Where’s Neil When You Need Him? ‘Comic Book Tattoo’ Out Tomorrow
Cover art by Jason Levesque
Fans of Tori Amos have long been aware that she’s got a close friendship with the writer Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is likely best known for the graphic novel series The Sandman, and Tori inspired the character Delirium in those novels. So, you take Ms. Amos’ incredible talent for writing lyrics that don’t so much make “sense” as provoke an image in the listener’s head and add that to her friendship with Gaiman, and it doesn’t seem at all a stretch that an anthology of graphic representations of her songs is being released tomorrow in coffee table book format from Image Comics.
Comic Book Tattoo is 480 pages of art and stories inspired by Amos’ songs. With the help of artist and editor Rantz Hoseley, Amos hand-picked the 50-some entries, each of which are devoted to a different song. The result is a huge book full of art from all genres and styles, from “art school” to manga, from over 80 contributors – among them The Sandman illustrator Mike Dringenberg and David Mack of Kabuki fame.
From what I’ve seen, this book isn’t meant to be music videos on paper – literal translations of Amos’ lyrics drawn and inked in. Instead, each contributor has come up with a story that somehow just reflects the song – they are telling stories that the song makes them think of, and sometimes the connections are obvious, sometimes not. And they’ve chosen some interesting songs to work with. For example, there is an entry for “Pirates,” a song from Y Kant Tori Read, her 80s debut album, which is a far cry from what we’d later hear from her with Little Earthquakes or Boys for Pele.
And if you are wondering where Neil is when we need him…he wrote the introduction to the book.
(Few images from the book after the jump, plus links)
from I Can't See New York by Adi Tantimedh and Ken Meyer, Jr.
from Winter by John Ney Rieber, Ryan Kelly and lettered by Kristyn Ferretti
from Devils and Gods by Shane White and Jessica Staley
Related Links
[Comic Book Resources]: SHE’S YOUR COMICS: Tori Amos’ “Comic Book Tattoo”
[Spinner]: Interview with Tori about “Comic Book Tattoo”
[Funrama]: Ryan Kelly’s blog
