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Tori Amos: Little Earthquakes
The official graphic novel celebrating 30 years of Tori Amos's breakout album: Little Earthquakes. The landmark release that established her iconic thematic voice, as well as her live intensity behind the keys with unflinching lyrics and songs that would inspire generations of artists and musicians. This graphic novel demonstrates the lasting influence of this defining work with 24 stories inspired by the 12 songs on the album, as well as the 12 ‘B-sides’ that accompanied the album and its associated singles. With star writers such as Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood being assembled by Z2 editor Rantz Hoseley, who previously edited the multi-award-winning Comic Book Tattoo, and who painted the cover for her recent Christmastide EP.
EDITOR: Rantz Hoseley
WRITERS & ARTISTS: Neil Gaiman, Bilquis Evely, Margaret Atwood, David Mack, Leah Moore, Colleen Doran, Derek McCulloch, Lar deSouza, Annie Zaleski, Marc Andreyko, Cat Mihos, Neil Kleid, and Alison Sampson
COVER ARTIST: David Mack
PRINT ARTISTS: Kako & Jason Levesque
DESIGNER: Lauryn Ipsum
EDITOR: Rantz Hoseley
WRITERS & ARTISTS: Neil Gaiman, Bilquis Evely, Margaret Atwood, David Mack, Leah Moore, Colleen Doran, Derek McCulloch, Lar deSouza, Annie Zaleski, Marc Andreyko, Cat Mihos, Neil Kleid, and Alison Sampson
COVER ARTIST: David Mack
PRINT ARTISTS: Kako & Jason Levesque
DESIGNER: Lauryn Ipsum
120 pages, Hardcover
First published December 6, 2022
8 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Tori Amos
95 books303 followersTori Amos (born Myra Ellen Amos) is an American pianist and singer-songwriter. She is married to English sound engineer Mark Hawley. Together they have one child, Natashya "Tash" Lórien Hawley, born on September 5, 2000.
Amos was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few pop performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. She is known for emotionally intense songs that cover a wide range of subjects including sexuality, religion and personal tragedy. Some of her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", and "A Sorta Fairytale".
Amos had sold 12 million records worldwide as of 2005 and has also enjoyed a large cult following. Having a history of making eccentric and at times ribald comments during concerts and interviews, she has earned a reputation for being highly idiosyncratic. As a social commentator and sometimes activist, some of the topics she has been most vocal about include feminism, religion, and sexuality.
Amos was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few pop performers to use a piano as her primary instrument. She is known for emotionally intense songs that cover a wide range of subjects including sexuality, religion and personal tragedy. Some of her charting singles include "Crucify", "Silent All These Years", "Cornflake Girl", "Caught a Lite Sneeze", "Professional Widow", "Spark", and "A Sorta Fairytale".
Amos had sold 12 million records worldwide as of 2005 and has also enjoyed a large cult following. Having a history of making eccentric and at times ribald comments during concerts and interviews, she has earned a reputation for being highly idiosyncratic. As a social commentator and sometimes activist, some of the topics she has been most vocal about include feminism, religion, and sexuality.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
June 2, 2025
I found Tori Amos’ Little Earthquakes when I was an anguished sixteen year old girl—or rather, it found me. It’s an astonishing, idiosyncratic, soul-baring, unflinching debut record that wears Tori’s vulnerability and insecurities as strengths; it hit me like a ton of bricks, and I was never the same. Fast forward to last year, when this graphic novel celebrating its thirtieth anniversary was announced: Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, and some of my favorite comic artists, all interpreting each of the twenty-four tracks and b-sides from the album that was the gateway to my lifelong love for Tori? Very niche, but right up my alley, and I was genuinely excited for it. Unfortunately, by and large, it turned out to be incredibly underwhelming.
The best thing about this slim little volume, other than the gorgeous watercolor cover by David Mack, is the heart-felt introduction by editor Rantz Hoseley, and the touching afterword by Neil Gaiman. Unfortunately, everything in between was mostly a letdown; forgettable at best, baffling at worst. Most of the art was beautiful, it can’t be faulted in that department—the interpretations were the problem. They were either too loose, only connected to the lyrical content by the barest of threads (and often seemingly weird or sinister for shock-value), or too lazy, nothing but the song’s lyrics set to artwork. Neil Gaiman’s contribution for Tear In Your Hand was of the latter kind, which was very disappointing… but I suppose it’s still better than no words at all, of which there were also a few. The title track, a sprawling, triple-bridged epic of a song—what I consider not just the climax, but the heart of the album—is reduced to five pages wordlessly depicting the first line of the song. Comics is in many ways still very much a men's club, so it probably shouldn't have come as a surprise, but considering what this project is, the amount of male writers and artists stood out to me; I'm not sure what to make of these deeply personal songs about the female experience being reinterpreted through the male gaze.
My favorite was Margaret Atwood's interpretation of Silent All These Years, perfectly complemented by more of David Mack's stunning watercolor art, followed by Song For Eric by Derek McCulloch, illustrated by the inimitable Colleen Doran, and Flying Dutchman by Rantz, who inspired the song. Unfortunately, that’s about it—almost everything else fell short or missed the mark; a lot of it felt rushed, empty, and just not very inspired. I wonder whether, instead of going for a Comic Book Tattoo Vol 2 approach, the project would've been better served by turning it biographical... as it is, this seems entirely like Rantz' idea, and Tori's management, who unfortunately doesn't care nearly enough about preserving her legacy, just green-lighted it with little involvement or oversight. Rantz has been riding on her coattails for a long time—all the awards he's won are tied to projects that bear her name, and this very much feels like another quick cash-grab on his part, not a labor of love. I wish I could be more charitable, but ultimately, neither the wait nor the pricetag were justified, and most importantly, these songs, which have been such a meaningful and integral part of my and many other people's life for so many years, deserved better.
The best thing about this slim little volume, other than the gorgeous watercolor cover by David Mack, is the heart-felt introduction by editor Rantz Hoseley, and the touching afterword by Neil Gaiman. Unfortunately, everything in between was mostly a letdown; forgettable at best, baffling at worst. Most of the art was beautiful, it can’t be faulted in that department—the interpretations were the problem. They were either too loose, only connected to the lyrical content by the barest of threads (and often seemingly weird or sinister for shock-value), or too lazy, nothing but the song’s lyrics set to artwork. Neil Gaiman’s contribution for Tear In Your Hand was of the latter kind, which was very disappointing… but I suppose it’s still better than no words at all, of which there were also a few. The title track, a sprawling, triple-bridged epic of a song—what I consider not just the climax, but the heart of the album—is reduced to five pages wordlessly depicting the first line of the song. Comics is in many ways still very much a men's club, so it probably shouldn't have come as a surprise, but considering what this project is, the amount of male writers and artists stood out to me; I'm not sure what to make of these deeply personal songs about the female experience being reinterpreted through the male gaze.
My favorite was Margaret Atwood's interpretation of Silent All These Years, perfectly complemented by more of David Mack's stunning watercolor art, followed by Song For Eric by Derek McCulloch, illustrated by the inimitable Colleen Doran, and Flying Dutchman by Rantz, who inspired the song. Unfortunately, that’s about it—almost everything else fell short or missed the mark; a lot of it felt rushed, empty, and just not very inspired. I wonder whether, instead of going for a Comic Book Tattoo Vol 2 approach, the project would've been better served by turning it biographical... as it is, this seems entirely like Rantz' idea, and Tori's management, who unfortunately doesn't care nearly enough about preserving her legacy, just green-lighted it with little involvement or oversight. Rantz has been riding on her coattails for a long time—all the awards he's won are tied to projects that bear her name, and this very much feels like another quick cash-grab on his part, not a labor of love. I wish I could be more charitable, but ultimately, neither the wait nor the pricetag were justified, and most importantly, these songs, which have been such a meaningful and integral part of my and many other people's life for so many years, deserved better.
December 13, 2022
I was incredibly underwhelmed. Some stories were great, a lot of the art was amazing, but outside those moments there was lots of meh. Loving these songs I wanted to see so much more done with them. It’s beautiful but aside from a few exception mostly empty and way overpriced.
December 3, 2022
This "album" of stories inspired by Little Earthquakes (and its B-sides) is gorgeous. It's such an act of love by Rantz Hoseley and Neil Gaiman and many, many others--even Margaret Atwood. Some of the artwork is astonishing, like Bill Sienkiewicz's art for "Winter" and Derek McCulloch's and Colleen Doran's imagining of "Song for Eric." (I hope Eric Rossi loves it as much as I do!) But I want to single out two "tracks" in the comic book album that stand entirely on their own as fully-realized, incredible stories. Both of them made me appreciate the original songs even more than I did originally when I first heard "Little Earthquakes" 30 years ago. The first is writer Kelly Sue Deconick's story of "Leather," illustrated by Benjamin Dewey, which reimagines a song about imprisonment and objectification as a fairy tale encounter between a cat and a fox. The second is writer and artist Wiktoria Radkiewicz's story of "China," which takes a song about distance and transforms it into a scary and sad story about losing a mother. Both of them have sent me back to rediscover songs that I thought I knew all too well, and that I now understand better thanks to these beautiful stories.
December 7, 2022
Gorgeous, magical, creative, and stunning. Tori Amos, Neil Gaiman, and Margaret Atwood?! I am HERE FOR IT. This gorgeous volume was well worth the wait (I preordered it like a year and a half ago)!
September 19, 2023
I did not know who Tori Amos was before this, never had listened to any of her music, but now I'm a fan.
The cover of the graphic novel is titled 'Little Earthquakes: The Graphic Album'. And it perfectly encapsulates that title. This is a graphic companion piece to the album, with each story in this graphic novel sharing titles with the song tracks on her album of the same name. It seems that the stories are more than inspired by her music, but rather are meant to be read while listening to the song of the same title track. Some of the dialogue and text of the stories are lifted straight from the lyrics, letting you read along right alongside the lyrics of the song you're listening to.
Which makes this a unique piece of multimedia collaboration between music, art, and storytelling. It certainly requires you to take your time reading it as well, though there aren't any force restrictions to do that. But I did feel I got more out of the art and storytelling while listening along with the music and pacing myself with the lyrics in both the song and the graphic novel. I didn't realize this was a straight companion piece to her songs at first, so some of these stories I read twice, once without the music and once with, and it made a clear difference. Which again, makes this a truly unique multimedia experience.
The artwork is gorgeous, and her music is beautiful. There is a great forward by the editor of the graphic album, Rantz, who explains how they introduced Tori to comics and more specifically, to Neil Gaiman, who then later on got introduced to her music after being told his name and graphic novels were mentioned in her songs.
Overall, a truly unique experience.
The cover of the graphic novel is titled 'Little Earthquakes: The Graphic Album'. And it perfectly encapsulates that title. This is a graphic companion piece to the album, with each story in this graphic novel sharing titles with the song tracks on her album of the same name. It seems that the stories are more than inspired by her music, but rather are meant to be read while listening to the song of the same title track. Some of the dialogue and text of the stories are lifted straight from the lyrics, letting you read along right alongside the lyrics of the song you're listening to.
Which makes this a unique piece of multimedia collaboration between music, art, and storytelling. It certainly requires you to take your time reading it as well, though there aren't any force restrictions to do that. But I did feel I got more out of the art and storytelling while listening along with the music and pacing myself with the lyrics in both the song and the graphic novel. I didn't realize this was a straight companion piece to her songs at first, so some of these stories I read twice, once without the music and once with, and it made a clear difference. Which again, makes this a truly unique multimedia experience.
The artwork is gorgeous, and her music is beautiful. There is a great forward by the editor of the graphic album, Rantz, who explains how they introduced Tori to comics and more specifically, to Neil Gaiman, who then later on got introduced to her music after being told his name and graphic novels were mentioned in her songs.
Overall, a truly unique experience.
August 15, 2023
I was so excited to read this book. Little Earthquakes, the album, was so formative for me in my teenage years. Yet, I was underwhelmed by what I read. So many of the stories went in an over-the-top melodramatic fantastical direction. At times, it was as if it was becoming a caricature of Tori Amos and her work. If anything, I loved having the lyrics to each song there in print — it reminded me just how incredible of a songwriter, storyteller, and poet Tori Amos was with that breakout album.
December 2, 2022
I’ve loved Tori since I was 11. I’ve loved comics since I was 16. This is an amazing collaboration that features some of my favorite writers and artists interpreting music that’s been integral to my life for so long. Plenty of creators I wasn’t familiar with also, but these were all great! Of course, certain “songs” are better than others, but there’s not a track in this book I would skip. I loved it. A must for Tori fans!
June 4, 2023
I had the same issues with this as I did with Comic Book Tattoo. The stories weren’t connected enough to the lyrical content, and I struggled to understand what some of them were supposed to mean. Atleast this book is far easier to read (size wise) than CBT. Only some stood out to me, but most were meh. Props for all the lesbian rep though!
The stories I liked were: Silent All These Years (the best art too), Tear in Your Hand, Song for Eric, Take to the Sky (for the art) and Sugar.
Honestly though, the afterword was my favourite part.
Definitely way too overpriced and far too long of a wait for what it is, unfortunately. I really wish the stories would revolve around Tori and what these songs were actually based upon, rather than random interpretations. Especially since this has already been done before. One can dream though.
The stories I liked were: Silent All These Years (the best art too), Tear in Your Hand, Song for Eric, Take to the Sky (for the art) and Sugar.
Honestly though, the afterword was my favourite part.
Definitely way too overpriced and far too long of a wait for what it is, unfortunately. I really wish the stories would revolve around Tori and what these songs were actually based upon, rather than random interpretations. Especially since this has already been done before. One can dream though.
January 5, 2023
A must read for Tori fans, lots of interesting comic interpretations of her work. My preference of the pieces are for narrative comics inspired by songs rather than just setting lyrics to comics or really abstract representations (all three of which are in the book), but regardless if everything wasn’t my speed (as expected in an anthology of a lot of different artists) it’s definitely worth picking up!
January 20, 2025
What this book is truly good at, in my personal opinion, is to remind us just how groundbreaking, pervasive and oh-my-such-blessed-state the original album was. I strongly encourage listening to the music while reading, or else I don’t say it won’t make sense, but also… yeah. That’s not even my most favourite Amos’ album, but possibly the very fact it can get easily overlooked is what makes it so conspicuous and relevant on its own accord. The stories in this volume do elaborate on each of the songs (album and b-sides, which is, sorry for the pun, a bonus) their own way, some are better than others, though I’m not going to judge any of that, firstly because of my very clear and unabashed bias (as a long time fan of the material, I’ve had years to internalise the songs and their meaning, there may or may be not as much space left in that spot to allocate new versions and/or ideas about them — or I just as well may not be willing to allow it) and then because I think the songs and these stories alike are probably meant to resonate differently with different people, and I’m all for giving all the love to differences (that’s one of the few things we all have in common, really). So there’s that.
February 24, 2023
I wanted this to be a little more meaty and inspired. So many of them only used the song lyrics with illustrations...which is a little disappointing and feels wrong to credit anyone else than "Tori Amos" as the "writer" if I'm being honest. I liked some of the stories, and a few of the comics without words, even. Overall, not very memorable. My favorite was "China".
February 18, 2023
Bit of a mixed bag, some are profound and/gorgeously illustrated. Some are stories based on the theme of the song, while some are just the lyrics set to images. Winter is _beautiful_.
January 23, 2023
That's a great pleasure to go back to all these songs (there are B-sides and re-edition bonuses included). Especially that we've read it out loud and sang all the songs together with my bestie. To be honest not all of them comics are so good. There are a few worth-mentioning:
1. Crucify (Neil Kleid, Andy McDonald) tells the story of a guy in therapy who could be considered successful but the inner self-critical demons gives him the enormous sense of anxiety. Quite moving.
2. Leather (Kelly Sue Deconnick, Benjamin Dewey) is one of my absolutely favourite songs realised in "Little Earthquakes" album, here there's a little creepy but imaginative tale of identity stolen from the Fox Mister by the Cat Lady. Interesting and surprising!
3. Me and a Gun (Desi Alicea-Aponte) is based on horrifying experience of rape and fear that followed openly evoked by Tori in the song and here turned into a very simple set of pictures inspired by the album original graphics. Very subtle yet even more moving.
4. Upside Down (Cat Mihos, Paul Roman Martinez) is one of my top songs Tori has ever shared with her audience (and she shared hundreds of these). The stripes don't actually have much to do with my own interpretation of the song, but I find it also accurate as a sort of insight to deeper mental disorders and its possible influence on art.
5. Mary (Lynn Crosbie, Gabriel Bautista) seems to me to be the most adequate visual response to a song which really tells a story of a female martyr that was treated as the outcast, kind of a "cat lady, awkward witch", however her story matters.
6. Sugar (Gibson Twist, Rori): I love the queer fantasy with a bisexual twist init which is more funny than dramatic.
7. Humpty Dumpty (Andrew Brandou) and 8. Ode to the Banana King (Olivia Sullivan) are really both quite cute and funny.
There are some cliche comics here, too obvious and too simple for my taste, like the ones inspired by "Girl", "Precious Things" and especially "Silent All These Years" (even though Margaret Atwood wrote the backup story for the latter!).
The most surprising graphic story for us was definitely "Happy Phantom", originally fun and cheerful song, turned into a strangely cruel and awful story here. Most of the others are just fine, nothing special there.
Anyway, I love it as a whole and I'd love to read more of such graphic novels inspired by other albums. There are so many, many yet to come which is great. And there's Tori concert coming in 3 months after a looong break. Can't wait!!!!
1. Crucify (Neil Kleid, Andy McDonald) tells the story of a guy in therapy who could be considered successful but the inner self-critical demons gives him the enormous sense of anxiety. Quite moving.
2. Leather (Kelly Sue Deconnick, Benjamin Dewey) is one of my absolutely favourite songs realised in "Little Earthquakes" album, here there's a little creepy but imaginative tale of identity stolen from the Fox Mister by the Cat Lady. Interesting and surprising!
3. Me and a Gun (Desi Alicea-Aponte) is based on horrifying experience of rape and fear that followed openly evoked by Tori in the song and here turned into a very simple set of pictures inspired by the album original graphics. Very subtle yet even more moving.
4. Upside Down (Cat Mihos, Paul Roman Martinez) is one of my top songs Tori has ever shared with her audience (and she shared hundreds of these). The stripes don't actually have much to do with my own interpretation of the song, but I find it also accurate as a sort of insight to deeper mental disorders and its possible influence on art.
5. Mary (Lynn Crosbie, Gabriel Bautista) seems to me to be the most adequate visual response to a song which really tells a story of a female martyr that was treated as the outcast, kind of a "cat lady, awkward witch", however her story matters.
6. Sugar (Gibson Twist, Rori): I love the queer fantasy with a bisexual twist init which is more funny than dramatic.
7. Humpty Dumpty (Andrew Brandou) and 8. Ode to the Banana King (Olivia Sullivan) are really both quite cute and funny.
There are some cliche comics here, too obvious and too simple for my taste, like the ones inspired by "Girl", "Precious Things" and especially "Silent All These Years" (even though Margaret Atwood wrote the backup story for the latter!).
The most surprising graphic story for us was definitely "Happy Phantom", originally fun and cheerful song, turned into a strangely cruel and awful story here. Most of the others are just fine, nothing special there.
Anyway, I love it as a whole and I'd love to read more of such graphic novels inspired by other albums. There are so many, many yet to come which is great. And there's Tori concert coming in 3 months after a looong break. Can't wait!!!!
June 19, 2025
Forward & Edited by: Rantz A. Hoseley
Songs & Lyrics by Tori Amos
Crucify
"Why Do We Crucify Ourselves?" by Neil Kleid (writer), Andy MacDonald (artist), DC Alonso (colorist)
Girl
"Girl" Leah Moore (writer), by Amilcar Pinna (artist)
Silent All These Years
"Silent All These Years" by Margaret Atwood (writer), David Mack (artist)
Precious Things
"Precious Things" by Catherynne Valente (writer), Sebastian Piriz (artist)
Winter
"Winter" Bill Sienkiewicz (writer & artist)
Happy Phantom
"Happy Phantom" by Andrea Bell (writer & artist)
China
"China" by Wiktoria Radkiewicz (writer & artist)
Leather
"Leather" by Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Benjamin Dewey (artist)
Mother
"Mother" by Andi Watson (writer & artist)
Tear in Your Hand
"Tear in Your Hand" by Neil Gaiman (writer), Bilquis Evely (artist), Matheus Lopes (colorist)
Me and a Gun
"Me and a Gun" by Desi Alicia-Aponte (writer & artist), Kelly Fitzpatrick (colorist)
Little Earthquakes
"Little Earthquakes" by Gianna Meola (writer & artist)
Upside Down
"Upside Down" by Cat Mihos (writer), Paul Roman Martinez (artist)
Thoughts
"Thoughts" by Russell Lissau (writer), Rachel Merrill (artist)
Ode to the Banana King (Part One)
"Ode to the Banana King (Part One)" by Olivia Sullivan (writer & artist)
Song for Eric
"Song for Eric" by Derek McCulloch (writer), Colleen Doran (artist)
The Pool
"The Pool" by Alison Sampson (writer & artist)
Take to the Sky
"Take to the Sky" by Annie Zaleski (writer), Ryan Kelly (artist), DC Alonso (colorist)
Sweet Dreams
"Sweet Dreams" by Marc Andreyko (writer), Piotr Kowalski (artist), DC Alonso (colorist)
Mary
"Mary" by Lynn Crosbie (writer), Gabriel Bautista (artist)
Sugar
"Sugar" Gibson Twist (writer), Rori! (artist)
Flying Dutchman
"Flying Dutchman" by Rantz A. Hoseley (writer & artist)
Humpty Dumpty
"Humpty Dumpty" by Andrew Brandou (writer & artist)
Here in my Head
"Hear in my Head" by Jamaica Dyer (writer & artist)
Afterword by Neil Gaiman (writer), Montos (artist), Dee Cunniffe (colorist)
Songs & Lyrics by Tori Amos
Crucify
"Why Do We Crucify Ourselves?" by Neil Kleid (writer), Andy MacDonald (artist), DC Alonso (colorist)
Girl
"Girl" Leah Moore (writer), by Amilcar Pinna (artist)
Silent All These Years
"Silent All These Years" by Margaret Atwood (writer), David Mack (artist)
Precious Things
"Precious Things" by Catherynne Valente (writer), Sebastian Piriz (artist)
Winter
"Winter" Bill Sienkiewicz (writer & artist)
Happy Phantom
"Happy Phantom" by Andrea Bell (writer & artist)
China
"China" by Wiktoria Radkiewicz (writer & artist)
Leather
"Leather" by Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Benjamin Dewey (artist)
Mother
"Mother" by Andi Watson (writer & artist)
Tear in Your Hand
"Tear in Your Hand" by Neil Gaiman (writer), Bilquis Evely (artist), Matheus Lopes (colorist)
Me and a Gun
"Me and a Gun" by Desi Alicia-Aponte (writer & artist), Kelly Fitzpatrick (colorist)
Little Earthquakes
"Little Earthquakes" by Gianna Meola (writer & artist)
Upside Down
"Upside Down" by Cat Mihos (writer), Paul Roman Martinez (artist)
Thoughts
"Thoughts" by Russell Lissau (writer), Rachel Merrill (artist)
Ode to the Banana King (Part One)
"Ode to the Banana King (Part One)" by Olivia Sullivan (writer & artist)
Song for Eric
"Song for Eric" by Derek McCulloch (writer), Colleen Doran (artist)
The Pool
"The Pool" by Alison Sampson (writer & artist)
Take to the Sky
"Take to the Sky" by Annie Zaleski (writer), Ryan Kelly (artist), DC Alonso (colorist)
Sweet Dreams
"Sweet Dreams" by Marc Andreyko (writer), Piotr Kowalski (artist), DC Alonso (colorist)
Mary
"Mary" by Lynn Crosbie (writer), Gabriel Bautista (artist)
Sugar
"Sugar" Gibson Twist (writer), Rori! (artist)
Flying Dutchman
"Flying Dutchman" by Rantz A. Hoseley (writer & artist)
Humpty Dumpty
"Humpty Dumpty" by Andrew Brandou (writer & artist)
Here in my Head
"Hear in my Head" by Jamaica Dyer (writer & artist)
Afterword by Neil Gaiman (writer), Montos (artist), Dee Cunniffe (colorist)
July 15, 2025
As a huge fan of Tori, I had mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed the layout immensely. Having different artists and writers create a unique piece for each song was a fantastic choice. The book was hard to put down, because it was so intriguing to see the style entirely refreshed every few pages! The art throughout the book was diverse and consistently stunning.
With all this being said, the stories themselves were hit-and-miss for me. Some of the songs' abstract lyrics were interpreted in an off-puttingly literal way, while some boldly deviated from the original lyrics, yet... they just didn't seem to pin down the essence of the original song. Perhaps this feeling is based on my biased preconceptions of these songs, but I could not shake the feeling that some of the writers and artists *got it,* while others did not. There is a 30-year history to these songs, chock full of live performances and interviews, which translated beautifully in many, but far from all, of these comic stories.
My favorite comics in this book delicately and beautifully treaded the line between literal and abstract lyric interpretation. I know I will return to them many times. These golden stories were based on the following songs:
Precious Things
Winter
Leather
Tear in Your Hand
Me and a Gun
Ode to the Banana King (Part One)
Song for Eric
The Pool
Mary
With all this being said, the stories themselves were hit-and-miss for me. Some of the songs' abstract lyrics were interpreted in an off-puttingly literal way, while some boldly deviated from the original lyrics, yet... they just didn't seem to pin down the essence of the original song. Perhaps this feeling is based on my biased preconceptions of these songs, but I could not shake the feeling that some of the writers and artists *got it,* while others did not. There is a 30-year history to these songs, chock full of live performances and interviews, which translated beautifully in many, but far from all, of these comic stories.
My favorite comics in this book delicately and beautifully treaded the line between literal and abstract lyric interpretation. I know I will return to them many times. These golden stories were based on the following songs:
Precious Things
Winter
Leather
Tear in Your Hand
Me and a Gun
Ode to the Banana King (Part One)
Song for Eric
The Pool
Mary
Read
December 16, 2022If you read Comic Book Tattoo and thought, "I'd really like this for just Little Earthquakes and its Bsides" then you're in luck. This is pretty much exactly that, but in a smaller book format.
I want to like this more than I currently do. I got it and read it after waiting for what felt like eons and perhaps I'd built it up too much in my mind. I distinctly remember liking/loving CBT, even if I didn't love or even like every entry in the book. Little Earthquakes here didn't leave me with any I was completely, immediately blown away by. There are a few still lingering in my head, which is probably a good sign, but it's an unusual mix of those who basically set the song to artwork and those whose stories seem to connect by the barest of threads.
On the absolute plus side, there are some incredibly gorgeous stories/songs here and now I need to go relisten to a bunch of songs.
I want to like this more than I currently do. I got it and read it after waiting for what felt like eons and perhaps I'd built it up too much in my mind. I distinctly remember liking/loving CBT, even if I didn't love or even like every entry in the book. Little Earthquakes here didn't leave me with any I was completely, immediately blown away by. There are a few still lingering in my head, which is probably a good sign, but it's an unusual mix of those who basically set the song to artwork and those whose stories seem to connect by the barest of threads.
On the absolute plus side, there are some incredibly gorgeous stories/songs here and now I need to go relisten to a bunch of songs.
August 12, 2023
What a year I am having for Tori Amos books! This one is a graphic interpretation of the Little Earthquakes album (one of my favorites, so yes I am swooning), and each song is rendered by a different author and artist. Some of the songs are used word for word, and the lyrics are the exact words on the page while other authors use the song as a jumping-off point and the outcome is an illustrated short story inspired by the lyrics.
As with any collection written/drawn by many different people, the results vary. There is obvious, recognizable talent attached to this project - Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Colleen Doran, etc. Some stories I was dazzled by and others I was underwhelmed by, hence the 3-star rating. However, it was fun to listen to the songs as I read the book and I could see myself revisiting this again in the future. I do hope I will always remember the bizarre Banana King Viking funeral.
The last line was particularly poignant, penned by Neil: "That's what we're here for...to swim in the river of time as it sweeps us all down to the ocean, tears and all, and takes us away into the darkness...leaving our children behind us, and our stories and our songs."
As with any collection written/drawn by many different people, the results vary. There is obvious, recognizable talent attached to this project - Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Colleen Doran, etc. Some stories I was dazzled by and others I was underwhelmed by, hence the 3-star rating. However, it was fun to listen to the songs as I read the book and I could see myself revisiting this again in the future. I do hope I will always remember the bizarre Banana King Viking funeral.
The last line was particularly poignant, penned by Neil: "That's what we're here for...to swim in the river of time as it sweeps us all down to the ocean, tears and all, and takes us away into the darkness...leaving our children behind us, and our stories and our songs."
May 15, 2025
I bought this because Little Earthquakes was a transformative album in my life. This is not the first book of visual adaptations of songs. As with others, some are simply visuals of the actual lyrics, not really providing much in the way of interpretation. Others are original stories inspired by the songs.
I also find that personal preferences of graphic styles is an important factor. Just as I never cared for Steve Ditko's illustration in Spectacular Spider-Man, some of these entries just aren't to my personal taste. And that's okay.
Final observation: I guess I'd just rather listen to the album.
I also find that personal preferences of graphic styles is an important factor. Just as I never cared for Steve Ditko's illustration in Spectacular Spider-Man, some of these entries just aren't to my personal taste. And that's okay.
Final observation: I guess I'd just rather listen to the album.
July 4, 2023
I loved Little Earthquakes when it came out, and once I learned that both Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman were involved in this graphic album project, I had to have it. I read it all as soon as it arrived. Love it. It was fun listening to the songs as I read each story; the artwork and stories are all so powerful and add layers to my own interpretations of the songs over these many years. Maybe this book will mostly resonate with us oldsters who already love Tori, but I hope it can also bring her some new fans.
March 8, 2023
This was such a neat idea. A book of short graphic novel style stories based on Tori Amos’ album Little Earthquakes. I have always loved this album and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the lyrics I know come alive through visual arts. Each song is represented by a different artist with so many gorgeous styles to admire. I would love to own a copy of this book but it is a little pricy so I checked it out of my local library. It is smaller than I imagined it would be, but gorgeously produced.
April 1, 2023
Spring 2023 (March);
I went crazy for this one the moment I saw it was in pre-order and I set a whole day aside for reading it once the package made it to me. The book is broken down song by song, with art & comic stories for each (including b sides!). I read the book chapter by chapter, stopping to listen to the song, then reading the story each time. I was such fun!
I really did love a good number of these.
I went crazy for this one the moment I saw it was in pre-order and I set a whole day aside for reading it once the package made it to me. The book is broken down song by song, with art & comic stories for each (including b sides!). I read the book chapter by chapter, stopping to listen to the song, then reading the story each time. I was such fun!
I really did love a good number of these.
April 2, 2023
## Why I Picked It Up ##
So I was cruising the On Order section of the public library and I saw Little Earthquakes: The Graphic Novel!
Too curious and intriguing to pass up. I put it on order.
## What I Liked About It ##
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album came out. What a trip. This is a fun meditation on and interpretation of the lyrics.
I had heard that Tori and Neil Gaiman have maintained a close friendship over the years. Nice to see him do the afterword.
So I was cruising the On Order section of the public library and I saw Little Earthquakes: The Graphic Novel!
Too curious and intriguing to pass up. I put it on order.
## What I Liked About It ##
I can't believe it's been 30 years since this album came out. What a trip. This is a fun meditation on and interpretation of the lyrics.
I had heard that Tori and Neil Gaiman have maintained a close friendship over the years. Nice to see him do the afterword.
August 17, 2023
All of the stars are for the illustrations, some of the stars are for the stories.
Neil Gaiman's story and afterword, and Margaret Atwood's story were my favorites, which is no surprise, but I enjoyed them all to one degree or another.
David Mack's contributions, as always, were perfect.
Neil Gaiman's story and afterword, and Margaret Atwood's story were my favorites, which is no surprise, but I enjoyed them all to one degree or another.
David Mack's contributions, as always, were perfect.
November 26, 2023
his unusual graphic anthology contains 24 short comics written by literary greats including Neil Gaiman and Margaret Atwood. Each story interprets a song from Tori Amos' iconic debut album, Little Earthquakes, which I think is one of the greatest albums ever recorded. Although the book's full-color artwork is excellent, many of the stories are just bizarre and have little to do with the song lyrics (the artistic interpretation of the album classic "Me and a Gun" was especially disappointing).
March 9, 2025
Well, this was random.
I was so excited when I found it at the library but now, two hours later, I'm disappointed...
I much prefer the narratives playing out in my head when I hear these songs, or even just soaking in general feelings without necessarily putting them to paper. I didn't think they lended themselves well to comics, and the stories were - as I said - very random.
P.S: Can't help but wonder what Tori thinks of Neil Gaiman now...
I was so excited when I found it at the library but now, two hours later, I'm disappointed...
I much prefer the narratives playing out in my head when I hear these songs, or even just soaking in general feelings without necessarily putting them to paper. I didn't think they lended themselves well to comics, and the stories were - as I said - very random.
P.S: Can't help but wonder what Tori thinks of Neil Gaiman now...
January 9, 2023
I will admit, I am bias. I am a huge Tori Amos fan, ad this album was one of those life changing albums in my life.
When I pre-ordered the book I wasn't sure how they were going to tell the story. I was very happy to find out that they have broken it up into vignets. The artwork and writing is awesome, and I would not expect any less from a collab with Neil Gaiman.
When I pre-ordered the book I wasn't sure how they were going to tell the story. I was very happy to find out that they have broken it up into vignets. The artwork and writing is awesome, and I would not expect any less from a collab with Neil Gaiman.
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January 21, 2024I think I would’ve gotten more out of this book if I’d had any emotional connection to the musician’s work, but it was an interesting concept so I wanted to check it out regardless. The results are…fine? A lot of these comics were very short, and it’s hard to do a complete story when you have so few pages to work with. Overall I think I would only recommend this if you’re a Tori Amos/Little Earthquakes fan.
January 27, 2025
So now that Neil Gaiman is accused by nine women as a creeper, thus destroying my faith in many things, he seems to be popping everyfuckingwhere for me.
This "graphic album" is a good concept well-executed. I particularly enjoyed Margaret Atwood's storyline. I would've especially liked NG's as well, but... ugh.
This "graphic album" is a good concept well-executed. I particularly enjoyed Margaret Atwood's storyline. I would've especially liked NG's as well, but... ugh.
October 21, 2025
Love Tori, love this album - but a lot of the stories are underwhelming, and some are just downright lazy in using the lyrics and drawing the same damn image to go with it.
Plus, there’s the whole Neil Gaiman thing. I know Tori’s distanced herself from him since everything came out, but he really tarnishes this.
Plus, there’s the whole Neil Gaiman thing. I know Tori’s distanced herself from him since everything came out, but he really tarnishes this.
December 6, 2022
I enjoyed reading other people’s interpretations of the songs on this album. The art is incredible and it had me looking at the songs in completely different ways from my original interpretations, which have also changed in the 30 years I’ve been listening to it.
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