After a long week of allegations coming out about misconduct by Ed Piskor, he’s finally been canceled by his long-time friend and Cartoonist Kayfabe co-creator, Jim Rugg. The comic industry has now taken another scalp and the embattled artist has all but disappeared from the internet.
Cartoonist Kayfabe has long been a channel which focused on comic book history and artistic skill, along with providing interviews of big creators. Ed Piskor and jim Rugg ran the “indie” channel on behalf of the mainstream comic industry which proved to be their in to companies like Marvel and Fantagraphics.
On March 24th, 2024, it came out that Cartoonist Kayfabe creator Ed Piskor had been sliding up into the DMs of an under-18 female artist with some questionable material said where it appeared as if he was making sexualized comments to her. After Fandom Pulse brought these matters to light, the comic industry veteran has now deleted his social media in response.
Despite what looks like a friendly community on the surface, the Cartoonist Kayfabe group is part of the overall comic industry whisper network, carefully gatekeeping anyone with politics outside of the extreme leftism that’s permeated the industry. Their Facebook group is known to ban people just over their identities, and recently, in an interview with Nexus co-creators Steve Rude, Ed Piskor and Jim Rugg encouraged discussion lambasting Mike Baron, which seemed politically motivated.
Jim Rugg has been very careful about maintaining his corporate brand despite having the veneer of independence through the Cartoonist Kayfabe channel, and he is even willing to throw his friend under the bus who he’s worked with for years over allegations.
It’s gotten worse or Ed Piskor over the week though, as a second woman came out and accused him of demanding sexual favors for industry access. The local Pittsburg, PA news even showed up at his and his father’s house to question the creator in person. His father defended him, but Ed Piskor was nowhere to be found.
RELATED: Another Woman Comes Forward Accusing Ed Piskor of Cartoonist Kayfabe Of Lewd Online Behavior
Now the cancel cycle is complete, with Jim Rugg taking to Instagram to comment on the Ed Piskor situation.
“In light of this past week’s shocking revelations, I find it necessary to reevaluate my professional associations to ensure that they align with my values of respect and integrity,” Jim Rugg posted to Instagram. “Therefore, I have ended my working relationship with Ed Piskor.”
The Cartoonist Kayfabe YouTube channel already was taken down for brief hours, and the Twitter account remains deactivated. Though the former is back up, one wonders how long the content might last on there with Jim Rugg so quickly throwing his friend under the bus.
The comic industry is a place of fear and collusion, and mere associations can ruin careers with the whisper network dominating the space. The allegations against Ed Piskor are pretty substantive, but should Jim Rugg ditch his long-time partner in Cartoonist Kayfabe? Leave a comment and let us know.
While I can appreciate Ed’s enthusiasm for comics, Ed’s “character” honestly was an embarrassing ambassador for the comic community, prior to these allegations. Constant cussing, not even reading many of the comics they looked through, constant digression into some personal experience to boost Ed’s ego, and of course putting his ignorance on display by creating his own fantasy history regarding comics/events he doesn’t understand. Maybe too much kayfabe, not enough insight.
I hope Jim can team up with Scioli for some future total recall shows.
“Under the bus” is a strange way to receive Ruggs statement. So you are implicating him like he’s a bad friend? What’s that about?
Jim Rugg looks like a coward to me. Trouble ahead , I’m out. Friends should be worth more. To hell with the whisper network also.
Remember, none of this would have happened when women were peripheral to comics at best. This happened because women wanted in. They entered the scene, flirted their way up the ladder, and now accuse and threaten and send into suicidal downward spirals the men they formerly claimed to have admired. It is all about women destroying men. Period. And what do we get for all this “emotional labor” from women? Not even a single good comic book. Women are worthless.
Yes, I remember decades ago listening to an LA talk show host complain that women demanded to be let into the work place and be treated equally, then as soon as they got in they demanded changes in the workplace. I was shocked and didn’t get it at the time, but years ago realized he was exactly right. The huge cancerous HR departments in every company are solely the result of women’s mean girl behavior.
Incel, much?