Skin Graft: The Adventures of a Tattooed Man 1-4

By Jason Cohen

On your next trip to the comic book shop, try to hunt down this four-issue series. My shop packaged all four issues together for a deal and it was a great buy. Skin Graft is a classic Vertigo series, published at a time when artistic endeavors were more important than violence and sex. It’s not in the same category of quality as Sandman or Swamp Thing or anything, but you can definitely tell the difference from series like The Exterminators or Scalped.

Jerry Prosser writes the story of John Oakes, who is sent to prison where he meets Abel Tarrant, the Tattooed Man. Oakes's skin becomes the canvas for Tarrant’s greatest work, unlocking a world of mystical potential in Oakes’s psyche.

The discovery of tattoos and the world related to them helps John Oakes survive his time in prison. This discovery offers Oakes a focus and a purpose at a time when he felt he was doing nothing more than follow his family legacy as a loser. Abel Tarrant serves as his mentor and they form a somewhat vaguely homosexual bond as Oakes associates their connection to pain and pleasure.

Oakes discovers that his tattoos unleash a deep magic that resides behind his skin. He also learns that he has the ability to consume others using the tattoos, and travels to Japan to learn the art of Irezumi and improve his abilities. There Oakes immerses himself in the world of tattoo artistry and the hidden magic behind them. The creative team seems to know a lot of little details about Japanese culture and tattooing, whichh helps this story and its characters come to life. I know very little about tattoos, so I don’t know if they are thought to be magical by some. A quick reference to Wikipedia will teach you a lot about the art of irezumi and it was interesting for me to compare the facts to the story elements.

Warren Pleece’s art accents the story perfectly, incorporating the art of tattooing and unlocking a small portion of their majesty for the reader. The art and panels intertwine with the story, taking on forms most suited for the scene. The basic colors glow bright and change drastically to represent the mood of the story. Written narration is incorporated into the page breakdowns, as almost subtitles to a greater piece of art.

This story was truly a hidden gem for me, as I picked it up on a whim. This is classic Vertigo. In my opinion the Vertigo line was much more interesting because when each title was something special. The use of Abel Tarrant and Green Lantern in this story also represents the way Vertigo used to be" an offshoot of the DC Universe instead of something completely unrelated.

Think of this story as a primer for Final Crisis Aftermath: Ink, which stars Mark Richards, the most recent Tattooed Man. Though this comic has nothing to do with Richards, it might serve as a nice entryway into the idea that someone can have magic tattoos. Sadly John Oakes is never seen again s he falls victim to the very same barrier that keeps Swamp Thing away from us.

Next time you’re in the shop, look for Skin Graft: The Adventures of A Tattooed Man, or anything from Vertigo’s early days, because that book will be a fun surprise. Its too bad few of these forgotten books will ever be collected.