The Illustrated Man, Part 20: Crimson Ghost

For the longest time, I wanted a tattoo of the Crimson Ghost, the official mascot of the greatest punk band in history (and my all-time favorite band), the Misfits. In 2007, I finally got it done, in the middle of my back.I may end up adding some green to the eyes, as that's what color they were in the picture I originally used. Tattoo courtesy of Shaun Reed Tattoos in Olympia, WA.

The Illustrated Man, Part 19: Green Lantern

I actually did this piece the same day I did the 'STR8 EDGE' tattoo on my knuckles. It's located on my left middle finger (as if you couldn't already tell that). Basically, I wanted to do a Green Lantern ring on my hand, as I've always been a big Green Lantern fan. Unfortunately, the color never took to my skin well due to the location of the tattoo. At some point, I will probably have my artist Chase Martines (Brave New World Tattoo, Denver, CO) take a look at it and see what he can do about getting the color to stick. Piece by Shaun Reed Tattoos, Olympia, WA.

The Illustrated Man, Part 18: STR8 EDGE

For tattoo #18, I wanted yet another straight edge tattoo, once again going to my buddy Shaun Reed (Shaun Reed Tattoos, Olympia, WA). He and I came up with the idea of a knuckle tattoo together. I have to admit I partially took the idea from pro wrestler CM Punk, who has "DRUG FREE" tattooed on his knuckles. I wanted something similar, but not the exact same thing. So, based on this, Shaun came up with the idea to put "STR8 EDGE" on my knuckles instead.

The Illustrated Man, Part 17: XXX

For piece #17, I decided that I wanted yet another straight edge tattoo. This time, I went with another symbol of straight edge, that being 'XXX'. For those that don't know, the reason 'XXX' is a symbol of straight edge is that each X represents a different part of the lifestyle-one for a clean mind, one for a clean body, and one for a clean soul. We ended up only going with an outline-style tattoo, but I may end up filling it in with some color at some point. I will have to ask my current artist, Chase Martines (Brave New World Tattoo; Denver, CO) what he thinks about doing that. Tattoo by Shaun Reed Tattoos in Olympia, WA.

The Illustrated Man, Part 16: sXe

For my 16th tattoo, I wanted another straight edge piece. My artist, Shaun, who I had just become friends with at the time, is also straight edge, knew exactly what kind of piece I was looking for. He drew up this custom sXe design for me, and we decided it would look good on the left side of my neck. In the process of doing the piece, Shaun thought it would look cool if we added some grey flames to it, so I let him pretty much do whatever he wanted. I'm actually glad he suggested the flames, as I like the way they turned out, especially how the one kind of goes up the side of my neck. Tattoo courtesy of Shaun Reed Tattoos in Olympia, WA.