2007’s Force in the Flesh made massive waves in the tattoo industry, shining a light on the Star Wars tattoo subculture which was inking its way around the world and now, over a decade later, Shane Turgeon returns to his first book with a Kickstarter fuelled anniversary edition.
A galaxy far, far away – April 25th, 2018 – ​Star Wars tattoo book series, The Force in the Flesh, returns with 10th Anniversary Edition and Retrospective.
In 2007 Shane Turgeon published a book that defied genres; a book that shone a light on a niche subculture within two already niche subcultures: Star Wars fandom and tattooing; a book that influenced an entirely new generation of tattoo artists.
It’s hard to believe but at the time, the subject was nowhere near as mainstream as it is today. Through brilliant photos and biographies of over 40 collectors and artists, The Force in the Flesh: Star Wars Inspired Body Art helped bring the culture of Star Wars tattoos to the prominent forefront of fandom they now occupy and further cemented its place in history with a second volume in 2015.
As both volumes were 100% self-published, funded and distributed, quantities of both books were limited. As a result, Volume One is long out of print and one of the questions Turgeon asked the most is where can someone purchase one. Sadly, the answer is nowhere.
By reprinting Volume One in a 10th Anniversary Edition he hopes to satisfy that demand for both old and new fans of the series. Not only that, but this edition features a new cover by tattoo artist Adam Hays that matches the cover style he designed for Volume Two (and a forthcoming Volume Three to be released in 2021), a slipcase set available with Volume Two and a new retrospective publication that re-interviews 15 of the folks originally featured in Volume One, ten years on, and brings us up to speed with what they’ve been up to. And trust us, some of them have gotten up to some pretty awesome stuff!
The 10th Anniversary Edition is being funded via Kickstarter starting May 1st, 2018 and Turgeon has put together a selection of amazing backer rewards including exclusive items and some long out of print collectibles and publications he’s been a part of creating. You can visit the Kickstarter page directly at:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shaneturgeon/the-force-in-the-flesh-10th-anniversary-edition.
