Update, Friday, March 29, 2024:
Via Instagram, Piskor’s Cartoonist Kayfabe co-host Jim Rugg has declared, “In light of this past week’s shocking revelations, I find it necessary to reevaluate my professional associations to ensure they align with my values of respect and integrity. Therefore, I have ended my working relationship with Ed Piskor.”
Story prior to Rugg’s statement is as follows:
Via Comic Watch, “Hip Hop Family Tree” and “X-Men: Grand Design” creator Ed Piskor has been accused by cartoonist Molly Dwyer (aka Sydgoblin) of grooming her when she was a teenager. In an Instagram story that began circulating online this weekend, Dwyer stated Piskor started sending her direct messages on the site from 2020 to 2021, when she was 17, asking her about her age while flirting with her, and inviting her to meet him in Pittsburgh.
Dwyer’s post shows apparent screenshots of Piskor calling her a “naughty girl,” asking if she’d be a “good partner in crime,” and offering to let her stay in his back bedroom. She states she eventually realized how odd his behavior was, and started ghosting him. She adds Piskor, now 41, still “slides” into her DMs, calling her “‘kiddo,’ further confirming our inappropriate age gap.” Cartoonists and reviewers like Ryan Kelly, Łukasz Kowalczuk, and Ray Carcases have also stepped forward to share knowledge of a pre-existing whisper network about Piskor.
At the time of writing, Piskor has made no comment. His Instagram and other social media pages remain online, but his Twitter.com account has been deactivated. Similarly, the Twitter account for the YouTube channel he runs with Jim Rugg, Cartoonist Kayfabe, has also been deleted. Rugg has not commented on them either, while Fantagraphics, the publisher of Piskor’s creator-owned works, simply responded to a request for comment saying, “Fantagraphics has no future projects in the works with Ed Piskor.” This is a developing story, and we will continue to update it with further details as they emerge.
If you’ve been a victim of sexual assault, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-4673 or online.rainn.org (Español: rainn.org/es) to be connected with a trained staff member from a sexual assault service provider in your area.
