No. 2: Surfing Magazine, Aug. 2010

Welcome to the jungle, Clay Marzo

“Never judge a book by its cover” seems to apply well in most cases, but that ol’ reliable saying sometimes pulls up short when it comes to magazines. For surf magazines, in particular, one can certainly judge the tone and style of the publication by the cover shot. The Surfer’s Journal trends towards artistic and subtly abstract photos that underscore its historic and self-reflective mood. SURFING and Transworld Surf instead veered in the opposite direction. It wanted the biggest air, hardest carve or deepest barrel. And god forbid the surfer be riding anything other than a standard thruster. Slap on some bold-faced text and boom, there’s the front page of that month’s issue. Surfer tended to be a hybrid of both, a mix of scenic landscapes and breathtaking waves. In a way, the cover photo is both intended to hook its intended readership and reflect it at the same time.

SURFING targeted the youth. It wanted to give an up-to-date reaction to the latest maneuvers, trends and opinions. The covers had the biggest and baddest action shots each month. Enter Clay Marzo, who, in Aug. 2010, burst onto the scene with this lip-eviscerating turn in Indonesia. 

The striking thing to me about this issue is the longevity of some of the featured surfers. In 2010, Marzo was 21. Even then, he drew lines and approaches nobody else saw. In the subsequent pages of the issue, Marzo nailed clips and airs that looked as foreign as their names, which ranged from “air 360 handplant” to “suicide air revere” and the thesaurus’s favorite, “backside carving 360 blow tail.” If you need a refresher course, treat yourself with this clip from this 2018 Indo fest. 

More than a decade after that session, few surfers have ever attained such a doting fanbase as Marzo. While Marzo never had the mindset for contests, he blended that speed, power and flow criteria into one effortless package. I believe the near-mythic status around Marzo rises from two key factors. In 2007 he was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, a form of autism. Some have theorized that this allows Marzo intense concentration in the water. He focuses for hours at a level most can’t fathom. Marzo’s reclusive nature also made him even more desirable for a doting fanbase, like that one celebrity you just can’t help but stalk. Who was this quiet kid from Maui who just couldn’t seem to fall on waves? The one thing this issue of SURFING didn’t show was that Marzo is just as gifted in the barrel as he is in the air. How do we get this guy on a plane to Skeleton Bay ASAP?

This issue came out around the time when Wilson blitzed the surfing world and became regarded as an aerial wizard. In 2021, the Australian is still regarded as one of the best aerialists in the world, which is no small feat considering air-related injuries are the cost of doing business. Also, you can’t convince me Wilson doesn’t get tattoos after every air he stomps. 

While Coleborn isn’t as high profile anymore, Davis has garnered his own fan base after publicly losing his main sponsor because of the coronavirus pandemic, becoming a full-time tugboat in Western Australia, and still dropping arguably the best edit of the 20202. The title says it all. Enjoy. 

Quotable:

“Clay has this thing where he always lands on his feet, like a cat would” — Chippa Wilson

Notable features:

“Craig Anderson Is…” The ever-original Chas Smith pens a creative essay examining random moments with a young Craig Anderson, who was just beginning to demonstrate his tweak-kneed, nonchalant posture combined with modern moves to the world. 

“Liberation Frequency” A session in Indo with a serious price tag. Chippa Wilson, Josh Kerr, Jay Davies, Mitch Coleborn and Clay Marzo punted for a prize purse of $50,000 to land the ever-elusive “most innovative air” within a week. How the times have changed.