Tori Amos has a new book out, sort of. She and Rantz Hoseley managed to get a few writers and illustrators to splash their creative juices around Tori's songs. Viewing her songs, interpreted through the pleasantly distorted lens of comic and graphic novel artists, stoke a desire for further collaboration with such steampunk sensibilities.
Rantz Hoseley and Tori Amos are listed as editor and executive editor on the inside cover masthead, but there's a bit more to this endeavour than merely compiling works. The artists include 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, along with an introduction by American Gods author Neil Gaiman. Okay, Gaiman is most well-known for the SANDMAN series, but my predisposition for old-school myth keeps sneaking out. Instead let's listen to the muse herself tell it:
It seems her entry into the publishing realm should not come as a big surprise. The release of her album, Tales of a Librarian - with songs categorized by the Dewey Decimal System - foreshadowed her interest in literature. Ah yes...Every boy's fantasy, librarian by day and musician/singer/songwriter/graphic novel editor by night. Hope the little earthquakes keep coming.
2 comments:
Nice blog entry Baird. As I mentioned before, Rantz should seize this moment by contacting other recording artists and producing similar book projects for them. As a child of the 1960s and 70s, the often ethereal rock music I listened to gave us lyrics of ambiguous meaning--which is how I liked them. Like a truly effective piece of art, its depth and signifigance is left up to the observer/listener. With the thousands of talented artists we have worldwide Rantz need just put out the word that he's looking for fans of fill-in-the-blank pop star to interpret those songs they've come to love. And he certainly shouldn't restrict such graphic novels to contemporary pop icons. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase a big, gorgeous, beautifully-illustrated hardbound copy of "London Calling: The Book", or "Rubber Soul Illustrated".
Anyone have 40 grand to help me start a publishing company? :)
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