What do you think?
Rate this book
SKIN: A Graphic Novel for Adults
SKIN - The raw controversial story of a Thalidomide victim.
SKIN - An angry and violent book, a tragedy shot through with bitter humour.
SKIN - is Martin Atchitson's story: some of his mates called him a spatic - most of them called him Martin 'Atchet. He was a SKIN
SKIN - Banned before publication. Rejected by other publishers who thought it 'Too Disturbing'.
SKIN - is the most important comic book you will read this year.
48 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
232 people want to read
About the author
Peter Milligan
1,297 books388 followersLibrarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.
He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.
His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.
Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).
Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name
Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.
He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.
His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.
Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).
Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 15, 2010
An unusual comic that is so dark and difficult, no publisher wanted to touch it. It's a small, biography-style story of a thalidomide punk told in brash vernacular and drawn with vibrant, uncomfortable colors.
Milligan, usually the master of the unpredictable and dreamlike, is more down to earth here with a tale of young British skinheads. Though it may not be as conceptual as his other books, it retains the strong character-based sense of story by which all Milligan's plots operate.
Like in 'Enigma', Milligan again delivers a story that is not pleasant or comfortable, but feels important, insightful, and true. When publishers asked why the story was 'so tasteless', McCarthy and Milligan were somewhat perplexed, asking how a story of a child deformed by corporate greed was supposed to be tasteful.
Luckily, they don't deliver a sensitive public service announcement, instead trying to explore an unusual life, delivering something difficult to widen our horizons.
Most of the story is concerned with realism, but it grows rather more ridiculous toward the conclusion, which seemed a bit silly and preachy to me, and kind of breaks the Aesop, but it's still a good and early example of the sort of painful, confessional story that is popular among sophisticated users of the term 'graphic novel' today, except you don't have to read five volumes, you might actually laugh a few times, and the protagonist doesn't serve as an ennui-affirming Holden-clone for the disaffected.
My Suggested Reading In Comics
Milligan, usually the master of the unpredictable and dreamlike, is more down to earth here with a tale of young British skinheads. Though it may not be as conceptual as his other books, it retains the strong character-based sense of story by which all Milligan's plots operate.
Like in 'Enigma', Milligan again delivers a story that is not pleasant or comfortable, but feels important, insightful, and true. When publishers asked why the story was 'so tasteless', McCarthy and Milligan were somewhat perplexed, asking how a story of a child deformed by corporate greed was supposed to be tasteful.
Luckily, they don't deliver a sensitive public service announcement, instead trying to explore an unusual life, delivering something difficult to widen our horizons.
Most of the story is concerned with realism, but it grows rather more ridiculous toward the conclusion, which seemed a bit silly and preachy to me, and kind of breaks the Aesop, but it's still a good and early example of the sort of painful, confessional story that is popular among sophisticated users of the term 'graphic novel' today, except you don't have to read five volumes, you might actually laugh a few times, and the protagonist doesn't serve as an ennui-affirming Holden-clone for the disaffected.
My Suggested Reading In Comics
January 7, 2024
Skin is a short graphic novel by Peter Milligan and Brendan McCarthy that tells the story of young skinhead Martin Atchitson who suffers from thalidomide induced birth defects. Originally set to be published by 2000 AD/Fleetway, the publishers backed out due to the controversial aspects of Skin. A few years later, Milligan and McCarthy would find a suitable publisher in Kevin Eastman's Tundra Publishing which printed Skin as a one-shot graphic novel.
Centering the story around a thalidomide skinhead is obviously heavy-handed with respect to the edge factor, but Milligan does a great job contextualizing the ripple effect of mass consumerism has on culture. The story takes place in 1970s London where skinhead culture became prevalent amongst school-aged kids, particularly with right-wing propaganda pushing ideas of the detriments of immigration into the UK. For social outcast Martin Atchitson, becoming a skinhead was almost an inevitability since it provides a built-in community for him to feel a sense of belonging. Though Mitch is pretty detestable, you can't help but also feel pity for the kid.
Brendan McCarthy's artwork singularly makes Skin a unique reading experience. Instead of traditional panel layouts, McCarthy opts for collages and full splash pages to give the story a fairly off-kilter look. Carol Swain's vibrant pastels add eye-popping colors to give McCarthy's layouts a distinctive fever dream aesthetic. The harshness of the color contrasts and layouts really adds to the grittiness of the text, making Skin a suitably uncomfortable read.
Though there are moments the story strains against the initial realism and Milligan does get a bit overly preachy towards the end, Skin is faithfully disturbing as suited by the premise. It's powerful with respect to the message set forth by the creative team, and the artwork by McCarthy and Swain is impressive and well-suited to the story. It's well worth seeking out, especially if you're looking for something a bit more challenging and unique with respect to the wider comics medium.
Centering the story around a thalidomide skinhead is obviously heavy-handed with respect to the edge factor, but Milligan does a great job contextualizing the ripple effect of mass consumerism has on culture. The story takes place in 1970s London where skinhead culture became prevalent amongst school-aged kids, particularly with right-wing propaganda pushing ideas of the detriments of immigration into the UK. For social outcast Martin Atchitson, becoming a skinhead was almost an inevitability since it provides a built-in community for him to feel a sense of belonging. Though Mitch is pretty detestable, you can't help but also feel pity for the kid.
Brendan McCarthy's artwork singularly makes Skin a unique reading experience. Instead of traditional panel layouts, McCarthy opts for collages and full splash pages to give the story a fairly off-kilter look. Carol Swain's vibrant pastels add eye-popping colors to give McCarthy's layouts a distinctive fever dream aesthetic. The harshness of the color contrasts and layouts really adds to the grittiness of the text, making Skin a suitably uncomfortable read.
Though there are moments the story strains against the initial realism and Milligan does get a bit overly preachy towards the end, Skin is faithfully disturbing as suited by the premise. It's powerful with respect to the message set forth by the creative team, and the artwork by McCarthy and Swain is impressive and well-suited to the story. It's well worth seeking out, especially if you're looking for something a bit more challenging and unique with respect to the wider comics medium.
April 24, 2024
The revenge story of Thalidomide victim who also happens to be a manchild skinhead. It's pretty wild stuff. The art isn't as wild as other stuff I've seen from McCarthy but still quite interesting with colors by Carol Swain.
October 31, 2012
Phenomenal comic. Blunt and sharp as a fucking tack, all on the one page.
August 3, 2019
Well written, great art, hard-to-accept storyline. It works.
October 8, 2019
Quite a disturbing and also very depressing comic book for its time. The art is very well drawn to present the story with an array of vibrant colours and pastel style. The story is very short but also close to the point. i'd recommend reading this out of interest like i did (i have a keen interest in skinhead subculture and the art that surrounds it) but like previously stated the story and subject matter may not be for all.
February 21, 2021
I suppose if you were trying to condense the thalidomide tragedy into a comic, you might create something as unpleasant as this too.
This comic is short and dirty, just like the protagonist.
Copious colloquial language is used throughout, yet it is difficult to appreciate amongst the rampant profanity. However, that SKIN is so transgressive, immoral, tragic, and just plain nasty, it had a voice, and because of this I became aware of it, read it and learned something.
Humanity first, not capitalism; capitalism is the malignancy that will ruin us all.
This comic is short and dirty, just like the protagonist.
Copious colloquial language is used throughout, yet it is difficult to appreciate amongst the rampant profanity. However, that SKIN is so transgressive, immoral, tragic, and just plain nasty, it had a voice, and because of this I became aware of it, read it and learned something.
Humanity first, not capitalism; capitalism is the malignancy that will ruin us all.
April 14, 2020
Grim tale of a thalidomide victim, really just a victim of society
September 10, 2021
A twisted story about a skinhead thalidomide victim.
November 18, 2022
A beautifully illustrated short graphic novel about a deformed skinhead whose rage against the machine leads him down a path of self-destruction.
March 9, 2010
Supuestamente, este comic tardó años y años en ver la luz porque ningún editor se quería jugar a publicarlo por su temática y desarrollos tan duros. Muchos años después, los autores encontraron a un editor con huevos que se los publicó y no hubo ningún problema con el contenido. Muchos años después más, yo lo leí, lo disfruté, me entristecí con algunas escenas y me reí con otras y seguí con mi vida. No sé si se armó demasiado revuelo en su momento o si nuevamente tengo que culpar a mi insensibilidad gráfico-moral, pero fue una obra que me pareció muy destacable y recomendable, pero no me generó ningún escándalo interno. Espero algún día conseguirla en papel y releerla con mayor atención para escribir una reseña que justifique sus cuatro estrellitas.
April 18, 2012
Tough.
November 29, 2012
Never been this disturbed by a read before.
September 1, 2014
I will be honest, it was too short, too strange and a bit crap. But a good ending I guess...
July 18, 2022
Short and unpleasant, but very memorable. I guess that was the point.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews