Comic Book Tattoo – Tales inspired by Tori Amos – Image Comics 2008
Back Cover:
"Over 80 of the best creators from every style and genre, have contributed over 50 stories to this anthology featuring stories inspired by the songs of multi-platinum recording artist, Tori Amos."
Most might think that graphic novels paint stories easily and literally, almost like a storyboard for a film. Often however, they separate themselves from literal comic book works as pieces of pure art, such as Neil Gaiman's Sandman or Morrison and Mckeen's, Batman: Arkham Asylum. These artists and writers have the chance to open your mind with image and story but thankfully not always as you'd expect.
Saturday afternoon I received my copy of Comic Book Tattoo (named for a line in the song The Flying Dutchman by Tori Amos). I sat for 2.5 hours reading this amazing collection of stories shaped from the music and lyrics of Tori Amos. I won't lie, I am a huge Tori fan, mostly because her songs are always telling stories and never in the literal sense. It is essential sensory poetry.
The writers and artists creating these works moved me to tears, laughter and at times pure awe. What you see here is a collection of up and coming artists who transcend the ideas of what humanity holds within its imagination.
As a treat to myself, I would play each song to the story as I was reading (YouTube helps if you don't own all her work). It heightened the effect of the art work and the tale being told. I suggest, if you buy this, that you do the same. Also, take your time with it because these mini graphic stories are sometimes layered. I hate to admit this, but some stories fall flat. Some just didn't connect with me or the sense of the music. It's all up to interpretation.
Stories of note:
Winter – An amazingly touching and human story.
Bouncing Off Clouds –Very cute and cool story. Great art work.
Girl – Such an interesting story that pulled me into something entirely new from the lyrics
Marianne – Wow. Just call it picture poetry.
Programmable Soda – Very sweet and funny.
Little Amsterdam – Crazy, creepy..Tales from the Crypt. Lol
Here, in my hand – Awesome Fairytale
Waitress – Very involved and very detailed story.
1000 Oceans – Pure Design Awe
Hey Jupiter – Fairytale in all our minds.
Devils and Gods-Sci-fi whimsical tale with a touch on humanity
All in all a wonderfull coffee table book. Its huge! 12x12x1.5 inches, 480 pages. 20 bucks on Amazon.com
Worth every penny and a must have for any Tori fan or lover of graphic novels. Here's the song list just in case you were wondering can be found here:
http://www.toriamos.com/main_comic.html
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