Unrelenting Light - Tori Amos -foorumi

“One thing to make very clear -- this isn’t just a bunch of comic creators making a book and then slapping Tori’s name on it,” editor Rantz Hoseley said. “She’s been very involved in the editorial process. Unlike a lot of anthologies, there have been multiple deadlines along the production path; plot, scripts, layouts, all of these had to be submitted so that Tori could look them over. Not in the manner of wanting to tell people what to do, or to make the book all ‘the same,’ but more to make sure that we had all of the bases covered in terms of really pushing the creators to work with us to make the best book possible; in order to make sure that we had a wide diversity of styles, themes and subjects and that the book wasn’t too sweet or too dark.

“It was very important to her that she see how the different creators were treating ‘her girls’ (the songs), but at the same time, not tying the creator’s hands or make them feel restricted in any way and making sure that they felt the freedom to tell the kind of story that they felt strongly about, so that the story they produced would be their best work.”

“There're over 50 stories in the book, and I think people who like comics, whether you’re a die-hard Tori fan or not, are going to really dig it. I mean, I’m editing this thing, and I can’t wait to have this back from the printer so I can kick back and just read through all of the stories. It’s a book with stories that I, as a fan of comics, love, and I feel really blessed to have been able to be a part of it like this.”

Tori Amos Inks The Comic Book Tattoo

This July the ever-growing relationship between comics and music reaches new heights as Tori Amos and Image Comics release COMIC BOOK TATTOO, a 480-page, full color anthology adapting the themes and ideas behind her songs into a lush volume of sequential art.
"I have been surprised, excited and pleasantly shocked by these comics that are extensions of the songs that I have loved and therefore welcome these amazing stories of pictures and words because they are uncompromisingly inspiring," says Amos. "It shows you thought is a powerful formidable essence and can have a breathtaking domino effect."
To assemble COMIC BOOK TATTOO's diverse roster of talent, Amos worked alongside editor Rantz Hoseley, co-creator behind the upcoming DISPLACED PERSONS and VIX. Together they formed a line up featuring Y: THE LAST MAN's Pia Guerra, Leah Moore, John Reppion David Mack, Hope Larson, Ryan Kelly, Jonathan Hickman, Colleen Doran, Eric Canete, Ted McKeever, Jock, Anthony Johnston, Dame Darcy, Carla Speed McNeil, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Mark Buckingham, Ivan Brandon, C. B. Cebulski and many more, including an introduction by SANDMAN creator Neil Gaiman.
Editor Hoseley added, "While the connections between comics and music have been long established by generations of creators, Comic Book Tattoo is the pure distillation of how these two art forms inspire and feed off of each other across all the classifications, genres and styles of comic storytelling. Like Tori¹s music, these stories run the gamut of human experience, emotion and imagination brought to life by some of the most compelling and innovative creators in the field of comics."
COMIC BOOK TATTOO, a 12" x 12" 480-page anthology, will be in stores July 23rd.

Flying Dutchman
Bouncing Off Clouds
Girl
Merman
Take To The Sky
Mr. Zebra
Little Earthquakes
Marianne
Crazy
Programmable Soda
Toast
Jackie’s Strength
Little Amsterdam
Here. In My Head
Suede
Sugar
Teenage Hustling
Father Lucifer
Snow Cherries From France
The Waitress
Caught A Lite Sneeze
Winter
Baker Baker
1,000 Oceans
Space Dog
The Beekeeper
Siren
iieee
Silent All These Years
Leather
Gold Dust
Precious Things
Glory of the 80s
Honey
Crucify
God
Pandora’s Aquarium
Scarlet’s Walk
Beauty of Speed
I Can’t See New York
Upside Down
Northern Lad
Roosterspur Bridge
Cornflake Girl
Pirates
Hey Jupiter
Devils and Gods
Past The Mission
Sweet The Sting
Ribbons Undone
Pretty Good Year

EXCLUSIVE! TORI AMOS’ 5 fave artists and exclusive preview of COMIC BOOK TATTOO!

We are pleased and proud to welcome a new guest blogger to MySpace Comic Books -- the incomparable TORI AMOS! Ms. Amos is a comic book fan from way back (and if you don't believe us, take a closer look at her lyrics). She has joined us today in honor of COMIC BOOK TATTOO -- an upcoming anthology from IMAGE COMICS where some of the most impressive talents in the medium interpret Tori's songs in sequential art form.

To say this is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year is an understatement. This gorgeous tome hits the shelves on July 23rd, but today we've got an exclusive preview of the story "Upside Down" by Mark Sable and Salgood Sam. Not to mention a guest blog from Tori herself, on the subject of her five favorite artists.

Thanks to Ms. Amos and her staff for this fantastic preview! Take it away, Tori...


1. Henri Russeau
From paintings such as "A Carnival Evening" to "War, or Discord on Horseback," I have always heard music when I look at his paintings.

2. Agnes Martin
This artist speaks of a philosophy that I have come to apply. "I want to take time with this concept and prove beyond doubt that authority and obedience exist at the same time in each of us, that we are all in a state of obligatory authority, that it is a sublime state and a state of positive freedom." This artists' canvases construct geometric shapes with disciplined yet haunting effect. I find that I can hallucinate just staring at her canvases. I could lose myself in "White Flower."

3. Frida Kahlo
You can't get further from Anges Martin than Frida Kahlo, from my perspective. One stirs emotion through the use of disciplined logic. The other, Frida Kahlo, activates my mind by entering into my blood. Her paintings, as I look at them, begin to live in my blood. The passion that it stirs in my heart heals and wounds all in the same breath.

4. Degas
I mention Degas specifically because of this series he did of Dancers. I'm not as drawn to the landscapes as I am drawn to the ballerina paintings, such as "Ballet Rehearsal," "The Dancing Class," "The Star; Dancer on Pointe," "Dancers Backstage," "Before the Exam," "Rehearsal of a Ballet on the Stage," "Spanish Dancer and Studies of Legs," "Frieze of Dancers," "Two Dancers at the Bar," "Four Dancers," and "Dance Rehearsal in the Foyer of the Opera" – these are paintings I go back to over and over in my life as a creator. I can stare at them for hours and I always find something new in them. Something that I hadn't noticed before. An emotion, a layer. This is why I specifically mention these.

5. Ilya Repin
I've always been obsessed with Russia, specifically during the early 20th Century. In his painting "October 17, 1905" I find myself staring at the faces of these people, trying to comprehend what Russia was like at that time, before the revolution.