SkateBoarder Vol. 19 # 12

★★★★★

Great Magazine

Skateboarder magazine was first published in Winter 1964 as a quarterly under the name The Quarterly Skateboarder by Surfer Publications out of Dana Point, California, US—during the first skateboarding boom. In August 1965 the title was changed to Skateboarder and the magazine began to be published bimonthly. After an initial release of only four issues between 1964 and December 1965, the publication ceased until the first major skateboard revival of the early 1970s.

In his first editorial, John Severson wrote:
Today's skateboarders are founders in this sport—they're pioneers—they are the first. There is no history in Skateboarding—its being made now—by you. The sport is being molded and we believe that doing the right thing now will lead to a bright future for the sport. Already, there are storm clouds on the horizon with opponents of the sport talking about ban and restriction.

However, by Christmas 1965, skateboarding had largely disappeared, and the production of Skateboarder would resume in 1975, with Gregg Weaver featured on the first cover of the bi-monthly publication (it became a monthly publication in late 1977). Warren Bolster (1944–2006) was the editor of the magazine during its second incarnation and he also enlisted the services of Jim Evans, an artist/designer friend who illustrated the relaunched magazine.

Production of the magazine ceased once again in the 1980s, but another relaunch occurred in 1997, with an oversized special issue that is guest edited by Tony Hawk, with art direction by Jaimie Muehlhausen. The success of this special issue led to another issue in the following year—the bi-monthly form was reinstated in 1999 and a monthly frequency was eventually established.

GrindMedia announced the discontinuation of the publication following the release of its third digital edition on August 19, 2013.