InkedMag
  • Articles
    • Top Stories
    • Culture
    • Art
    • Music
    • Digital Cover
    • Events
  • Shop
    • Subscriptions
    • InkedShop
  • Tattoo Shops
  • INKED COVER GIRL
  • Company
    • About
    • Contact
    • SUBSCRIPTION
    • Newsletter
    • Media Kit
  • Policies
    • DMCA
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
InkedMag
  • Top Stories
  • Culture
  • Art
  • Music
  • Events
  • Store
  • Digital Cover
  • INKED COVER GIRL
  • Tattoo Shops

Newsletter

Inked newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is hidden when viewing the form

Next Steps: Sync an Email Add-On

InkedMag

Inked Mag Staff

January 21st, 2015

Share Now
0
0
0

‘Popular Skullture’ Celebrates the Macabre

Gallery Follows the Text Given the harsh reality that every human eventually concedes to death it’s not surprising that man has always been intrigued by the macabre. Every known art…

Gallery Follows the Text

Given the harsh reality that every human eventually concedes to death it’s not surprising that man has always been intrigued by the macabre. Every known art form ends up focusing on death. Be it tattoos, comics, literature, paintings, opera, it doesn’t matter—death and the end of life will eventually be the subject matter.

Early 20th century comic books and pulp novels seemed particularly interested in death, as well as the possibility of things reaching out from beyond the grave. The cover art of these comics and pulp novels trended toward the fantastic; it had to in order to attract readers. There is no more powerful symbol of death than the skull so naturally it came to dominate the macabre imagery in these publications.

Popular Skullture, a new book being released by Kitchen Sink Books/Dark Horse Comics, celebrates the beautiful weirdness of the era and it’s fascination with the skull. During the height of the comic book/pulp novel craze artists would have to think way outside of the box in order to stand out from every other issue on the newsstand, thus triggering a creative explosion throughout the industry. Popular Skullture collects some of the best, oddest, and most thought provoking of the covers into an art book authored by Monte Beauchamp. Beauchamp, an award-winning art director and graphic designer, gives a brief history of the comic/pulp novel industry alongside the 150 covers featured in the book.

Check out some of our favorite covers fromPopular Skullturein the gallery below.

Editor's Picks

Heartless Ink Banner Art
Bridging Classical Art and Modern Tattooing

Esteban Rodriguez brings the discipline of classical fine art to the living canvas of skin, creating hyper-realistic tattoos that merge technical mastery with emotional depth.

Show your Ink Fashions Fashion
Show Your Ink Fashions Brings Custom Style to Tattoo Culture

Show Your Ink Fashions creates custom shirts designed to showcase your tattoos as wearable art, blending fashion with personal expression.

Culture
The Ultimate “Superman” Tattoo Roundup: Just in Time for Superman’s Return to Screens

With Superman’s big return to theaters, fans are revisiting some of the most iconic ink inspired by the Man of Steel.

More From Art

Inked Tattoos Of the Week
August 4, 2025
Top 10 Best Ozzy Osbourne Tattoos: A Tribute in Ink to the Prince of Darkness
July 31, 2025
Heartless Ink Banner
Bridging Classical Art and Modern Tattooing
July 18, 2025
The Ultimate Jurassic World Tattoo Roundup: Just in Time for the New Film
July 3, 2025
Inked & Adorable: Meet Hunter, the Artist Tattooing Labubus One Toy at a Time
July 2, 2025

Recommended For You

Art
Top 10 Best Ozzy Osbourne Tattoos: A Tribute in Ink to the Prince of Darkness
Culture
Piece of Mind
Inkcarceration Events
Inkcarceration 2025 Shatters Records: Slipknot, Marilyn Manson & 90,000 Fans Take Over Ohio Prison
INKED Recommends
The Tattoo Artist Who Turned a Drunk Rabbit into Tequila’s Spirit Animal
earthlite-tattoo
InkedMag

QUICK LINKS

  • Top Stories
  • Culture
  • Art
  • Music
  • Events
  • Store
  • Tattoo Shops
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • SUBSCRIPTION
  • INKED COVER GIRL
  • MEDIA KIT
  • DMCA
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS & CONDITIONS

Input your search keywords and press Enter.