wysiwyg: Ed Piskor

March 20, 2009 7:59 AM

Ed Piskor became interested in alternative comics at the tender age of nine [according to Wikipedia] after watching Harvey Pekar reading one of his stories in a documentary [most likely this one]. Fast-forward a decade or so, and Ed's getting the call from Pekar himself, asking Ed to draw some comics for him.

He started by collaborating with Garbage Pail Kids creator Jay Lynch before being picked up by Pekar (for whom he's since drawn peices for Our Movie Year [linked to above], Macedonia, and a history of the SDS, among others).

Ed's also published a few well-known minicomics.

He's currently working on the Wizzywig series, a fictional comics biography whose main character is a composite of well-known phreaks and hackers. Portions of part one and two are available on his website. For more pages from Wizzywig, as well as a veritable shitton of his other work, visit his blog. (Really. You'll get lost in there.)

I don't think he's on Myspace, though.

posted by not_on_display (4 comments total)

He's certainly bad enough for Pekar, whose post-Crumb collaborators are like a hall of fame of klugey cartoonists. I like the way this guy cross-hatches at right angles. It makes every surface look like the side of Archie's head.
posted by Faze at 12:08 PM on March 20

I'm having Ed speak at Blockparty, an north american demoparty (there looks to be only one this year) in Cleveland the weekend of April 16th-19th.

I've reviewed Wizzywig on my weblog, and found it a good experience. Faze apparently hasn't read enough comics to find actual bad cartoonists, of which there are many and legion.
posted by jscott at 12:57 PM on March 20 [1 favorite]

Faze--do you own a comic book store? :) everyone's favorite comic sucks.
posted by not_on_display at 7:56 PM on March 20

I bought both Wizzywig books and they're a joy for any fan of geek culture or computer history. And as a huge fan of the Clowes/Ware school of comics design, I can safely say the art's great. Faze doesn't know what he's talking about.
posted by waxpancake at 6:14 PM on March 21