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All comic book fans dig ink. Some of them just take their superhero obsessions a little further than others. Michael Boyce (left) wears his love of comics on his sleeves. A thirtysomething artist who runs On Comic Ground, a comics shop in San Diego, his arms are covered with tattoos of all the superheroines he grew up with: fightin’ females like Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl and Wonder Girl. "Once I started getting one girl, I had to get ’em all," Boyce said. With flesh forever marked with the comics and sci-fi characters they know and love, geeks like Boyce would give a pack of hard-core bikers a run for their money in the tattoo department.Show us your geek tattoosAre you sporting skin art inspired by comics, sci-fi, horror or even really freaky stuff like math and physics? http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2008/08/show-us-your-ge.html Send us a photo.
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Wonder Woman struts her stuff on Boyce’s right bicep, but his tattoos cover both of his arms. "I want to have arms that look like comic book pages with the girls bursting out," said Boyce, who got the work done over a three-year period by Willie King Clover in Lemon Grove, California. Boyce also wears a wicked Wonder Woman belt buckle.
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When getting Venom’s spider logo added to his left calf, Aaron Hamilton went with stark black ink. "I wanted something big and bold that just said, ’This is who I am. This is what I like,’" said Hamilton, 30, of Birmingham, Alabama. He says he got the tattoo done 10 years ago by Justin Kontzen of http://www.myspace.com/aerochildtattoos Aerochild Tattoos in Birmingham.
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Tim Burton’s animated movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107688/ The Nightmare Before Christmas got Coley Suicide into tattoos. Now it’s Halloween every day of the year on her arm, where "Pumpkin King" Jack Skellington, his girlfriend Sally and ghost dog Zero have taken up permanent residence. "I’ve always kinda been obsessed with Tim Burton," said Suicide, 20, of Long Beach, California. "I figured I’d start out with my favorite." The tattoos took 28 hours, she said, and were done by Nathan Menske in Yakima, Washington.
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http://www.chaoscomics.com/ Chaos Comics characters Lady Death and Purgatori face-off eternally on the back of Chris "Cybian" Kneeland, 39, of San Diego. "Everything I have (tattoo-wise) is kind of like good and evil," said Kneeland, who works as a website coder and analyst. The back piece, which was done by Bob Vessells at http://www.funnyfarmtattoos.com/ Funny Farm Tattoos in Los Angeles, was started five years ago, with 20 to 25 hours of needling so far, said Kneeland. He’s gained some weight in the interim, and swears he’ll get the piece finished when he drops the pounds.
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Images of The Thing (pictured), Image Comics’ Maxx and other superheroes decorate Sean Brunle’s body. The 31-year-old bartender, who lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, says he chose those characters because he "was physically attracted to them." The tattoos, done by http://www.acecustomtattoo.com/raines.htm Rodney Raines at Ace Custom Tattoo in Charlotte, took 15 or 20 hours to finish, Brunle said.
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X-Men badass Wolverine is another of Brunle’s favorites. "They’re basically hard on the outside and soft on the inside," Brunle said of the characters indelibly inked on his arms. "Strong men with good hearts, I guess."
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"Does it ever make sense to us?" asks Jeff Walker, 27, of San Diego. The custodian wears a stark image of a dead bird with a philosophical quote from Bill Watterson’s Calvin and Hobbes comic strip on his arm. "I’ve just always loved the artwork," Walker said by way of explanation. The tattoo was inked by Chris Walkin at http://www.avalontattoo.com/maps/avalon2.htm Avalon Tattoo II in San Diego.
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Leona the lizard girl from Katherine Dunn’s sideshow stunner http://www.amazon.com/Geek-Love-Katherine-Dunn/dp/0446391301 Geek Love earned a permanent spot on one of Odette Suicide’s legs, right next to a living shrine to the Virgin de Guacamole. Suicide, 27, lives in Ventura, California, and calls herself a "baker with brains." She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology (and neurons tattooed on her right arm). Leona was inked in nine hours by http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=2695439 Tim Kern at Tribulation Tattoo in New York City, she said. http://www.nathankostechko.com/ Nathan Kostechko did the avocado-faced Virgin.
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Steve Thompson works as a toy designer for Disney, but Sci Fi Channel’s rebooted space opera Battlestar Galactica motivated him to get this skin art. He has Starbuck’s tattoo on his arm, courtesy of two hours under the needle at http://www.bodyelectrictattoo.com/ Body Electric Tattoo in Hollywood. "I’m just a huge fan of the show," said Thompson, 34, of Los Angeles.
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Shaz Nolan wears the Dark Mark of the Death Eaters from the Harry Potter books on her left forearm. That fits nicely with the 32-year-old seamstress’ cosplay role – she dresses as http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Bellatrix_Lestrange Bellatrix Lestrange. When she saw the image, she couldn’t live without it. "And it’s fun," said Nolan, who lives in Fullerton, California. She says the tattoo took one hour at http://www.deepbluetattoo.com/ Deep Blue Tattoo in Grover Beach, California.
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"I’ve been a comic book fan my entire life," said Chad Bacon, 34, of Huntington Beach, California. It shows. On his right forearm, the strip-club manager sports Captain America, done by Vance O’Rourke of http://723tattoo.com/ 723 Tattoo in Fullerton, California. Bacon’s into the "whole patriotic thing," he said. Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Wasp, Spider-Man and Spawn cover other parts of his body, and for extra geek effect, he’s got an image of Albert Einstein on his upper left arm.
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http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1921345/ Steven Miller has a bold panel from a comic on his right forearm. "I just thought it was cool looking," said Miller, 27, of Los Angeles. The director of http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469683/ Automaton Transfusion said he is working on a movie called Ink about – what else? – tattoos.
