The cover of issue six is a section of the exploded view of a tattoo machine.   It's more like the cover of issue number one than the covers of issues two through five.   When we put out the premier issue of Machinegun we didn't even have a complete list of machine part names. Now, in issue six, we know a lot more about how every part in a machine works.   When you compare the cover of the premier issue, which was put out in 2001, to the cover of issue six, it sort of illustrates where we started and how far we've gotten in five years.

Issue six wraps up the Green Monster project machine, by building four Green Monsters.   There's no machine builder interview in issue six, but there is more information about how to set up a machine than in any other issue of Machinegun. The question and answer section of issue number six is huge.  

There were a lot of really good coloring contest entries from issue five.   I think it was the three-dimensional nature of the winning entry that really set it apart from all the others.   In issue six's coloring contest, Simian Kane opens his own tattoo shop.   Machinegun's coloring contest has become, without question, the biggest ongoing, serialized, Citizen Kane coloring contest in the history of professional tattooing.

Best line in Issue 6

From "Tattooing, What Happened?" by Bill Baker:

"Measuring voltage on a tattoo machine is kind of like measuring gas mileage on a car; the two would be even more similar if gasoline was free."