The Cartoonist Kayfabe guys (Ed Piskor & Jim Rugg) discuss the Palmer’s Picks feature from Wizard, Issue 7.
Words and analysis about this specific feature from the man, Tom Palmer Jr., himself.
Tag Archives: Ed Piskor
Vids I Dig 003: Catoonist Kayfabe: Show and Tell 07: Bootleg Comics
The Cartoonist Kayfabe guys (Ed Piskor & Jim Rugg) discuss bootleg comic books.
Vids I Dig 001: Fear, Loathing, and Comics at the Basement Sale
The Pittsburgh Comics Gang investigates the New Dimension Comics Basement Sale – a bi-annual event during which a trove of over half a million comics is opened for public perusal and consumption.
Video by Julie Sokolow
Featuring the artists:
Ed Piskor (Wizzywig, Hip Hop Family Tree)
Jim Rugg (Street Angel, Afrodisiac)
Tom Scioli (Godland, American Barbarian)
Jasen Lex (The Aweful Science Fair, Gypsy Lounge)
with
Todd McDevitt (Owner of New Dimension Comics)
Amanda Bowen (Archivist at New Dimension Comics)
Comic Review: Wizzywig
Published: July 4th, 2012
Written by: Ed Piskor
Art by: Ed Piskor
Top Shelf Productions, 282 Pages
Review:
I may have been late to the game in discovering the work of Ed Piskor. I was introduced to him through his most recent work on X-Men: Grand Design and its sequel Second Genesis and then I really developed an appreciation for him through Cartoonist Kayfabe, a YouTube channel he runs with Jim Rugg (and sometimes Tom Scioli).
Being pretty impressed with his X-Men projects and his passion for the medium and the industry he works in, I wanted to go back and read some of his more personal, earlier work. A friend of mine highly suggested Wizzywig due to the fact that I love Mr. Robot and have always been intrigued by hacker culture and history.
My friend didn’t steer me wrong and I absolutely loved this graphic novel.
The main character, Kevin, is based on a few famous hackers from back in the day. His story is sort of an amalgamation of their stories but it is done really well and comes off as pretty damn accurate. I have to give props to Piskor for the research he did and how he weaved an engaging tale around a subject that can be difficult for the layman to follow.
Ultimately, you really care for the characters in this book and it is a sad and tragic story. In a way, it deals with the main character’s mania and obsession over what he can do and how he is a victim of his own compulsions.
I love the art style; it was clean and consistent on every panel. I also thought the lettering was fantastic.
This is a story that is basically this character’s life and there is a lot to unpack with it but it flows well, has a good energy to it and there isn’t a dull moment. Every panel deserves to be on the page and while that should be an obvious standard in this medium, so many comics spend too much time wasting away their real estate on pointless drivel.
Wizzywig is a solid piece of work by Piskor and it has made me want to go out and pick up some of his other comics that I’ve missed.
Rating: 8.75/10
Pairs well with: other work by Ed Piskor, as well as stuff by his Cartoonist Kayfabe colleagues Jim Rugg and Tom Scioli.
Comic Review: X-Men: Grand Design
Published: October 4th, 2017 – January 3rd, 2018
Written by: Ed Piskor
Art by: Ed Piskor
Marvel Comics, 92 Pages
Review:
X-Men lore is so massive that a series like this is actually pretty necessary for modern fans who don’t know all the details of the older X-Men stories and how things led to where the franchise is now.
X-Men: Grand Design is a fabulous series that goes through the entire history of the X-Men team.
The first Grand Design series was comprised of two 46 page comics. The second series is also broken out over two issues but this is about the original run, which covered the original X-Men team, mainly comprised of Cyclops, the original Ms. Marvel (Jean Grey), Beast, Iceman and Angel.
This comic moves very briskly, as it hits every major storyline in the comic’s original run. We see the origins of all the key players, heroes and villains. We also see how the Sentinels came to be and the formation of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, as well as all the hoopla surrounding the arrival of the Phoenix Force.
Ed Piskor did an incredible job of writing this and mapping out the story so well. Everything just flows and it is perfectly accented by his old school pulp-like artwork.
I know these stories but even I don’t remember every single chapter of X-Men history. For old fans and new fans, this really is a must own and a must read. If anything, it just tapped into nostalgia pretty strongly and it has made me want to go back and read some of the classic story arcs.
Rating: 9.5/10
Pairs well with: It’s sequel X-Men: Grand Design – Second Genesis.
