# Comic Book Tattoo

Comic Book Tattoo is an Eisner award and Harvey Award–winning anthology graphic novel made up of fifty-one stories, each based on or inspired by a song by American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, published by Image Comics in 2008. Rantz Hoseley, longtime friend of Amos, served as the book's editor. Together, Hoseley and Amos gathered eighty different artists to collaborate on the book. Comic Book Tattoo includes an introduction by another longtime friend of Amos, Neil Gaiman, creator of The Sandman series.

## Background

From the start, it was decided that Comic Book Tattoo would not contain comic book versions of music videos for Amos's songs, nor illustrations created from literal interpretations of Amos's lyrics. Of her role in the project, editor Hoseley said, "It was very important to [Amos] 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." When approached to contribute to the project, the graphic artists were asked to create a story that reflects that which the songs make them feel.
About the finished collection, Amos said, "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. It shows you thought is a powerful, formidable essence and can have a breathtaking domino effect."
The title of the book comes from a lyric in Amos' song "Flying Dutchman".

## Stories

| Song | Album | Artist(s) |
| Flying Dutchman | Little Earthquakes* | David Mack |
| Bouncing off Clouds | American Doll Posse | Josh Hechinger, Matthew Humphreys |
| Girl | Little Earthquakes | Jonathan Tsuei, Eric Canete |
| Merman | From the Choirgirl Hotel* | Jason Horn, Dean Trippe |
| Take to the Sky | Little Earthquakes* | Sara Ryan, Jonathan Case |
| Mr. Zebra | Boys for Pele | Rantz A. Hoseley, James Stokoe |
| Little Earthquakes | Little Earthquakes | Tristan Crane, Atticus Wolrab |
| Marianne | Boys for Pele | Kako |
| Crazy | Scarlet's Walk | Nikki Cook |
| Programmable Soda | American Doll Posse | Drew Bell, Kevin Mellon, Mark Sweeney (C) |
| Toast | The Beekeeper | Jeff Carroll, Mike May |
| Jackie's Strength | From the Choirgirl Hotel | Jeremy Haun, Amber Stone (C) |
| Little Amsterdam | Boys for Pele | Leif Jones |
| Here. In My Head | Little Earthquakes* | Elizabeth Genco, Carla Speed McNeil, Mark Sweeney (C) |
| Suede | To Venus and Back | Kelly Sue DeConnick, Andy Macdonald, Nick Filardi(C), Kristyn Ferretti (L) |
| Sugar | Little Earthquakes* | Cat Mihos, Andre Szymanowicz, Gabe Bautista (C), Kristyn Ferretti (L) |
| Teenage Hustling | American Doll Posse | C. B. Cebulski, Ethan Young, Joey Weltjens & Lee Duhig For Guru Efx (C) |
| Father Lucifer | Boys for Pele | Omaha Perez |
| Snow Cherries From France | Tales of a Librarian | Irma Page, Mark Buckingham |
| The Waitress | Under the Pink | Rantz A. Hoseley, Ming Doyle, Mark Sweeney (C), Kristyn Ferretti (L) |
| Caught a Lite Sneeze | Boys for Pele | Mike Maihack |
| Winter | Little Earthquakes | John Ney Rieber, Ryan Kelly, Kristyn Ferretti (L) |
| Baker Baker | Under the Pink | Alice Hunt, Trudy Cooper |
| 1000 Oceans | To Venus and Back | Jonathan Hickman |
| Space Dog | Under the Pink | Matthew S. Armstrong |
| The Beekeeper | The Beekeeper | Neil Kleid, Christopher Mitten, Kristyn Ferretti (L) |
| Siren | Great Expectations Soundtrack | Stephanie Leong, Sonia Leong |
| Iieee | From the Choirgirl Hotel | Peov |
| Silent All These Years | Little Earthquakes | Kelly Sue Deconnick, Laurenn McCubbin |
| Leather | Little Earthquakes | John Bivens |
| Gold Dust | Scarlet's Walk | Hope Larson |
| Precious Things | Little Earthquakes | Emma Vieceli, Faye Yong (C) |
| Glory Of The '80s | To Venus and Back | Chris Arrant, Star St.Germain |
| Honey | Under the Pink* | Mike Dringenberg |
| Crucify | Little Earthquakes | Paul Maybury |
| God | Under the Pink | Jim Bricker, Craig Taillefer |
| Pandora's Aquarium | From the Choirgirl Hotel | Dame Darcy |
| Scarlet's Walk | Scarlet's Walk | G. Willow Wilson, Steve Sampson |
| Beauty Of Speed | American Doll Posse | Neal Shaffer, Daniel Krall |
| I Can't See New York | Scarlet's Walk | Adisakdi Tantimedh, Ken Meyer Jr. |
| Upside Down | Little Earthquakes* | Mark Sable, Salgood Sam |
| Northern Lad | From the Choirgirl Hotel | Tom Williams |
| Roosterspur Bridge | American Doll Posse | James A. Owen |
| Cornflake Girl | Under the Pink | Seth Peck, Daniel Heard |
| Pirates | Y Kant Tori Read | Ivan Brandon, Callum Alexander Watt |
| Hey Jupiter | Boys for Pele | Leah Moore & John Reppion, Pia Guerra, Mark Sweeney, Kristyn Ferretti |
| Devils And Gods | American Doll Posse | Jessica Staley, Shane White |
| Past The Mission | Under the Pink | Ted McKeever, Chris Chuckry (C) |
| Sweet the Sting | The Beekeeper | Jimmie Robinson |
| Ribbons Undone | The Beekeeper | Lea Hernandez |
| Pretty Good Year | Under the Pink | Derek McCulloch, Colleen Doran, Jason Hanley (L) |
* – Song is a B-side from aforementioned album (C) – Artist served as a colorist (L) – Artist served as a letterer

## Editions

Comic Book Tattoo was initially made available in three formats, with the addition of another special edition released in November 2008. The available versions are;
* Paperback
ISBN 1-58240-964-1
* Hardback
ISBN 1-58240-965-X
* Limited Edition Hardback (Leather bound encased, signed by Tori Amos and uniquely numbered)
ISBN 1-58240-966-8
* Special Edition Hardback (With a slipcase cover)
ISBN 1-60706-031-0

## Awards and recognition

* 2009:
** Eisner Award for Best Anthology: Comic Book Tattoo: Narrative Art Inspired by the Lyrics and Music of Tori Amos, edited by Rantz Hoseley (Image)
** Eisner Award nomination for Best Publication Design: Comic Book Tattoo, designed by Tom Muller, art direction by Rantz Hoseley (Image)
** Harvey Award for Best Anthology: Comic Book Tattoo, edited by Rantz Hoseley