Behind every tattoo is a story. This is the story behind tattoo. In the hazy days of the 70s, in the boroughs of New York and along the beaches of California, a secretive subculture took shape. It launched a $2.3 billion industry – an industry inked on one out of every five Americans today. This is the story behind tattoo in America. It’s the story of Sailor Jerry, the pioneer and Ed Hardy the visionary; of Michael Malone aka Rollo Banks the workhorse and Shanghai Kate the gypsy. Brought together by their passion for a sacred and underground art form. It’s the story of the trail they blazed: a swaggering, stumbling path of brotherhood and betrayal, greed and innovation. These four friends took write of passage out of the back rooms and into the mainstream Along the way, they backstabbed, bad-mouthed, exploited, and double-crossed. This is their story. Did you expect it to be painless?