For Eddie P.

A Tribute

“I was murdered by Internet bullies. Massive amounts of them. Some of you out there absolutely contributed to my death as you were entertaining yourself with gossip. I wasn’t AI. I was a real human being. You chipped little bits of my self esteem away all week until I was vaporized.” — Ed Piskor

These words from Ed’s suicide note have never left me. I don’t think they ever will. They ring in my ears like a continual clanging drum cymbal. It’s these words that inspired this video as I tried to capture and communicate the human soul behind those snazzy, iconic black shades. How strangely fitting that the first song I listened to while sobbing in my car after the news of Ed’s tragic passing would be called “Sunblind” by Fleet Foxes— its lyrics both a comfort and a thorn. A mix of melancholy and beauty.

For Richard Swift

For John and Bill

For every gift lifted far before its will

Judee and Smith

For Berman too

I've met the myth hanging heavy over you

—Representing the multitudes of Cartoonist Kayfabe and Ed Piskor fans who are deeply passionate about the craft

I loved you long

You rose to go

Beneath you, songs, perfect angels in the snow

So time to stage

Forget reserve

The type of great coronation you deserve

—Representing the legacy of Ed and the obligation and responsibility to uphold it despite what others may think

I'm going out for a weekend

I'm gonna borrow a Martin or Gibson

With Either/Or and The Hex for my Bookends

Carrying every text that you've given

—Representing the isolation of an artist such as Ed and yet the irresistible need to share his art with others

I'm gonna swim for a week in

Warm American Water with dear friends

Swimming high on a lea in an Eden

Running all of the leads you've been leaving

—Representing the history of the comic book as an American art form and the many creators who have left their mark to inspire the next generation of artists like Ed himself was and has

I'm overmatched

I'm half as wise

If this is flat, brother I apologize

No one alone

Can leave the cave

And all you've loaned won't be kept inside a grave

—Representing Ed’s struggle with perfection, fallibility, loneliness, and all the life he had yet to live but still gifted to others in his work

So I dream

—As all true artists like Ed do

And in your rarified air I feel sunblind

I'm looking up at you there high in my mind

Only way that I made it for a long time

But I'm loud and alive, singing to you all night

—Representing my personal admiration for Ed, appreciating the time he was with us, and recognizing how much he’s impacted others in the industry and those yet to become a part of it

Grieving the loss of a human being is not the same as condoning everything they ever said or did. Human beings are complex. Human beings are contradictions. And that’s what Ed was—a real human being. I can't tell you how many times I would put on the Cartoonist Kayfabe YouTube channel and not only learn so much, but laugh so much because of Ed's entertaining humor and personality.

I miss him.

— Nandor Fox Shaffer