Back in 1989, right before I hit college, I discovered the coolest magazine ever created. It wasn’t Spin or Rolling Stone or anything like that. It was called “Shred Magazine” and it blew my 17 year old mind apart. Essentially a hi-rent ‘zine, Shred covered not only skateboarding, surfing and other non-mainstream sports, it also had articles about bands I’d never heard of and political views that had just begun to picque my college-ready brain’s interest. The first issue had an article on Alan Moore and Bill Sienkiwicz’s “Brought To Light”, followed immediately by a profile on Charles Burns. There was a blatant pro-environment editorial stance that happened to coincide with my awakening desire to do my part to save the planet. Shred introduced me to the Church of the Subgenius and taught me that clip art wasn’t just for school flyers.

In short, “Shred” was the perfect magazine for that time of my life.

I found my copy of the first issue yesterday while I was going through some old longboxes. I know I have a few more issues scattered around in the boxes that contain my pre-married life, but I’d like more If anyone out there knows where I could buy back issues on the cheap, please let me know. I spent an hour last night rediscovering a piece of my past that I’ve often remembered fondly, and I’d love to do so some more.

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