The Hip Hop Family Tree graphic novel by Ed Piskor, serves as a captivating and comprehensive account of the foundational years of the music genre that revolutionized global culture. Originally serialized on the immensely popular Boing Boing website, each volume is artfully presented and packaged in a style reminiscent of Marvel comics from the same era.

Piskor's spirited yet disciplined cartooning skillfully transports readers from the South Bronx's parks and rec rooms to the thriving nightclubs, recording studios, and radio stations where the hip-hop scene began to flourish. The panels vividly capture the essence of late-1970s New York City, brimming with meticulously authentic details.

With a dynamic and engaging approach blending Ken Burns' documentary style with Stan Lee's storytelling flair, Piskor meticulously researches and lovingly depicts the battles, rivalries, technical innovations, triumphs, and failures that defined the era. Much like the acclaimed hip-hop documentaries Style Wars and Scratch, Hip Hop Family Tree stands as an indispensable cultural chronicle, making it a must-read for hip-hop enthusiasts, pop-culture aficionados, and anyone curious about the roots of this transformative musical movement.

Read the Reglar Wiglar interview with Ed Piskor.

Hip Hop Family Tree graphic novel by Ed Piskor

Name: Hip Hop Family Tree graphic novel by Ed Piskor
Brand: Fantagraphics
SKU: RCD036

SKU: RCD036

$27.99

Quantity

Ed Piskor
"An avid lover of hip-hop music and superhero comic books from a young age, Ed Piskor has combined his two passions to create a remarkable reading experience ... Hip Hop Family Tree imagines real-world events through the filter of 1980s Marvel Comics, bringing hip-hop visionaries to the page in a style that exaggerates their energy and style to capture the intensity of the music without having the beats."
― The A.V. Club

"Hip-hop devotee Piskor was one of Harvey Pekar’s last collaborators and here shows himself to be Pekar’s true disciple as a chronicler of popular culture. In fact, he one-ups his famous partner-mentor—Pekar, an avid and knowledgeable fan of bebop, never scripted a whole book on his passion. Moreover, Piskor intends this book to be the first of several tracing the history of what is still, 40 years after its emergence, the most important stylistic development in pop music since rock ’n’ roll. The large-format volume is strictly a chronicle, presenting the major figures in hip-hop as they appear and make their impressions on the music. It’s full of names while barren of explanation, description, analysis, and even, oddly enough, dates (though for fans of hip-hop, that likely won’t be a deterrent). Piskor’s artwork seems equally indebted to the looks of golden-age DC superhero comics and Pekar’s greatest collaborator, R. Crumb. Besides the bibliography, discography, and index expected of a pop-music-history reference work, Piskor provides an appendix-in-comics on his personal understanding of “The Hip Hop/Comic Book Connection.” — Ray Olson, Booklist