While preparing this issue, I noticed, once again, the name of Rik van Boeckel. Rik penned this month's feature about Japan's foremost female tattoo artist Horiren. The photos for the piece are by Rob Webster. Both of these talented lads are from Amsterdam in The Netherlands. Which reminds me of a criticism that I received several months ago from a reader. Perhaps you remember it: SKIN&INK and myself, personally, were accused of putting out a tattoo magazine with a definite West Coast bias. But after some quick research and a little basic addition, I demonstrated that, if anything, the East Coast was assigned more stories, the Pacific Northwest slightly less, as was the Midwest. Southern California came in fourth.

Now look at us. In the past few months, Rik van Boeckel contributed from Amsterdam, Travelin' Mick writes us from the Philippines (Mick's from Germany, by the way), photographer Bernard Clark is based in Kingston, Ontario, Mattias Westfalk reported from Korea, Mike McCabe bases his anthropological studies in Beijing, Lars Krutak looks for indigenous tribes in the Amazon, Salem 632 flew to Peru and Lorian Elbert got stuck in the sand in Mexico.

See? Tol' ja. We're global!

In that spirit, I can't help but recall our first issue, back in May of 1997. Reporter Hope Urban gave us a stunning photo essay of Borneo, Permanent Mark visited Amsterdam with Hanky Panky, Running Bear and Captain Caveman, while the next issue featured Japan's master Horiyoshi III from Yokohama, and so on and so on.

The Readers' Gallery also reflects our international coverage. Recent mailbags are full of photos from shops in Spain, Cypress, Germany, Sweden, Buenos Aires, Saskatchewan, Poland, Puerto Rico and England. It's extremely heartening to know we are all part of such a vibrant, worldwide family. Sure, it's a dysfunctional family, at times, but a family nonetheless.

But with all the new and upcoming artists opening shops on every street corner, I just wish there were a few more elegant, respectful, dedicated, educated tattoo personalities on the scene like Hanky Panky, Zeke Owen, Filip Leu and Henry Goldfield. These guys are still around, but there's so much brouhaha and self-promotion going on, especially in the U.S., from what can best be described as "self-proclaimed greatest artists in the universe" that the class-act tattooers with a real history of contribution and achievement get drowned out. Which is why, along with international coverage, we make a real effort to include significant tattoo history in each and every issue. Case in point: Chuck Eldridge's magnificent Our Living History, Bruce Litz's Lives of the Great Tattooers and the sage musings of Vyvyn Lazonga, Mr. G and the incomparable Manhattanite Mike Bakaty.

Listen to these guys. You just might learn something about humility.

Bob Baxter
Editor in Chief

baxter@skin&ink.com
www.skinandink.com