Created in 1997, this issue of Skunk Zine by Devin Lau was the first BMX zine I ever got my hands on. I was 13 and while I had already been introduced to Dig, arguably the most “core” magazine of the time, Skunk was nothing like it. Riding photos were blown out and ultimately besides the point and its attention-to-detail was no attention-to-detail. The zine included recipes, drawings of what seemed to be non-existent BMX parts for sale, lots of Pete Augustin references, recipes for chili, and insight into an early Austin BMX scene and an already thriving Austin music scene. It was the first time I realized BMX was a lifestyle beyond the marketing of Xtreme but also the “hardcore” lifestyle® championed by the prominent BMX magazines at the time. There are no rules to BMX. Skunk, like so many other independent BMX zines, made that abundantly clear.
I’m excited to share a piece of BMX history that was influential to me. Skunk Zine is being reissued with permission from Lance Palko. Half of all proceeds will be donated to to the POW * MIA, in honor of Devin. You can purchase Skunk in the Challenger web shop and you can read an interview that I did with Lance Palko for Issue #9 of Holeshot below.