The death of comic book artist Ed Piskor is being mourned online, albeit under complicated circumstances.
Piskor, who was the illustrator and author of the comic book series Hip Hop Family Tree, as well as an artist for Marvel's X-Men: Grand Design, reportedly died by suicide last week. The 41-year-old was accused of sexual misconduct by two women, including comic artist Molly Dwyer, 21, who claimed that Piskor began sending her private messages when she was 17. The second woman, Molly Wright, alleged that Piskor propositioned oral sex from her in exchange for his agent's phone number.
Piskor vehemently denied the allegations in a final letter shared to Facebook, where he mentioned both women, writing that he "should never have talked" to Dwyer.
"The whole pile of my dms she collected to show is just awful to look at. I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to offer professional favors to anybody or use my “position” (what a joke) to get into anyone’s pants," he wrote.
Piskor then asked that Wright be "held accountable." He alleged that the two "had sex twice and she initiated both times," and claimed that after ending the relationship, Wright turned into a "petty woman scorned."
"Reputation destruction is her form of aggression and there were very real consequences. My lawyer is Harris Miller. Is it possible to subpoena all texts and dms I had with her?" he wrote.
The letter came after an exhibition of Piskor's work was suspended from 707 Penn Gallery, originally slated to begin on April 6, in addition to Piskor losing a $75,000 deal.
"I have no friends in this life any longer. I’m a disappointment to everybody who liked me. I’m a pariah," he wrote. "News organizations at my door and hassling my elderly parents. It’s too much. Putting our addresses on tv and the internet. How could I ever go back to my small town where everyone knows me?"
"I was murdered by Internet bullies," he concluded. "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. Maybe I’ll be able to haunt you dorks as a ghost. I come from Gypsy heritage and I’m definitely cursing a lot of you."
Piskor's sister confirmed his death on Facebook, and a Pittsburgh funeral home shared his obiturary.
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