If you were like me in the late eighties/early nineties, Tori Amos was a huge influence on your life, both musically and emotionally. To this day, her music has been both inspiring and thought-provoking, from “Little Earthquakes” to her most recent CD, American Girl Posse”. Through the years she has gone through a number of transformations, and expressed herself and her music through a variety of different artistic media (books, artwork, etc.) Now she’s crossed into one more zone of fandom, with the upcoming anthology of comics based on her music, “A Comic Book Tattoo”.

More than 70 artists & writers have signed up for this project, published by Image Comics, including David Mack, Colleen Doran (Orbiter, A Distant Soil), Chris Arrant, Star St. Germain, Derek McCulloch, Lea Hernandez, Neil Kleid, Leah Moore, John Reppion, Hope Larson, Pia Guerra (Y: The Last Man), Russel Lissau, John Bivens, Richard Pace, Dean Trippe, and Jason Horn. While Neil Gaiman, longtime friend of Tori’s, has not announced his participation as well, I wouldn’t be surprised to see his two cents in there as well (especially since the main character of one of his more popular novels/film, “Stardust” was based on the popular singer. The graphic novel compilation is expected to be around 400 pages, and released at the upcoming ComicCon in San Diego, CA in July of 2008.

Amos is not the first musician to cross over into the comics world, however. As recently published in the January 08 issue of SPIN magazine, other groups such as My Chemical Romance (The Umbrella Academy was written by frontman Gerard Way) and even the members of KISS (who are cartoonish enough in their own way) have had their shots at the comics world. This project has been longer in the works than most, however, as editor (and personal friend of Amos) Rantz A. Hoseley has been discussing it with her for the last 15 years or so. Why the wait, you ask? It may be, in part, explained with a comment Amos made to SPIN magazine regarding her reservations about having her songs reinterpreted by this many artists: “Obviously, I’ll need to have a level of trust to turn these songs over to each writer,” Amos says. “With the unknown, there can be a feeling of reticence, but that in itself can be sexy.”

So how well will the artists portray her songs for this project? Here’s a preview of the artwork for the upcoming graphic novel, by Ming Doyle, along with some of the lyrics that inspired it, from the song “The Waitress”

“I want to kill this waitress/ I can't believe this violence in mind
And is her power all in her club sandwich?
I want to kill this killing wish/ They're too many stars and not enough sky
Boys all think she's living kindness/ Ask a fellow waitress”
- Tori Amos, The Waitress

Many of the artists involved in the project have stated their long-time love of Amos’ work over the years. Lea Hernandez wrote in her blog, “Being a fan of Tori’s since Little Earthquakes, and what a profound effect her music has had on me emotionally and artistically - this is not only a dream come true, but an honor.”, while Star St. Germain admitted in her own blog that in her teen years she “ was a perfect stereotype, driving to a poetry slam with my fresh license, blasting Under The Pink and chain-smoking cloves.”

P.S. If you’re wanting a piece of the artistic pie (and live in the SF Bay Area), artist Star St. Germain is currently looking for models for her issue (in which she is collaborating with writer Chris Arrant). She’s searching particularly for girls in their 20’s. For more info, visit her website at www.thisisstar.com.

Resources:
Image Comics: http://www.imagecomics.com/
Spin Magazine
Star St. Germain: http://thisisstar.com/blog
Colleen Doran: http://www.adistantsoil.com/blog
Chris Arrant: www.chrisarrant.com
Lea Hernandez: http://divalea.livejournal.com
http://www.undented.com/news/1401/a-comic-book-tattoo