Comics and TMNT historian Andrew Farago arrested for recording people in the bathroom
The TMNT historian and longtime Cartoon Art Museum curator is accused of secretly recording guests in his bathroom at a birthday party. He’s resigned, and his decades-long career in comics is almost certainly over. Here’s what police say happened.
Andrew Farago spent over 20 years as one of the most respected historians in comics. In a matter of weeks, that’s collapsed.
Farago, the longtime curator of San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museum, was arrested June 3 after police say he hid a phone in his bathroom during a birthday party and secretly recorded his guests. He has since resigned from the museum, and his name has been scrubbed from its website.
A heads-up before we go on: the allegations here are disturbing, including that children were among the people recorded.
What police say happened
The accusations come from court papers first reported by the Berkeley Scanner, the outlet that broke the story.
According to police, Farago co-hosted a birthday party at his South Berkeley home on May 23. During the party, a woman found his cellphone hidden in the bathroom and still recording.
Police say the phone also held a video of Farago himself setting it up, tucking it under a towel and aiming it to film people as they used the toilet.
The guests, police say, included both adults and children.
When the woman confronted him, court papers say Farago “made admissions” and said he’d already deleted the videos from his phone and the cloud.
The apology and the arrest
Before his arrest, Farago reportedly emailed the party guests to apologize.
Court papers quote the email: “I hid my phone in our bathroom for the purpose of spying on our guests, my closest friends in the world. I had never done anything like that before and don’t know what possessed me to do it.” He called it “an inexcusable violation” and said he was “prepared to face whatever consequences will come.”
Police got an arrest warrant for 20 counts of invasion of privacy using a hidden camera. They arrested him at his home on June 3 and seized about a dozen electronic devices.
One important note: as of now, prosecutors have not actually filed charges. It’s still an open investigation, and these remain allegations. Farago hasn’t responded to requests for comment.
Who Andrew Farago is
Here’s why this rattled the indie comics scene.
Farago wasn’t a minor figure. He ran the Cartoon Art Museum from the early 2000s and built it into one of the country’s most important homes for comic and cartoon art.
He chaired the Northern California chapter of the National Cartoonists Society. In 2015 he won the Inkpot Award, a major industry honor.
He’s also a prolific author. His books include the Harvey Award-winning Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Visual History, a definitive history of Batman, The Looney Tunes Treasury, and a book on the Peanuts gang. He reviewed graphic novels for Publishers Weekly. He’s married to webcomics creator Shaenon K. Garrity.
In short, he was an insider’s insider, the guy who wrote the histories and curated the shows. That’s a big part of why the news rocked the comics community this week.
What happens to his career now
This is the part that looks already settled.
Farago resigned from the museum around the time of his arrest, and the museum took his name off its site. Whatever happens with the legal case, the professional fallout is effectively done.
A career built entirely on trust, being the steady hand who preserves and tells the story of comics, doesn’t survive an accusation like this, especially one with a confession attached.
The legal process still has to play out. Charges haven’t been filed, and he’s entitled to that process like anyone else.
But in the comics world where his name meant something for two decades, the damage is already total.
This article was brought to you in part by The Reefers of more.clownfishtv.com. Free subscribers get articles like this one in their inbox. Paid subscribers get the full Clownfish TV podcast feed, livestreams, and members-only episodes that never hit YouTube.
D/REZZED is part of Clownfish TV. For more news, views, and rants on gaming, tech, and pop culture, watch @ClownfishTV on YouTube and find the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart.
Hat Tips:
The Berkeley Scanner (June 22, 2026), Emilie Raguso reporting, which broke the story, verified for the court-paper details, the 20 counts, the June 3 arrest, the device seizure, and Farago’s quoted apology email
San Francisco Chronicle (June 23, 2026), verified for the arrest-warrant counts, the hidden-camera allegations, and prosecutors not yet filing charges
Comics Beat (June 23, 2026), verified for Farago’s age, his October 2001 start at the museum, his bibliography, his marriage to Shaenon K. Garrity, and the RAINN resource line
The Daily Cartoonist and Hoodline (June 23, 2026), verified for Farago’s career background, the Inkpot Award, the museum resignation, and the California privacy-law context