It's time to relive Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree series from Fantagraphics Books with a brand-new Omnibus release. Originally released between 2012 and 2016, Hip Hop Family Tree was a comic series written and illustrated by Ed Piskor, designed to educate young audiences on hip-hop's history dating back to the genre's humble beginnings. A New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller, the series also won an Eisner Award for Best Reality-Based Work.
The series returns to the forefront of comic bookshop shelves everywhere beginning October 17 when Ed Piskor's Hip Hop Family Tree goes back on sale as an official Omnibus.
In addition to encapsulating every issue of the series into one collection, the Omnibus will include 140 pages of extra material, as well as a forward from director Charlie Ahearn, an afterword from journalist Bill Adler, annotations by Piskor, a cover gallery, and much more.
Hip-Hop Family Tree Omnibus, On Sale October 17
Creator Ed Piskor offered additional insight on the below panels:
What you’re looking at here, with Krush Groove, is the Hollywood version of the Def Jam origin. It’s glittered up to the point where Blair Underwood is playing Russell Simmons, gimme a break! Throughout the movie there are people in it who I recognized from famous photos in early hip hop so it was cool being able to draw connections and figure out who these people are, I’m thinking of fellas like Charlie Stettler and “Mandingo”. Clearly the movie accomplished it’s goal because sooner than later the Beastie Boys end up on tour with Madonna.
Alongside Piskor's insight and analysis is another quote, this time from the associate publisher of Fantagraphics, Eric Reynolds. Reynolds has some glowing words for the accomplished artist/writer in Ed Piskor, praising Piskor's ability to pack so much information, character, and at its core, history into Hip Hop Family Tree. In addition to making the series as enlightening as it is, Reynolds notes that Piskor doesn't forget to mold the series into "a hugely entertaining, visually seductive, and compulsively readable narrative." He likens Piskor's skills to having a superpower, and truthfully, considering what Piskor pulls off with this series, Reynolds isn't wrong.
2023 marks the 50th anniversary of hip hop's creation as a genre. Despite still being a relatively young idea within the musical stratosphere, hip-hop is rich and heavy in history, and has had an incalculable effect on American culture over the past five decades. Attempting to give a comprehensive retrospective, at any leve,l in any medium, is a tall task to commit to, but Ed Piskor was up for that challenge. Needless to say, after four volumes, multiple printings, 14 comic books, a wildly popular YouTube channel for the author in "Cartoonist Kayfabe", and an Eisner Award to cap things off, it all paid off.
The Perfect Gift for Hip Hop's 50th Anniversary
Naturally, once an author and historian hs produced an award-winning, well-researched piece of history, the next step is to expand it even further with bonus material. While deepening a far-reaching piece of text, Hip Hop Family Tree also manages to be the perfect present to hip hop on the year of its anniversary. In fact, with the holiday season approaching, this might even make for the perfect gift for the die-hard hip-hop head. The Hip Hop Family Tree Omnibus, collecting an Eisner Award-winning work, is a must-have for anyone curious to learn where hip hop came from and where it's going, as well as for anyone who adores the genre as a whole.
The Hip Hop Family Tree Omnibus will be available in print and digital stores beginning October 17, 2023.