Tattoo Me .....

I've just finished writing a review of Matt Wagner's great 80s comic series Grendel that will go up on the FPI site some time in the future. But I signed off by mentioning that I had a Grendel tattoo.

And it occured to me that I'd never talked about them here. And I've talked about most things here, so why the hell not my tattoos.

I have three on my outer left calf: A Grendel face, an Ankh and the V symbol from the comic V For Vendetta. I've had them since I was 20. I wanted tattoos for a while, but was careful to choose images that would be black only (thus not fading and changing to a green mush that all colour tattoos seem to over time), simple and iconic.

Obviously, all three are comic related. Grendel, Death/Sandman, V For Vendetta. Perhaps not my three all time favourite comic series, but they were chosen because they were highly effective, striking visual icons.

I still like them. I like the surprise on people's faces when they see them for the first time. I guess I just don't look like the sort of person who does tattoos. And I always enjoy watching them try to work out what they are.

I was planning on getting a series of 6 or 7 going all the way up my leg. One day I may still do that. The Invisibles blank badge was a possibility - just a black circle would do that. But another 2 or 3 iconic images have never really presented themselves.

But never say never.