Comic Book Tattoo Tales Inspired by Tori Amos

by Leif Jones, Rantz A. Hoseley, Tori Amos (Editor)

Over 80 of the best creators from every style and genre have contributed over 50 stories to this anthology featuring tales inspired by the songs of multi-platinum recording artist, Tori Amos!
Featuring an introduction by Neil Gaiman, with stories by creators such as Carla Speed McNeil, Mark Buckingham, C.B. Cebulski, Nikki Cook, Hope Larson, John Ney Reiber, Ryan Kelly, and many, many others, Comic Book Tattoo encapsulates the breadth, depth, and beauty of modern comics in this coffee table format book.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Music, Art, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Anthologies

480 pages, Hardcover

First published July 23, 2008

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for every EWF with a goodreads account. If you don't know what an EWF is, I'm less certain you'll like it.

Tori Amos is by far my favorite musician, so this collection is right up my alley. I love the different ways her lyrics and music are translated into art and stories. The whole thing is an impressive nexus of creativity.

I'd paged through this tome when it first came out, but never really studied it until now, probably because it is extremely awkward in size and very heavy. The way I chose to experience this was to listen to the song while I read along with the lyrics, then I read the story. It made sense to me to do it that way and I'm really glad I did. What a great experience!

[Jace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tori Amos and comic books are my two main obsessions, so this purchase was a no-brainer. How could the convergence of two of my favorite things be anything less than amazing, right? Wrong. In fact, I'm not exactly sure who this book is meant to appeal to.

Tori fans will be disappointed because many of the stories have nothing to do with her music. The stories are purportedly "inspired" by a specific Tori song, but a lot of them are generic and lack any appreciable connection to her lyrics. Far too many of the stories left me wondering if the writer actually knew the Tori song his comic was "influenced" by or if he was just trying to pass off some old story he had lying around the studio. I'm aware that this collection was not advertised as "The Illustrated Tori Amos" but in my opinion, the most successful songs were the ones that used Tori's lyrics/story as a foundation, expounded upon them, and fleshed them out. In this respect, some of the most impressive were Little Amsterdam, Pretty Good Year, Space Dog, the Waitress, the Beekeeper, and Winter. Some people may not have liked the more "literal" songs, but I found them to be exactly what I was hoping for in a Tori Amos collection. Some of my favorite songs (Marianne, Honey, Father Lucifer) were just ugly collages that didn't even portray a story, much less a story that was true to the original lyrics.

Comic fans will be disappointed because, quite often, the stories and/or the art are just not very good. Way too many are cheesy boy-meets-girl tales (or more often, girl-meets-girl stories. I'm not sure why so many people think that Tori Amos fans are all punky/fairy/riot grrl lesbians, but this characterization got old very quickly.) I was also disappointed to see that so much of the art was either anime style characters (Precious Things, Siren) or very basic computer-generated panels. Don't get me wrong, there were some beautiful, luscious hand drawn/painted illustrations, but so those are often overshadowed by cringe-inducing amateur work. I was curious why I had never heard of most of the contributors to this volume, but now I know--most of them are not very good.

Overall, I was not impressed with this collection. Although there are a handful of amazing stories, most of them generated little more than "meh" from me before I turned the page. The worst part wasn't that the stories and art were so lackluster, it's that the writers and artists couldn't do Tori Amos's amazing source material justice.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

I've put off the purchase of Comic Book Tattoo for a long time thinking it was a book on tattoo art. It didn't help that it was in shrink wrap at a local bookshop (which I hate and love) and I couldn't peek inside.

This is a very huge and heavy book. I bought it from Amazon and they included an additional surcharge for the bulk, which I didn't notice, making it more expensive if I were to buy it locally -- ouch!

There are both paperback and hardcover edition. Mine's the paperback edition and the binding's not bad for a book this size but spine wrinkles are expected if you open the book wide. This book needs to be opened wide. I should have bought the hardcover but it's really pricey.

Comic Book Tattoo is not a book on tattoo art. It's a comic anthology created by over 80 artists featuring stories inspired by songs of Tori Amos. I can't say I familiar with any of the artists' work but the quality of work in this book is really high, plus the variety of style is incredible. There are plenty of other artistic gems in this volume.

My favourite piece is the silent comic from Kako. The perspective is from a bee flying through a playground, with a silhouetted swinging carousel against the sunset. Everyone is suspended in the air including the bee. The line art and inking is brilliant, even though I can't see how it's related to the song Marianne it's supposed to be inspired from.

I'm not sure what fans of Tori Amos might make of this book. After all, this is a comic book. Compared to the music, it's totally different sense and sensibility. Because of that, I'll recommend it more towards comic lovers.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting sampler, but not really to my taste -- most of the stories were so brief as to be more snippets or moments than actual tales. I was surprised at how few of the contributors were familiar to me.

[Bonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, I am a Tori Amos fan. I grew up listening to her and she's always been one of my favorite artists. As someone who's also a Sandman nut and enjoyed Tori's appearances in those stories, I had some high expectations for this collection. And I did not like this book.

This felt too scattered. I don't think many of the stories were well-told... I would've rather that a few songs had been cherry-picked for this book, and then given more depth. It's all very pretty to look at, for the most part, and there are some good stories mixed in there. But they really begin to blur, even when I tried to space out reading the book. I didn't care about the majority of the stories, and several felt very conventional and basic (Precious Things, Beauty of Speed, or Siren for example). Some explore the stories within the songs, and others just go for surface meaning (Boo to Bouncing Off Clouds!). And others are just plain confusing (Toast, Sugar, Leather, Ribbons Undone).

Stories I liked were Take To The Sky, Little Amsterdam, The Waitress (this is a great example of a story that actually took some time to be told and it worked out for the better), Winter, Baker Baker, I Can't See New York, and Cornflake Cirl. Pandora's Aquarium was one of the funnier, more literal translations of a song and its goofiness worked.

And cheers for Paul Maybury's story for Crucify. A personal story with the song as background really worked... at least to me!

[Fox · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, it is a really BIG book. Ok? BIG! Like a mammoth big. If you have weak wrists, hire someone to hold it while you read! Trust me.

So now about the content of the book...

Tori Amos -- you either love her or hate her. If you hate her, why are you reading this?? If you love her, as I do, you found this a fascinating insight into what others think of her lyrical mysteries. Were you the only one that likened the Cornflake Grrl as a strict adherence to a black & white belief in the goodness of people? What about Mermen... what the hell was that anyway??

Okay, this won't really solve those questions. I admit that it's vague at best sometimes. Sometimes I think I understood Tori's metaphors better than the designer in the book. That's why this got a 4 instead of a 5.

But, let's face it, Ears With Feet (if you don't know what that is, I ask again -- why are you reading this???), you don't want this book because the metaphors confuse you or because you seek to commune with fellow Toriphiles. You want it because it's about Tori. Well, stop wasting time reading this and go get it! Geez, ya'll Toriphiles gotta do everything the hard way don't you?!?!

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈]

Another freebie from the spectacular GRAPHIC NOVEL SALE that I found. Some of the artwork in this is absolutely gorgeous. Plus I adore Tori Amos. Can't wait to dig my teeth in!

[Swankivy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a multi-authored work featuring the comic stylings of various artists . . . and though the stories are unrelated in style and content, the one common thread is that they are all based, if loosely, on Tori Amos songs. I received this as a gift from my friend Mike because I am a Tori fan, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. What I liked best is that the comics inside were not just retellings of whatever the actual Tori song was about (though in some cases it seemed like they were similar); occasionally her lyrics would be quoted or maybe just one line would be the inspiration, but overall it just seemed like most of the contributors used one of her songs as a jump-off point and the rest might as well have been coincidence. I also love to "draw" music (and have done so), and I run a webcomic, so I kinda wish I could contribute to the next volume.

My favorites in the book were the following: "Bouncing off Clouds" by Josh Hechinger/Matthew Humphreys; "Girl" by Jonathan Tsuei/Eric Canete/Saskia Gutekunst/Geoff Ong; "Take To The Sky" by Sara Ryan/Jonathan Case; "Little Earthquakes" by Tristan Crane/Atticus Wolrab; "Little Amsterdam" by Leif Jones; "Here. In my head" by Elizabeth Genco/Carla Speed McNeil/Mark Sweeney; "Suede" by Kelly Sue DeConnick/Andy MacDonald/Nick Filardi/Kristyn Ferretti; "Teenage Hustling" by C.B Cebulski/Ethan Young/Joey Weltjens/Lee Duhig; "The Waitress" by Rantz A. Hoseley/Ming Doyle/Mark Sweeney/Kristyn Ferretti; "Caught a Lite Sneeze" by Mike Maihack; "Winter" by John Ney Rieber/Ryan Kelly/Kristyn Ferretti; "The Beekeeper" by Neil Kleid/Christopher Mitten/Kristyn Ferretti; "Iieee" by Peov; "Leather" by John Bivens; "Scarlet's Walk" by G. Willow Wilson/Steve Sampson; "I can't see New York" by Adisakdi Tantimedh/Ken Meyer Jr.; "Cornflake Girl" by Seth Peck/Daniel Heard; "Hey Jupiter" by Leah Moore/John Reppion/Pia Guerra/Mark Sweeney/Kristyn Ferretti; "Sweet the Sting" by Jimmie Robinson; "Ribbons Undone" by Lea Hernandez; and "Pretty Good Year" by Derek McCulloch/Colleen Doran/Jason Hanley. There were a couple I actually disliked but I won't name names; mainly I just don't like it that they let stuff get into the book when there were misspelled words and stuff, or stuff that was weird just to be weird (or seemed so).

[Jesibot Robotics · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not strictly for Tori Amos fans this is a fantastic collection of "comics" inspired by the songs of Tori's incredible career. Each comic has lyrics printed right before it which makes the songs more accessible even if you have never heard her beautiful and ethereal sounds. The artwork is breathtaking and done by some of today's Hottest comic book artists. Stand outs include Flying Dutchmen (which is the namesake of this book), Honey, Take to the Sky, Glory of the 80's and the very anime-esque Bouncing off clouds. Just one glimpse of the eye candy contained inside should be enough for anyone who is unsure about reading Comic Book Tattoo. Some of the stories are basic and just direct visualizations of the "song stories" that Tori has sung over the years. Snow cherries from France is a good example of this. Others, like Baker Baker, Programed Soda and of course Take to the sky give exciting and new twists and artistic liberty to the contributing illustrators. If you are a fanatic, like me, then this certainly is a must for your collection. I had so much fun seeing their takes on songs I have had swirling inside my head since the first listen. At 25 dollars retail, This truely is a steal. My only gripe is my favorite song, Liquid Diamonds was omitted. But regardless, It's A must! Bonus- Neil Gaiman does the sentimental intro and sheds new light on his decade long friendship with Miss Amos.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This anthology is made up of more than 80 artists' interpretations of 51 of Amos' songs from each of her albums (barring Strange Little Girls). Rather than be literal interpretations of the lyrics, many of the stories here are at the very least simply inspired by. While some have seemingly no connection to the source, there are plenty here that will rekindle interest in some songs and even let you see some of the songs in a different light.

What's more is that these stories stand alone so that you don't have to be familiar with the original song to enjoy them.

The styles vary drastically from story to story, ranging from what seems to be crayon drawings (Pandora's Aquarium) to manga/anime (Siren) to lush, organic watercolor or oils (Toast, Honey). Amos has said she let the artists have free reign over their songs and styles, and it really shows as you make through the collection. The talent here is incredible.

Fans of Tori Amos will undoubtedly find some of their favorite songs here, and enough songs are left out to make you wonder if there will be another volume in the future.

Personal picks: Siren, Here. In My Head, Little Amsterdam, The Beekeeper, Scarlet's Walk

I'm not usually a big comic/graphic novel fan, but I might check out more from a few of these artists.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a relatively well-read fan of comics, and a moderate fan of Tori Amos, so I would think I would be the target audience for this book. But it just didn't really connect for me overall. 50+ short comics by different artists, all VERY loosely related to Tori Amos songs (literally, her rule was that the comics shouldn't be retellings of the song). What that means is that the comics have to stand on their own, and they offer little insight into the songs themselves. So you're left with lots of random stories interspersed with song lyrics. And of the comics themselves, there are a lot more misses than hits for me. The stories in general didn't resonate. The artwork is all over the place too, but generally ranging on the good to great end of the scale. And a couple of the stories are very poignant. But for every one of those is two or three that just don't work for me. So maybe you need more than a passing familiarity with Tori's work, or a much deeper appreciation for comics than I have. Or you just need to be less picky. Whatever it is, I can't recommend this book; for me it wasn't worth the time I put into it.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a fan of Tori. I have nothing against her or her music, I've just never been a fan. That made this book a bit of a chore to read.
But out of some weird spite I made myself read it cover to cover.

Each story is prefaced with the lyrics for the song that the story is based on. Each story is by a different author/artist. This makes for some very uneven reading. One story will be ok or tolerable and then the next 4 will suck.

My fried JTC wrote one of the stories in this collection (which is frankly the only reason I read it). His was one of the better stories with beautiful, if murky, art.

This collection seems too huge. The book is large and unwieldy, and the sheer number of stories is daunting. It is titled as Volume 1, but are there enough Tori songs left to fill future volumes? Perhaps better editing was needed? A good half of the worst stories could be cut to leave a slimmer, higher quality book.

Its also damn huge which is nice for the artwork.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was much larger physically than I was expecting. It isn't going to sit nicely on the graphic novel shelf. That said, I am glad it was so massive. The art work is incredible and varied, it is nice to see it in larger and glossy format. I found it interesting that my favorite songs seemed to be my least favorite comics. I think it may be that I already had stories in my head about what they meant. Some of my favorites were: Take to the Sky, Mr. Zebra, Sugar, The Waitress, Beekeeper, Siren, Glory of the 80's, God, Devils and Gods, and the finale of Pretty Good Year. There was some pretty "eh" story lines and then there were some that really blew me away. My favorite line in the whole thing is, "We congratulate it on a good job. Good Dish, yes you are. And then we taste, yes?" I plan to say it to all my food creations before serving.

[Luxvivens · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me forever to finish this book. I kept revisiting the songs and then I would get distracted with the remainder of the album and at some point it got to be too much of a hurdle to pick up this book as I knew it would keep me busy for hours. Great work of art, wish there was an equivalent of Comic Book Tattoo for my other favorite artists (e.g. Radiohead), just beautiful!

[Lindsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorites were Mr. Zebra, Teenage Hustling, Mariannne, Siren, Little Earthquakes, Past the Mission

Least favorites were Crazy, God, Pretty Good Year

[C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was super cool. My favorite illustrators were Laurenn McCubbin www.laurenmccubbin.com and Star St. Germain www.thisisstar.com.

[Thabs · Rating 4 out of 5]

You've got to appreciate the immense amount of creativity that went into this comic book art collection. It is a rather massive book and I received my copy from my gang of lesbian homegirls in Munich for my B-Day in 2017. The book is so heavy that they brought it to me in an Edeka bag - not being able to find a suitably durable gift wrap for this monstrosity of print. Good times!

While I noticed some complaints from reviewers about the comics not being about Tori Amos. I refer you to Tori Amos' Afterword where she made sure the book's editor, Rantz A. Hoseley, knew not to request 'comic book covers' of her songs. I must admit that some of the drawings left much to be desired but a few stood out for me - 'Siren', 'Pretty Good Year', 'Space Dog', 'Cornflake Girl', 'Winter', 'Here. In My Head' and 'Glory of the 80s'.

All the comics are individual interpretations of her gorgeous discography and I live for it, as a lover of Tori Amos and comic books.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 1 out of 5]

If someone had picked the best ten of these, they mighta had a five star collection.

If someone had picked the best twenty, they STILL coulda had a four star collection.

If someone had had the nerve to just drop the truly unpublishable crap, they coulda still had a huge book which could well have claimed three stars.

but no. The choice was made to, as far as I can tell, include literally anything that was sent in during the time limit. And so, we have not only a 1 star book, but a book which is disappointing even amoungst one star books.

[Teo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected the stories to be more tied with the songs, majority of the stories I had no idea what they are meant to mean, and struggled to understand the connection to the lyrics. None the less it was cool to see all the different art styles, and some stories I did enjoy a lot. Some tho were just plain huh?? (Leather and especially Upside Down). I’d recommend Tori fans pick this up and give it a go.

Goddamn this book is so huge and heavy it’s so awkward to read lol. Sending my best wishes to everyone who wants to read this, especially the hardcover

[Tommy Harmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent work.
Beautiful pictures and stories.
Some were confusing but great nonetheless.
I particularly loved the Mr. Zebra bit.

It's a gigantic book so it hurt my back a bit to hold it up as I have a bad back but I finished it anyway and it was worth it.

[Shiela · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Favorites -

Girl
Programmable Soda
Little Amsterdam
Caught a Lite Sneeze
Winter
Baker Baker
1000 Oceans
Spacedog
The Beekeeper
Siren
God
I can't see New York
Devils and Gods
Sweet the Sting

[Dani Scott]

Crazy cool illustrations! If you love Tori Amos (or even if you don't really know her music), this book was a fun sampling of so many different illustration styles and writing. Great collection.

[Gwen Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you enjoy comics and Tori Amos you will love this book.

[Graisi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is what it says it is. The stories range from disturbing all the way to cute, just like Tori's songs.

[Michael Earp · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible mix of comics that were sparked by Tori Amos songs. This book is great for anyone who likes Tori, likes comics, or plain likes good story and art rolled into one.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some great stories, some just ok stories. All in all, an amazing collection and a great thing to have around.

[Miss Zero · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVE the artwork but most of the stories in it I couldn't connect to, especially the story for Siren - my favorite song, ever.

[Jack T · Rating 3 out of 5]

3

[Tara Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Forgot I owned this book-- found it while sorting through a box I'd packed away. It was... pretty good. I found myself skimming some of the comics, but completely blown away by others.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really a mixed bag. Some of the stories are beautiful and well-weaved. Others are disjointed and uninspired. Worth a look in that this book's uniqueness stems from its premise of offering short stories inspired by several iconic songs by Tori Amos.