouldn't have been the end of his world.. He reacted too hastily. This wasn't that damming in the grand scheme of things. This wasn't a life-ending situation. He egregiously over-reacted.
There was a lot of piling on by comic fans on X both male and female and from all factions. It was disgusting and vile with people calling Piskor a "pedophile" and spreading lies. I unfollowed a lot of people over this and am sick of grown men gathering on their RUclips channels to gossip like old church ladies.
Piskors 'friends' turned away from him, his family home got doxed by a TV station, his business partners turned from him, his galery gig got canceled. He was failed by his support structures. All of these people should be ashamed. The rest was just noise that can easily be filtered out.
Jim did go visit him and, as far as I know, even apologized to Ed before the worst happened.
@WinserEspinal too late already publicly ostrizied him shit was already burned to the ground
He did the act less than a week after all that happened. With time he may have processed that situation differently. He reacted too hastily.
Saying “we” killed Piskor gives cover to the most active participants, Ramon Villalobos & Alex De Campi. Those scumbags were active participants in driving Piskor to suicide.
We know enough information to understand Piskor did not commit a crime. He was unsophisticated & lacked good social skills with young women/girls. BFD. Creepy ain’t a crime.
Your community isn’t some moral arbiter of what is right & wrong. It’s clear the community lacks the training, nuance & grace to handle this issue without driving someone to suicide. The comic community above the local shop (to include some shops) is garbage. I’ve debated leaving the hobby (not community) entirely. There are better hobbies out there.
You just described living in the former-USA the past twenty years. This is not just Piskor. No one will be allowed to express how the USA is a fake country, an evil entity that would never allow the news to point this out, as people pretend this is just something to do with Piskor. "I dont know what happened cuz I was not there" -you know enough then, since that is not "enough" to hang Piskor, or to cancel his art show and so on, -Piskor's friends are typical American, they are typical cowards. This is going on w/everyone that is 'different' from the current regime that runs the evil that is the former-USA.
What disturbed me the most about this whole thing was how quickly everyone turned on Ed. Sure he had some haters but once everything came out most people shut him out and banished him without a second thought
I was a bit dumbfounded to see Jim publicly sever ties with Ed. I don't know, maybe I'm stupid, or maybe they weren't as good friends as I imagined them to be but I'd stick by my best friend no matter what. I couldn't just toss him overboard like that and no way, no way at all that I could do it as quickly as Jim did. I'm pretty disappointed in him. He had the access to Ed to potentially make a positive change but it seems he did the opposite. It's incredibly depressing and highlights one of the awful truths of society in the 2020s. Men don't prioritize their friendships with each other. They don't protect and nurture them. Men are isolated and have no real resources to help with their mental health. This whole situation is just so sad.
@@OTOss8 Yeah that was sad to see. To me it seemed like Jim was trying to save face and distance himself from everything. Really unfortunate that was one of the things Ed cited in his note.
@@ogreface8 I guess you really do find out who your true friends are when the shit hits the fan. Ed deserved better.
@@OTOss8 100% agree. Its clear from Ed's suicide letter than he did consider Jim a friend and he was deeply hurt when he turned his back on him. Now Jim gotta live the rest of his life knowing that he wasn't there for his friend when he needed him the most and there is no do-overs. Not to cancel Jim, or say that it was his fault, he wasn't the only one who bailed on Ed. Just saying its disappointing and its a horrible thing all around.
@@ryanesaki Yeah I agree with everything you said. I understand why someone who had mortgage payments to make and family to feed might make the same move Jim made but, I don't know, I guess I'm just too sentimental. I wouldn't abandon a friend, even if I had to pay a heavy cost to stand by him. It's just a horrible situation. I read the list of celebrity deaths every day but this is the only one in a long, long time that really left me stunned. Just a horrible thing to happen. Men lack proper support networks and fail to put their male friendships in a place of sufficient importance. The upshot is many guys feel totally alone and chose the same path as Ed.
"Bystanders" are not to blame, "we all" are not to blame. Bullies are to blame, they are specific people, and they are enlisted in his last note.
Exactly. Say their names! Alex Decampi, Ramon Villalobos, Darryl Ayo, Evan Dorkin, Molly Dwyer, JB Roe, Molly Wright. If it weren't for these demons, Ed Piskor would still be alive today.
@septillion2501 Are you suggesting to solve bullying by bullying people?
@@TheChrispay yes, actually. Nuance is tough for dumb people, but yes.
@@septillion2501 That's what I've been thinking since I read through what happened. I'm going to make sure I don't buy anything Alex De Campi, Molly Dwyer, or Molly Wright worked on. That's not cancel, it's I refuse to buy from or support terrible people
@@septillion2501I'm not a legal expert but from my limited knowledge he could have taken some of those people to court. Probably would have gotten money and the accusers would have gotten real legal trouble.
he literally lived and breathed comics
There are people responsible for his death who have not admitted it. On The Beat when someone (whom I know) tried to defend Ed Piskor (a man he did not know) and tried to say that people were rushing to judgement, Heidi replied, "When a woman says something, believe it." She has said nothing since. Even her post about Ed's death did not allow any comments.
And both posts were marked as published by "Beat Staff" too.
Yikes. I'm a woman and I can't stand that mindset. It's the reverse side of the old era when women were almost never believed, and both sides are equally terrible. All humans can lie, all humans can misinterpret other humans' intentions, and we should ALL withhold judgment until all the facts are known.
I wish the internet had learned something from Alec Holowka's death, but it's just as vicious as ever. Some people wake up every morning thinking, _Whose life can I destroy today?_
They're the same sort of people who were burning "witches" in Salem.
Yep. If you stand up against the online witch trial, then “you don’t believe women, you’re victim blaming” and other key words get tossed at you. This is why by standing becomes a norm.
It’s gonna take a movement by companies and corporations as a whole to end this mob mentality.
@@zxyatiywariii8 How about we all withhold judgment until all of the facts come out in court after both sides have presented facts allowed by law? And it never goes to criminal or civil trial, give the benefit of the doubt to the accused and move on and assume it was much ado about nothing.
@@zxyatiywariii8 You're assuming they're people.
This is not a community. None of the things post-millennials call communities are communities. Possibly the most over used, and misused, words in our time
Exactly.
Edit: I want to add, I think it's impossible to create a community without gatekeeping. And that's increasingly difficult to do online.
IRL, I _know_ the people with whom I've played tabletop games, and we've all known each other for years. But online, where people can fake everything about themselves, and no one usually ever meets in person, it's almost impossible to vet people.
what are you talking about of course there is a comic community you dolt. one that's rattled by the news of this guys death obviously
Absolute truth
@@zxyatiywariii8The internet wasn’t always like that.
100%
People like Alex De Campi and Ramon Villalobos and yes, Molly Wright should be blackballed from the industry
Eds parents really need to pursue legal action against Molly Dwyer and Molly Wright for this. And nerds really need to get over this "believe women" crap.
The other Molly too, I'll definitely boycott anything she puts out or tries to put out in the future.
NO, the USA is an evil entity, are supposed to be ignored, if not rewarded, otherwise "it your choice" and "oh well im sorry that you feel that way" -the USA is an evil entity. This is going w/everyone here in the former-USA.
Ed admits he was dumb about the DMs...but I don't think anyone needs 'justice' for unwanted advances. The dogpiling was out of control.
Unwanted? She answered and defined herself a slut of lineart. She was flirting and putting love icon everywhere. Avoiding stalking you can make advance even refused (an advance in definition is an attempt). But this is not the case! This was FLIRT. After years she change ideas and decide she feel manipulated. But what she did is ridiculous and terrible at the same time. The banality of evil. A man is death for some love icon and message the two exchange years ago at covid time. And because the false friends.
He did nothing illegal. It sounded v like what I experienced in punk rock touring. It's not like punk rock was the most popular scene in the world.
I have been on a roller coaster of emotions and thoughts about his death but the more I calm down the more I realise that “we” didn’t kill Ed. And he wasn’t “somehow convinced” to be dead by the internet. As horrible as his note was to read it was written by a man under extreme mental stress and no matter how level headed it sounds it’s not. If Ed wanted to blame internet bullies for his death that is what it is, and it goes without saying they conspired to make the situation worse, but ultimately Ed was the only person who had a choice and Ed chose to take his own life. As horrible as it is there is no blame to prescribe, there is just a very wonderful talent that made some bad choices and ended his own life because he saw no other way forward and wanted to end his own pain. Suicide is always an absolute nightmare for those still alive but the blame game will ultimately lead nowhere. My thoughts are with the people he left behind as it must be truly horrible right now.
I wish Ed would have released an explanation of his side before ending his life. We would have defended him! He chose silence instead and I think that left many of us to fear the worst
Nobody thought for a second that ED Piskor may be as vulnerable, more vulnerable or even a little bit vulnerable . He was the bad guy in the story and bad guys are fair game. There is a Slight contradiction in your post, "his note was written by a man under extreme mental stress and no matter how level headed it sounds it’s not" and " ultimately Ed was the only person who had a choice and Ed chose to take his own life".
Even in the courts, it is recognized that 'extreme mental stress' can result in 'diminished responsibility', a lack of autonomy and control over ones thoughts and actions. Given the amount of external pressures that suddenly entered his life: causing fear , embarrassment , shame etc., It would be fair to say that these factors were influential in an already vulnerable person being pushed further.
The suicide letter is written in a calm and seemingly lucid state, a stage of acceptance and planning which can follow periods of intense mental pressure/Trauma. Unfortunately this is very common and thats what makes for a terribly sad story . I certainly will pause and think before posting on similar issues in the future but Its a no win as you pointed out. I completely agree with your closing sentences. I don't think blame is the way to go but there are important hard lessons , always is.
@@edwardmemwah1610 that was exactly my thoughts when I read it; at the very least it started a dialogue and it could have developed in a much different way. But I think even by the time he wrote it his choice was made.
@@TomP-c7w I didn’t realise how vulnerable he was and like you it really has empathised the importance of waiting before assuming anything and like you I’m gonna be extra aware of that going forward.
The diminished responsibility thing, and can certainly see what you mean but historically the courts have only recognised that (UK I’m talking about here) as a defence against causing harm to others, like for example a murder being reduced to manslaughter because of diminished responsibility. I do get the point mind. And I think this whole thing will be debated about for many years to come and I don’t think any of us will be fully confident we are right or wrong. We do all agree though that it’s horrible and a talent is gone way too soon.
@@OffMyShelves Yes, far too soon pal. For some reason I remember a line from an old movie that went something like, “In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.” - i think this is how i will navigate the internet
The thing is… there is *often* a huge difference between feeling you were wronged and actually being wronged. Only the latter deserves justice.
Molly Dwyer made some pretty strong accusations but did not back it up with strong evidence. If you’re gonna launch a Molotov cocktail of an allegation like that, you really should offer more evidence than ‘feeling creeped out’ and a handful of cherry-picked, decontextualized ambiguous DMs (which, to me, read like an artist awkwardly reaching out to another artist - nothing more).
As for the other Molly, who clearly did not like Ed and just piled on with her own vague accusations? What she did is beneath contempt.
But the real villains here were the people who unquestioningly accepted these flimsy accusations (Dwyer’s initial accusatory post was even self-contradictory in places) and chose to believe the absolute worst about Ed. It’s shameful. This internet gossip feeding frenzy culture has to fucking stop.
Is there any credibility to what the other Molly (Wright, I believe) alleged? I thoroughly dismiss the controversy regarding Dwyer's age here (17 is the age of consent, let's be honest here).
But yea, the internet mob pile-on calling Ed Pizkor a grooming child molester was horrendous.
Talking to a person is not illegal. Literally nothing happened.
I've seen a handful of other women come out with similar stories of Ed trying to chat them up on Insta and acting like this was evidence of some pattern of malfeasance. In all cases, it seems like Ed was sticking to women of legal age, even if they were on the younger side of the spectrum. I guess people will judge him for that... (They do with Leonardo DiCaprio too). What I really can't stand was this need to try and skew it like he was a pedophile, and these accusers using words like "grooming" and constantly referring to themselves as "little girls" with no agency or independent thought. When none of that was applicable in this case. He didn't break any laws! As a guy who's life revolved around comics... 18-21 is just the age the women who shared his interests tended to be. Maybe if he was into Pilates and gardening he could have met women closer to his age.
@@jabbadac 100% agree
also, as a 41 year old nerd who now has a very very small world socially (see friends 2x a year because they have lives)... HOW THE FUCK ARE PPL SUPPOSED TO MEET OTHERS... Is the general idea that single 40 year old guys who DON'T have ex wives, DON'T have kids, or any of that drama...the outcasts of the adult world.. just have to be alone for fucking ever? Neo-Lepers?
Jesus fucking christ I hate this world, and the youngest amongst us aren't making it better, its more cliqued and gatekeepered than anything I can remember from high school.
I grew up online, what its become now that every stupid motherfucker on earth has access to it is SICK.
What once was a haven away from the endless crap of the world is now just as polluted (or worse).
@nerdbot37 Preach! I read what Ed wrote and yup-one artist awkwardly reaching out to another. We are a nerdy awkward community (HEART). This stuff and these people: Molly Dwyer, Alex De Campi, and Molly Wright need to go
Hell yeah man, totally agree with you "Justice, but not like this". Compassion first.
Great message, the comic book reading community is getting smaller we should all be kinder to each other
I appreciate the middle ground take on this. I read his letter, there is a difference between how Pisker talked about what he did and how a genuine creep would talk about poor behavior. Pisker did acknowledge he made a stupid mistake. He did say numerous times he was ashamed of his weakness.
It seemed like the thing that sent him over the edge wasn't just the criticism he was getting online. It was that vultures were going after his parents and even doxxing their residence.
You can critique an individual for their stupidity. But going after that individual's family is too far.
You might want to consider putting the 988 lifeline number above the link to Ed’s note in your description.
I do find it ironic a bunch of comic gossip RUclipss last week were saying Ed was a creep and always seemed like a bad guy…..and now the same channels are saying the woke mob cancelled him and led him to to end things. All those channels added to to this and helped his cancellation. RIP Ed.
Did they kill him too? 😂😂😂
His accusers started the fire and many people like the ones you are talking about had no problem throwing fuel on it - unlike Piskor who had no problem keeping his RUclips audience engaged with one subject - comic books. Too many creators use controversy to gain attention to their channels to sell crowdfunded books and never talk about comics as an artistic medium - or even talk about their own comic characters. I'm done with them no matter how they themselves were wronged in the past.
This sums it up. Thank you! The levels of moral and intellectual dishonesty from those same venues (most of which I'd never even heard of before I came on here looking for some kind of news) is off the hook: P
It’s absolutely disgusting what the click bait tmz drama queen channels did. Now it’s the same tired “woke mob” bs or they are playing victim
@@DONWASABIJUAN Strange how it was the "woke mob" who Ed HIMSELF blamed and called out directly in his farewell note, not anyone on RUclips.
1. Ed didn't defend himself. We didn't hear his side until the death letter.
2. Jim Rugg do NOT abandon Ed. Jim had contracts floating with other companies who became skiddish about his association with CK/Ed. He had no choice. He went to talk with Ed.
In a scale of 1-5 with 5 being the worst. This was a 2. Ed could have bounced back from this. This was unnecessary.
You never know someone's mental state. Honestly, I thought Ed was going to fight this. He projected a harder personality. This is brutal.
You don't know what you're talking about
Piskor knew his tormentors personally. He knew that there were going to be relentless in destroying him and anyone who gives him a break. It's a Reign of Terror in the comic book industry by a handful of talentless losers, primarily one non-American comic book "journalist" who stirs up a lot of sht for clicks, one who has the grammar skills of a monkey with ADD.
he projected a harder personality than was reality like so many others in this world.. like, he wore sunglasses for every video. it was right there, whatever made him feel comfortable enough to talk about the thing he loved more than anything
I don't think you know what youre talking about either, at least what they said had factual substance. you're just another clown.
Very balanced commentary brother...I appreciate that...and for that your channel is worth a sub.
never apologize to the mob, RIP
The only thing the "comic book community" needed to do in this case was mind their own business, the only thing the "comic book industry" needed to do was take note and wait for more news. I know that he had people in his corner, but it wasn't enough when you have the perception that everyone else is against you. I'm glad Ed Piskor's work is still here to bring us joy, but also as a stark symbol of what cancel culture/mob/herd mentality can do at it's worst.
These kids are obsessed with victim culture. They've never heard of personal responsibility.
Victim Clout is a very valuable currency in these sick times we're living in and some people will do literally anything to get their hands on it.
@septillion2501 It's as important to have on a resume as employment history.
I am a huge comicbook fan, but not a big user of social media. I have an instagram account and a couple of ancient youtube video's but that's it. I have a very low profile Twitter/X and Facebook account but quickly realised these outlets are absolutely flooded with black/white politics and overall crazy fanatics. In short, I steered clear from those outlets because of that. Instagram is steering towords that same blackhole idiocracy with Instagram threads and the divicive stance of the 'community' about A.I.
I did follow Kayfabe RUclips though and am horrified by the events this week. But because I am not a Twitter/X/Facebook follower I did not know about the witchhunt leading up to his suicide. I wish I knew, and I wish I would have sent Ed a positive message but I didn't, and somehow that makes me feel like crap. Thinking about this, makes me think that even NOT being an active user of social media can somehow make you feel unhappy. Its a crazy crazy world we live in, and I fear for the younger generation.
Beautifully put and succinct, kudos and cheers from a new subscriber from buenos aires
Geeks were the outkasts so comic community should be inclusive. Also about the allegations: it should be dealt with the law first. Social media users are not judges and they shouldn’t have a mesiah complex and act like a vigilante. If they do that would end like that as we can see. Also about the specific SA issue: if warren ellis had a chance so should ed piskor have. The industry shouldn’t be hypocritical
The same could be said about college campuses. All allegations are referred to law enforcement.
Ed took his own life. He could of presented his case and let people decide…his actions said enough.
@SmokeDrawRepeat he had multiple deals and jobs taken away almost immediately, including a 75k book deal that was the culmination of over a year of work. All within a few hours of the texts being out. The texts, if you had bothered to actually seek them out, were completely benign. He made someone feel uncomfortable, which he admitted to, but by then, over a year's pay had been taken away. So what exactly could he have done?
@@_gorezone_not killed himself and stuck it out until the allegations could be disproven.
@@_gorezone_ Definitely not kill himself, for one. You sound like you're justifying it, which is exactly what I expected to see people doing as whatever the current "acceptable" take is changed after his death. There is more to life than fucking comic books, even if they're your career. Dude's latest work was funded by thousands of Patreon subscribers. Wait out the mob for a few weeks, make a video explaining your side, and basically pull a Louis CK and make a comeback. There are enough people online to take one side or the other, with your side allowing you to continue having a career. And if not, move on and find work elsewhere like everyone else on earth. The bottom line is that many people are put into this situation and don't kill themselves, which indicates that Ed already had demons in his closet and other issues that were lurking beneath the surface if he was fragile enough to do this over Internet comments and a few cancellations that definitely weren't career-ending. So we need to look at that rather than start projecting blame onto other people for exercising their right to freedom of speech. The lesson is: don't define your life by one single thing, no matter what it is.
Ed Piskor's death is a sad story. I just found out about it from your channel. Does anyone know what articles or resources I can read to find out the full story of these accusations against him? I was a fan of Ed's and I want to understand for myself whether these were valid allegations against him or exaggerations.
RUclips keeps deleting everything I post
it's trigger words. use different words, like "unalive" etc.
Considering he was never given his chance to defend himself her claim should be accepted with a grain of salt.
Don't trust your friends. The only one that's got your back is you.
Brother, I want to sub, but your sub count is 616. Man, that is such a perfect amount for a comic channel... I joke, of course I'll give you a sub you seem very likeable.
R.I.P. Ed Piskor, you may have made some mistakes. You were human. You will be missed, man.
Lol I would’ve understood
I was in the Gospel/Christian music industry for years as a lyricist/songwriter, drummer, singer, etc.- look up "BEN*JAM." Then I was a literary author/novelist. Now, I'm writing/making comics - look up "B. L. Blankenship." They're all their own animals.
Ed had the opportunity to respond while he was alive. He made his decision and its sad.
He didn’t have any opportunity. He was buried by the internet before he could present any counterpoint nobody would have believed anyway as long as he was still alive. Really couldn’t take it and had ultimately no other choice.
He had already lost a 75k book deal, a gallery show, and his daily RUclips show with his best friend within a few hours. The internet mob had already decided to ruin years of his career before he could have even typed a response. And the internet is about drama and damage, not building someone up and forgiveness.
@@marcomaraggi2982 He thought about it for 7 days.
@@_gorezone_ Their channel had diehards that would've continued to patreon even with Ed doing solo vids. Money could've been made.
This made me decide if I ever have a business deal announced with somebody, and allegations start coming up, I'm going to double the deal and announce new projects as soon as possible. We have a court system to determine guilt and award punishment. This stuff never pans out and people (almost always men) die from it. And I just had a comic printed, too, so it's not exactly an academic exercise. I wanted to send my comic into their show, and eventually meet ed in particular at one of the pittsburgh events, because that show gave much better information than any other ones about comics from an artist's perspective.
I hated his comics, I thought they were awful. But more good video interviews with comic creators came out of that show in a couple years than from every other source combined in the previous ten. The anecdote about music is funny, I never trusted musicians (because they are scummy) so I didn't get burned in the same way, but it's totally relatable (If you check one of my videos you can see why). There's all sorts of horrible shit people can get away with in every aspect of life, but this one category of thing in this one context gets people deleted from the industry. This is why comics are where they are and dark horse's best selling book is reprints of berserk.
I don’t know I think Ed took his own life from the bullying or potential loss of his reputation? I feel like he was the kind of guy to fight back, that was his persona, to redeem himself and not let that be what took him down. Would have been a good story, rip Ed
It seems like the Ed Piskor drama has blown over leaving one causality that nobody really seems to care about as there's no content value in talking about anymore
Guarantee you the people that caused this are still causing drama in their lives tho
He told us exactly who killed him in his note.
He did. What are you talking about?
@@curadplastic_ass7256 he listed names and discussed a whisper network
@@curadplastic_ass7256 Yes, he did. Read the note.
@@curadplastic_ass7256 "I was murdered by internet bullies" -- Ed Piskor
HE killed HIM! Ed saying that bullies killed him is as credible as Trump saying he's as persecuted as Jesus. Ed said a lot of nasty things about creators he didn't like, so if any one of them was so distraught by his words that they harmed themselves would Ed be responsible? Only if the "victim" had a RUclips Channel you liked or once flipped through your indie comic for ten seconds?
I think there’s a fear to not be bystander at this stage. If you try to stand up for a proper due process and letting facts present themselves, you get cast into the flames as being “part of the problem”
This week the comic community lost a great talent, art as a whole lost a great source of information and inspiration. A family lost a son, a brother an uncle. And for what?
What does cancel culture set out to achieve, what is its end game? I fear we are just at a dangerous time where it’s beyond bullying and turning into lowkey cyber terrorism.
Well said.
Its mad that if u look like Leonardo Dicaprio no bats an eyelid at a 50 year old man chasing young girls, its actually celebrated. We live in a crazy world
damn i just read abouit this, having noticed CK hadnt uploaded in over a month. anyway, he was probably already on the fence, no one commits suicide after just a few weeks of misery. he had living family. this was his excuse.
This is crazy i have been watching kayfabe off and on for like a year and just was binge watching the channel for the last 4 days when this all came up on me feed, this is just all terrible
Same. What's extra weird is that the channel is still uploading videos of him without acknowledging his passing.
I only Ed Pizkor from the "X-Men Grand Design" comic I bought a few years ago (which I think is great). Then I hear that he passed and that he was a pretty big deal in the comic book industry.
I tried to ascertain the facts of the scandal: a former fan of his, who was 17 at the time, was interacting with him on the internet and called him out for being flirty and creepy years after the incident. But reading all of the internet comments that occurred when this came out were calling him a groomer and child molester which is clearly not the case here (she was over the age of consent). And then another young woman who was an aspiring creator came out and said that Ed made sexual advances towards her with the understanding that he could put her in touch with industry contacts if she acquiesced to them. I consider the latter to be a black mark against him if the allegation is true, however. But he wouldn't be the first famous person in history to take advantage of of women either. You can look up real stories of grooming of famous rock stars who were with 13 year old girls if you want evidence of that.
However, I don't think these incidents amount to something that is akin to destroying his career in comics, which was his lifelong passion. Perhaps with the passage of time, he could have been rehabilitated somewhat. At worst, he was a sex pest. But he's not Harvey Weinstein or Vince McMahon, here.
I feel sorry for his friends and family who I am certain loved and admired him. I think we need to be kinder to each other. Nobody is perfect.
Reading further, Ed's final letter addresses the second woman in question and he denies the allegation and describes a consensual relationship. So that one is a she-said/he-said if his words are true.
Perhaps this entire thing would have blown over after the passage of time. I am not privy to what truly happened here and I might be wrong, but I think that I am in the camp that believes that Ed suffered a great injustice here. His career was destroyed.
I've been listening to Cartoonist Kayfabe for the first time lately, and Ed & Jim are very knowledgeable about the history of comic books (almost like they are the Jim Cornette of their profession). The world lost a great historian and talent. I'm going to buy the entire run of X-Men Grand Design (I only have Second Genesis, which I really, really liked).
I completely agree with everything you say but he definitely knew what he was doing. Ofc we don’t for sure but from what was leaked or whatever it’s some gross stuff. Great vid
Thoughtful video ... thank you.
Ed got turned on by the community he thought embraced him. Love hearing someone else say this “cancel culture” is ridiculous! I’m with ya
The parents should sue the news cast that show up at his house and the girls that leak the DMs for sure is her fault too.
Every time I see that news reporter I hear the lyrics to Don Henley's Dirty Laundry in mind:
I make my living off the evening news
Just give me something
Something I can use
People love it when you lose
They love dirty laundry
Well, I coulda been an actor
But I wound up here
I just have to look good
I don't have to be clear
Come and whisper in my ear
Give us dirty laundry
We got the bubble headed
Bleached blonde
Comes on at five
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash
With a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry
Can we film the operation
Is the head dead yet
You know the boys in the newsroom
Got a running bet
Get the widow on the set
We need dirty laundry
Dirty little secrets
Dirty little lies
We got our dirty little fingers
In everybody's pie
We love to cut you down to size
We love dirty laundry
We can do the innuendo
We can dance and sing
When it's said and done
We haven't told you a thing
We all know that crap is king
Give us dirty laundry
He was murdered. Comics are not a community, it's an industry. The industry hasn't been inviting to newcomers for 10 years
Industry? More like a club you mean.
For a guy who wrote and made a living from non fiction, what was red room actually?
Good take. You didn't shame him like I've seen a lot of other people doing in their videos on this.
If a 38-yr old woman had said "naughty boy" to me when I was 17... I would not have cared at all. I would have just moved on. And, as far as we know, that's pretty much the entire extent of what happened here.
If I had had that same conversation with a 17-year-old boy, no one would have interpreted anything as "sexual." But since it was a man to a girl and "men just want sex." It is not even possible to doubt whether the guy could have been naive or immature and not realize the connotation that others could give to his words.
for a young guy, your vid came across respectful and level headed, and mirrors my own sentiments, SUB EARNT BRO. your a champion
Being creepy is not a crime. It may be a behavior or vibe you don’t prefer however peoples feelings about Ed Piskor’s alleged behavior is not relevant. Jealous haters jumped all over an opportunity to cancel someone. I’m glad I’m not invested in anyway in the comics community.
Well… he was of the opinion that it was “Ramon Villalobos, Cam Del Rosario, JB Roe, Molly Wright, congratulations. You got your pound of flesh. Evan Dorkin, I hope skeletons from your closet get revealed someday. Alex DeCampi, may you continue to have zero success no matter how hard you continuously leverage other people's business from your bully pulpit.”
But I’d say Jim Rugg kicking him to the curb over allegations, even if he did try to console him afterwards, didn’t fucking help.
Fantagraphics, regardless of their hollow words and sure-to-be-hollow (but more thorough) forthcoming obituary where they will kick the can down the road, also immediately made a statement that they had no future projects with him. Technically true, but clear in its implications. Also what the Hell did Evan Dorkin do wrong? Evan really has given a "pound of flesh" to comics, and not in the form of some cheap, garish, gore-shock "outlaw" comic, either.
😢 rip Ed Piskor, a legend. All I know is his wonderful craft.
great video!
This is a tragedy in that it never should have happened. It reminds me of the story of the young biy who took his life after being blackmailed over adult images he thought he sent to a girl. Who was Ed speaking with during his crisis?
Who killed Ed Piskor? Ed Piskor.
You'll be next
@@felix-ve8jk Ed Piskor's going to come back from the dead? Huh. Doubt he'll do anything other than appropriate more culture
You didn’t make it in music because you aren’t rich is the funniest thing I’ve heard all day
Thank you for a compassionate and well reasoned analysis. This helps.
you robbed the words of my mouth pal, good video, rest in power ed piskor
Rest in peace Ed. Im so sorry that you felt so alone and rejected. I was sticking up for Ed from the start. Just not enoughi signel to get through the noise. 😢😢😢
Well said, especially at the end man, appreciate those thoughts.
You made some good points about cancel culture. I really enjoy your vids.
PS Nice little planted tank you got there!
Yes I love that terrarium! I wonder if there's any little lizards living in that awesome miniature jungle? Reminds me of the one we had for our lizards. . . they're so fun!
Edit: Wait, I think I saw a fish, I think it's an aquarium! (My phone screen is old, lol)
Thank you! It’s my girlfriend’s tank (my saltwater tank is still back in Michigan), but I had to move this one down here last week, and I’m proud to report not a single casualty from the 12 hour car ride 🎉
I joined your channel for your positive/intelligent attitude. And that’s what you’re delivering here. Keep up the good work.
Thank you! I’m happy to be filling that space.
Thank you for posting this. I agree with all you said and it was logically and intelligently stated and clear. You are awesome and keep doing what you do.
Really great video, appreciate your thoughts on this. Such a sad situation, it all happened so quickly that I don’t think anyone involved in the allegations realized how far Ed would take things. Hopefully this can serve as an example for the future.
Kurt, glad you found a home in the comics community. Your videos are great. As for the music, keep enjoying it on a personal level. 👍
messaging an UNDERAGE girl is wrong... He admitted that in his last note. He didn't need to un alive himself. The whole situation is sad.
Well, she wasn't underage by PA law, which is kind of crazy. There's a whole mindset of "Minds aren't even developed until 25, so they can't make adult decisions." Okay, great--now let's start passing laws. No voting, no signing contracts, no marriage, etc until you've reached the scientific consensus of what constitutes emotional adulthood.
But if this is the case, if you don’t want men to message underage girls, then what everyone needs to do is get together and lobby for laws to make this impossible; if this is indeed the case and this is indeed what happened. By law, the girl he messaged was not underaged. If you think she was, if other people think she was; what are we going to do about this? Are we going to do a very messy internet pile on every time? Are we going to damage the scene and the culture and bully people to suicide or are we going to create a framework, i.e. LAWS AND RULES, to prevent this?? The latter seems civilized and the former seems like mob justice. The internet, to me, seems to be wholeheartedly saying that it doesn’t want change, it wants cancel mobs to be empowered to be judge, jury, and executioner in a matter of minutes. When you say he messaged an underage person (which, by law, he didn’t), what do you, and the community, want to do about this- aside from knee jerk reacting? Do you want to change the age of consent? That’s a first step, that happens with lobbying. Do you want better messaging filters on social media that prevent certain age gaps from communicating, or perhaps communicating with supervision. Do you want a better public system of education about how messaging works so people like Molly feel a little more empowered to block him, which she didn’t do and she continued to accept messages in her 20s. When I read your comment, which is identical to thousands, my question is: can you get past the knee jerk, and wholly inaccurate claims you’re making and move forward to creating a positive and inclusive structure- or can you do what it takes to change laws and change society? If the answer is no, and I believe it is no, my next question is how can we get everyone to simply be quiet when someone makes allegations on social media and encourage them to get actual help and recourse in a way that not only respects the accuser but also the accused because we live in a world of innocent until proven guilty- not guilty at the moment of accusation. Could you promise not to be fooled or have a knee jerk reaction to what you see on social media, which, by design, is there to manipulate you, your emotions, and your perception of reality?
good to know a senior in high school is still a child. also she msgd him. thats why he said he shouldn't have responded. go fuck yourself.
Strange the timing..just as he was taking off these women “suddenly” realize they need to bring all this up..not blaming them though…I’m guessing someone with an axe to grind helped “organize” because it certainly seems awfully coordinated.
Well said.
Thank you for standing up for Ed. I didn't know him. I didn't always agree with him. Hell, I didn't even always vibe with him. But I recognize and respect his passion for the medium of comic books. That guy ate drank slept comics and if his passion carried him past acceptable social behaviour then there should have been someone to scruff him. Not this. Not like this. And not how this ended up. Cheers to you. Count me subscribed.
I use to have A friend who suggested that I get A normal job, but I wasn't sure because I feared that I wouldn't be able to get out of it if I wanted to get another job, or if they would keep me away from getting phone calls to do certain jobs for them. He thought I was crazy, and ditched me right away not listening to my concerns.
😂
@@curadplastic_ass7256 So, you think that's funny?
Great video. Your voice means a lot in this era. Cancel culture is horrible
Thank you! I agree, cancel culture is the worst
Bullies. which should not be allowed existence.
The mob will always turn on you. Never apologize to the mob. Apologize to real friends and real fans and that's it. Also this might come off as harsh but you need more in your life than comics. If that's all you have and get it taken from you, you're left with nothing to live for
I really don't understand how his friends all did this too. Like, i am too empathetic to be able to do this, because at the end of the day there is a person right in front of me. Even with people that said things to my girlfriend we felt forced to cut off, it didn't seem right. Like it wasn't really them. This world is hard
Artists NEED to be selfish, you need to do what excites YOU... If you are thinking about fan service you become The Eagles, every live performance sounds the same!
This may mean you NEVER achieve any sort of recognition, but lets face it there are easier ways to become famous than through art and sadly more people are aware of Ed because he took his own life, rather than his groundbreaking work.
You make some excellent points here. Unless you were there you don't know what happened. But some people need to feel like they're heroic crusaders, destroying first and asking questions later. Foregiveness and grace be damned.
Great sentiments and good pointes. I found them in 2020 during Covid. It's kind of weird knowing that he won't be on CK anymore. I loved their commentary and their love of comics. I hate all the online bullying and I hope there was a way they could be held accountable. RIP Ed. Gone too soon.
Couldn’t agree more great content
You should come down on Ed Piskor's side because Molly Dwyer clearly lied about him and purposely left the context out of the DMs to make Ed look bad. She straight up lied and killed a man. And Molly Wright's accusations were ridiculous and shady as hell and not backed up by anything.
Nerds really need to find their spines and stand up to these scummy women.
It’s weird how people do not understand the evil of female gossip.
ALEX DE CAMPI. Simple as that.
What a bangin' video. So sad we live in a world where every other sentence one utters regarding anything even remotely controversial has to include a qualifier. Whatever Pisker did didn't mean he deserved to die, and anyone who blames his death on him and him alone has never been ostracized to the point of being un-careered. People can be fucking awful- assuming, that is, that they're even real people.
Oh well.
Anyway nicely done, duly subbed.
honestly i feel sad for the young man, and it shouldn't have happened but ultimately at some point every man will need to be strong and stand on your own and he took the easy way out, Comics and America in general is a toxic hell hole and men are far too soft
Pretty terrible news. Good video bro.
This is a very balanced take, easy these days to just default to what the mob wants and echo chamber a view till the eardrums pop
This is the take we needed. 🙏
Rest in peace Ed 🕊️
Who Killed Davey Moore?
by Bob Dylan
Who killed Davey Moore,
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not I,” says the referee,
“Don’t point your finger at me,
I could’ve stopped it in the eighth
An’ maybe kept him from his fate
But the crowd would’ve booed, I’m sure
At not gettin’ their money’s worth
It’s too bad he had to go
But there was a pressure on me too, you know,
It wasn’t me that made him fall,
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore,
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not us,” says the angry crowd
Whose screams filled the arena loud
“It’s too bad he died that night
But we just like to see a fight
We didn’t mean for him t’ meet his death
We just meant to see some sweat,
There ain’t nothing wrong in that
It wasn’t us that made him fall
No, you can’t blame us at all”
Who killed Davey Moore,
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says his manager
Puffing on a big cigar,
“It’s hard to say, it’s hard to tell
I always thought that he was well
It’s too bad for his wife an’ kids he’s dead
But if he was sick, he should’ve said
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore,
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
"Not me,” says the gambling man
With his ticket stub still in his hand
“It wasn’t me that knocked him down
My hands never touched him none,
I didn’t commit no ugly sin
Anyway, I put money on him to win
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore,
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says the boxing writer
Pounding print on his old typewriter
Sayin’, “Boxing ain’t to blame
There’s just as much danger in a football game”
Sayin’, “Fistfighting is here to stay
It’s just the old American way
It wasn’t me that made him fall
No, you can’t blame me at all”
Who killed Davey Moore,
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
“Not me,” says the man whose fists
Laid him low in a cloud of mist
Who came here from Cuba’s door
Where boxing ain’t allowed no more
“I hit him, yes, it’s true
But that’s what I am paid to do
Don’t say ‘murder,’ don’t say ‘kill,’
It was destiny, it was God’s will”
Who killed Davey Moore,
Why an’ what’s the reason for?
Generally just found out about this. I didn't even know all that shit was going on.
So because he loved comics everything he did was ok? Who killed Ed? Well he made his choice unfortunately.
Apparently the line is being weird towards underage girls.
I have similar story in the music industry. I transitioned music back to "hobby" and am having the best time ever.
Great video bro!🤘
i believe he killed himself?
Glad (fuck off im glad) to see you’ve missed the entire point of the video
RIP Ed Piskor. I didn't know what was going on until yesterday.
There are all sorts of things in this video I can ONLY chalk up to most of the people involved being quite young and way too indoctrinated into Internet culture.
Wisdom will flesh this out and even some of the things said in this vid though mostly positive will be looked at with regret and embarrassment.
We ALL need to do better and turn off the fantasy machine. You know the one that amplifies voices that ought not be heard. I'm from before the Internet so I can take it or leave it. Screw the next guys opinion! Someone we all admire was put to death by this click bait culture....THAT is all that matters. ❤
She was 17 in a state where age of consent is 16. It's not like she was 6 years old.. Were his communications with her embarrassing, corny, and creepy? Yes, but that's all they were.. Embarrassing, corny, and creepy communications. Even if his true intentions were not nefarious, it was still creepy. However, it wasn't the end of the world, or it shouldn't have been the end of his world.. He reacted too hastily. This wasn't that damming in the grand scheme of things. This wasn't a life-ending situation. He egregiously over-reacted.
I'm a comic book professional. This is sad. Very sad😢😢😢
Great video:) love the call to action!
🥹 Ed ❤❤❤❤❤❤
he did
I think he killed himself
I'm sorry but, "we did"? I sure didn't. The internet didn't. Feminists did.
Incorrect. Most of the people going after him are right-wingers. EVS is one of the main culprits and he's a colleague of Dave Sim for Christ sake
There was a lot of piling on by comic fans on X both male and female and from all factions. It was disgusting and vile with people calling Piskor a "pedophile" and spreading lies. I unfollowed a lot of people over this and am sick of grown men gathering on their RUclips channels to gossip like old church ladies.
It wasn't just feminists, unless you're trying to claim that people like EVS are feminists.