Comic Book Tattoo Pre-Order Price Reduction At Amazon

At the risk of turning into an Amazon cheerleader, we hasten to point out that their pre-order prices for all three editions of Comic Book Tattoo have been reduced! Slashed, even! The softcover is now $19.79, the hardcover, now “temporarily out of stock” (though one wonders how a not-yet-released book can be out of stock) is $36.49 and the limited edition is $62.99. Thanks to Michael Fellows and susan for the tip!

UPDATE: We’ve received confirmation from Rantz that the price for the limited edition of Comic Book Tattoo is, in fact, $149.99. Given that and the limited run of the edition (1,000 copies), the $62.99 pre-order price that Amazon continues to list does seem suspicious, particularly since they do not appear to be limiting the number of pre-orders on this item — its current sale rank at Amazon is #541!

In addition, Melanie received a reply from Amazon in response to her query about the limited edition, the basic gist of which is that they could not confirm anything about the physical details of the edition. This, of course, makes perfect sense considering that the book has not been published or even solicited to retail yet. They also reiterated that Amazon’s return policy allows for full refunds if a book does not meets one’s expectation.

Given all that, caution is advised in pre-ordering the limited edition from Amazon. Deals that appear too good to be true usually are, so please keep a healthy level of expectation about this. Mind you, we’re not suggesting that Amazon is doing a bait and switch! But considering the lack of details at this stage, no one should be surprised if they can not meet the price they’ve advertised or are unable to supply all copies they have accepted orders for.

On a less cautionary note, Darrell points out that Forbidden Planet is now listing all three editions as well. Their current prices are £13.39 for the softcover, £22.10 for the hardcover, and a much heftier £66.33 (that’s $130.87 at the current exchange rate) for the limited edition.

Amazon.co.uk also has all three editions but does not have prices listed and is not accepting orders for them.

Catching Up With A Comic Book Tattoo...

Over the past week, several more bits and pieces fell into place for the upcoming Comic Book Tattoo anthology.

First, designer TomM posted about his involvement with the project on his blog. In addition to featuring the title logo, which you can see over there on the right, Muller also mentions that there will be three editions of the collection: a regular trade paperback, a hardcover and a deluxe hardcover, with slipcase, signed by Tori, limited to 1,000 copies.

On a related note, editor Rantz Hoseley has posted photographs of “dummies” of each edition on his Flickr. These dummies are full, art-free constructs of each edition that the production team is using to gauge the look, feel and heft of the book. There are several shots of the softcover, the hardcover, the limited edition for your viewing pleasure. And even though you can’t hold them, that should give you an idea of what the volume will be like to hold and peruse.

Today, DavidMackGuide.com posted the solicitation for the anthology which, in addition to a rundown of the writers, illustrators and other involved, includes this choice paragraph:

Over 80 of the best creators from every style and genre, have contributed over 50 stories to this anthology featuring stories inspired by the songs of multi-platinum recording artist, TORI AMOS. Featuring an introduction by NEIL GAIMAN, with stories by creators such as CARLA SPEED McNEIL, MARK BUCKINGHAM, C.B. CEBULSKI, NIKKI COOK, HOPE LARSON, JOHN NEY REIBER, RYAN KELLY and many, many others, COMIC BOOK TATTOO encapsulates the breadth, depth and beauty of modern comics in this coffee table format book.

Perhaps of more interest, the pricing for the three editions is also noted: $29.99 fpr the softcover, $49.99 for the hardcover and $149.99 for the signed and numbered slipcase hardcover.

And finally, MiMi points out that Amazon.com has added a listing for the softcover edition and is now taking pre-orders for the book. Their current price is the $29.99 list price mentioned previously, though it is eligible for Amazon’s 5% pre-order discount

Update: Whoops! Completely missed that the hardcover and limited edition hardcover are also listed on Amazon.com for pre-order. (Thanks to Zac for clearing that up!) The limited edition is listed at $99.99 — a pretty hefty discount from the $149.99 price tag DavidMackGuide.com has. Amazon does not specify that this limited edition is signed, though it seems reasonable to assume that. We’ll try to get some clarification on that and on the actual publication date which Amazon has as July 16th rather than the July 23rd date that was thrown out there earlier.

Image Comics' Ink On Comic Book Tattoo

“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.”

Today, Image Comics, publisher of Comic Book Tattoo, the upcoming anthology of Tori’s songs adapted in comic form, posted an article about the collection on their website. It includes the above quote from Tori, some additional comments from editor Rantz Hoseley and, of interest to many, a specific publication date! Expect the 12” x 12”, 480 page book to be available in your local comic shop starting July 23rd and includes an introduction written by Neil Gaiman.

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Interview Serves Up Comic Book Tattoo Details, Eye Candy

“In the case of some of the stories, the connections to the songs are apparent — not so much what you would expect, but more of a case of reading it and saying ‘yeah, I can see where that comes from,’” said Hoseley. “Others, however, have just blown me away, riffing on the themes and ideas in the song in ways I never would have imagined and invariably, those ones are the stories that leave me grinning like a kid on Christmas.”

Today, Comic Book Resources provides the most details yet regarding everyone’s favorite impending comic book, including a first peek at the spiffy cover by artist Jason Leveque. This piece is a real feast for the eyes, with pages from “The Beekeeper” by Neil Kleid and Christopher Mitten, “I Can’t See New York” by Adi Tantimedh and Ken Meyer, Jr., “Devils And Gods” by Jessica Staley and Shane White, “Gold Dust” by Hope Larson, “Leather” by John Bivens, “Caught A Light Sneeze” by Mike Maihack, “Little Amsterdam” by Leif Jones, and “Past the Mission” by Ted McKeever.

In the course of the article, editor Rantz Hoseley goes into great depth about the process of choosing work, as well as how the various songs came to new life as comic stories. Go check it out!

Thanks to Eurico, Jayce, and, of course, Rantz for sending this our way.

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The 2009 RAINN Calendar Takes Shape

In addition to taking the time to listen to the Indie Spinner Rack podcast, DavidMackGuide.com also breaks some news about RAINN’s 2009 Tori Amos Calendar, which they briefly mentioned in a previous update:

The new Tori Amos calendar for 2009 features such top shelf comic talent as Dan Brereton, Lee Moyer, David Mack, and Mike Dringenberg, as well as illustrators such as Kazuhiko Sano and Sterling Hundley. Don’t miss your opportunity to order this stunning calendar, benefiting RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network). Includes a bonus poster by Lee Moyer.

Quite a cadre of talent, so it should be good! Per his production schedule, it’s expected to become available in June. Thanks again to David Thornton!

Note: Kyle Webster’s contribution to the 2009 calendar has been available for purchase from ImageKind.com since late last December — we must have missed that in the hub-bub of the holidays and tour recuperation period. Mea culpa!

Here Lies Info On "Here Lies Love"

Tori’s peeps have cleared up the David Byrne/Here Lies Love mystery for us: David visited Tori at her studio in January where they worked on a couple of tracks for a recorded version of Here Lies Love (with Tori on vocals, yippee!). The song cycle is based on the story of Imelda Marcos and Estrella Campos, the hired woman who raised her. The album is expected to be released through Nonesuch Records sometime this autumn. (There are currently no plans for Tori to be involved in any live performances of this musical.)

Spinning on the Indie Rack With Rantz

Rantz Hoseley, editor of the upcoming Comic Book Tattoo anthology, is the latest guest on the Indie Spinner Rack podcast. During the episode, he discusses, more importantly, the legacy of Steve Gerber but also, perhaps of more interest to Toriphiles, touches on the monumental task of editing the anthology. Check it out!

UPDATE on April 1 @ 9:00 PM EDT: I’ve been traveling and still haven’t had a chance to listen to this podcast yet, but DavidMackGuide.com reports that Rantz announced during the issue that the anthology’s line-up of authors, illustrators and songs will be announced, along with a release date, within the next couple weeks. Tip o’ the hat to David Thornton for that pointer!

Tori Connected With Byrne's "Here Lies Love"?

Julie reports that the newest issue of Paper magazine (with Lindsay Lohan on the cover) has a small feature on Brit singer Candie Payne, which reports “In addition to the record, Payne is working on an Imelda Marcos musical with David Byrne, alongside Tori Amos and Martha Wainwright.” This is more surreal than surreal; Imelda Marcos? If anyone has more details, now’s the time to share ‘em.

UPDATE: Amanda sent us a link to David Byrne’s official page for Here Lies Love. It doesn’t say anything about Tori or Candie Payne being involved, but then again the info currently there relates to a one-time performance at Carnegie Hall in February of 2007.

To clarify, this is not related to “The Light Princess” in any way. “Here Lies Love” is an already-existing musical by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim that was premiered in Adelaide (Oz) in March of 2006. In May of 2007, David Byrne was in London and, among other things, had a meeting to pitch “Here Lies Love.”

Now, if someone told us we either had to come up with a theory based on what little we know or we’d be forced to sniff an old pair of Imelda’s shoes, we’d speculate that there just might be a London performance in the works. If this is the case and we hear any concrete details about a certain redhead being involved, we will definitely pass it on. (Speaking of Imelda’s shoes, we were hoping the musical might include a song titled “Shoes, Glorious Shoes” done to the tune of “Food, Glorious Food” from the musical “Oliver!,” but apparently there is not one single mention of shoes in the whole thing. Darn.)

"Yo, George" On "Body Of War" CD

Now, this is nifty. According to Billboard, Tori’s “Yo, George” joins songs by Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen and others on 30-song, two-disc album “Body of War: Songs That Inspired an Iraq War Veteran.” The collection also serves as the soundtrack to a documentary about Tomas Young, an Army soldier who was paralyzed while serving in Iraq. The album comes out March 18.

For more about the film, check out the Body of War Web site.

The full track list of the CD set is beyond the cut. Thanks to Mike P for sending this our way!

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Get A Piece Of Pele

Martian Engineering is apparently selling the Tascam M-3700 Mixing Desk Tori used in the recording of Boys for Pele. Click on over to see several views of this snazzy gear, and apparently you can swing by the Martian site to see what else they’ve got for sale. The desk price? 500 GBP, or about $1,000. Thanks, William M!