•
Rating: "Hey man, I've got a tip for you.
They say your brain is a tattooed comic
and you'll never become anyone.
What do you plan to do with your life?
That's all you hear from morning till night"
(Tori Amos from "Flying Dutchman")
80 writers and artists (the complete list), about 500 pages, 51 Stories for 51 songs by Tori Amos. Curated by Rantz Hoseley with the collaboration of Tori herself, "Comic Book Tattoo" is an anthology of comic stories each inspired by a different song from the red-haired Anglo-American singer-songwriter (last year she also obtained British citizenship). 80 people in total collaborated on the artistic realization of the piece, which therefore presents a wide variety both in graphic style and "literary" style, directly stemming from the backgrounds of the involved artists: ranging from historical "comics people" like David Mack, Jonathan Hickman, Pia Guerra, or Hoseley himself, to graphic designers like Eric Canete, illustrators like Dame Darcy, passing through writers like Sara Ryan, touching on nearly all facets of the world of image and/or word communication.
According to the curators' statements, each artist was given the utmost freedom to convert the songs into short stories (being so numerous it's easy to calculate that the average length is about 7-8 pages per story): each choosing their own and giving it their own vision regardless of the meaning the author originally intended. Tori Amos in a charming interview stated that seeing her girls (as the Red calls her songs) revised this way was like giving birth to them again and that this will surely influence their future live performances.
Adding value to the already complex picture is the inspired introduction written by the great writer, screenwriter, and longtime friend of Amos Neil Gaiman.
"She's the kind of girl who would feed us
to the sharks as soon as we fall asleep"
(Tori Amos in an interpretation of "Cornflake Girl")
The strength and at the same time the weakness (depending on the various sensitivities of the readers) of the anthology is the extreme variety that characterizes it: born on one side, as we said, from the extreme artistic freedom both in graphic and conceptual terms given to the various guests and also from one of the peculiarities that have made Amos the beloved artist she is today, i.e., the extreme flexibility of the lyrics which, despite often speaking of extremely current facts, lend themselves to various interpretations (not to mention that live the Red often modifies them): in fact, Tori has never hidden that one of her greatest satisfactions is "forcing" her fans to decode meanings and sensations from every single word and sound performed in a continuous search for sharing between the writer and the listener. Something that can be considered even in the opposite sense, as the singer-songwriter in her customary meetings with her fans before concerts often asks for feedback.
Strength because in just under 500 pages images and words are gathered giving a clear idea of the state of the art of Balloons in the States (even if not all the authors are American, but since the idea originated across the Atlantic for convenience I indicated the U.S.A. as the birthplace: all nevertheless work there) in a sort of truly fascinating kaleidoscopic summa.
Weakness because, of course, facing so much content, it's quite understandable to find things that are less pleasing or even not at all: then it's obvious that it greatly depends on how one views anthologies. Especially in comics.
"We'll see how brave you are
we'll see how fast you run
we'll see how brave you are"
(Tori Amos from "Yes, Anastasia")
She is the woman who was looking for a Savior under dirty sheets, who masturbated listening to Robert Plant's voice, she is the woman who told me about girls who throw to the sharks and others who are quick out of the frying pan into the fire, she lulled me to sleep with the story of Joe who still brings flowers to Norma Jean's grave and of her and Neil leaving with the King of Dreams, she didn't fear draping her songs in mourning or being undecided between the shower and the tub. She spoke to me of God in the feminine before it became a cliché and whispered spring breezes to me...
Mo.
P.S: My favorites are those based on "Flying Dutchman," "Mr. Zebra," "Father Lucifer," and "Devils and Gods."
Comic Book Tattoo, Various Authors (U.S.A.) Image Comics, 2008 (not yet published in an Italian version)
Loading comments slowly
