News: MySpace Comics Feature on Tori and Comic Book Tattoo

While the Undented Dork Posse took last weekend off for the long holiday weekend (Happy Tori Independence Day-er, wait-a-minute…), the promotional machine for Comic Book Tattoo continued to churn.

Last Wednesday, MySpace Comics featured a post on their blog (you may have to register with MySpace to view it) where Tori lists her five favorite artists and includes a complete preview of “Upside Down”, Mark Sable’s and Salgood Sam’s contribution to the anthology. Note: some may consider that piece NSFW — depending, of course, on where you work!

Thanks to everyone who let us know about this feature, particularly lushvalley who was the first to get us to pick up the phone…

And while we’re on the topic of Comic Book Tattoo, two other related items of interest have come to our notice.

First, Tim O’Shea interviewed CBT-contributor Elizabeth Genco about her recent project, Blue, but she also reveals the lyric that inspired her adaptation of “Here. In My Head” and drops the news that she had already written a Tori-inspired story, “Cooling”, which can be found on the Endicott Studios website.

Second, shyam points out that Canadian bookseller Chapters.Indigo is still taking pre-orders for the limited edition of the collection.

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EXCLUSIVE! TORI AMOS’ 5 fave artists and exclusive preview of COMIC BOOK TATTOO!

Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Category: Art and Photography

We are pleased and proud to welcome a new guest blogger to MySpace Comic Books — the incomparable TORI AMOS! Ms. Amos is a comic book fan from way back (and if you don’t believe us, take a closer look at her lyrics). She has joined us today in honor of COMIC BOOK TATTOO — an upcoming anthology from IMAGE COMICS where some of the most impressive talents in the medium interpret Tori’s songs in sequential art form.

To say this is one of the most highly anticipated books of the year is an understatement. This gorgeous tome hits the shelves on July 23rd, but today we’ve got an exclusive preview of the story “Upside Down” by Mark Sable and Salgood Sam. Not to mention a guest blog from Tori herself, on the subject of her five favorite artists.

Thanks to Ms. Amos and her staff for this fantastic preview! Take it away, Tori…

1. Henri Russeau
From paintings such as “A Carnival Evening” to “War, or Discord on Horseback,” I have always heard music when I look at his paintings.

2. Agnes Martin
This artist speaks of a philosophy that I have come to apply. “I want to take time with this concept and prove beyond doubt that authority and obedience exist at the same time in each of us, that we are all in a state of obligatory authority, that it is a sublime state and a state of positive freedom.” This artists’ canvases construct geometric shapes with disciplined yet haunting effect. I find that I can hallucinate just staring at her canvases. I could lose myself in “White Flower.”

3. Frida Kahlo
You can’t get further from Anges Martin than Frida Kahlo, from my perspective. One stirs emotion through the use of disciplined logic. The other, Frida Kahlo, activates my mind by entering into my blood. Her paintings, as I look at them, begin to live in my blood. The passion that it stirs in my heart heals and wounds all in the same breath.

4. Degas
I mention Degas specifically because of this series he did of Dancers. I’m not as drawn to the landscapes as I am drawn to the ballerina paintings, such as “Ballet Rehearsal,” “The Dancing Class,” “The Star; Dancer on Pointe,” “Dancers Backstage,” “Before the Exam,” “Rehearsal of a Ballet on the Stage,” “Spanish Dancer and Studies of Legs,” “Frieze of Dancers,” “Two Dancers at the Bar,” “Four Dancers,” and “Dance Rehearsal in the Foyer of the Opera” – these are paintings I go back to over and over in my life as a creator. I can stare at them for hours and I always find something new in them. Something that I hadn’t noticed before. An emotion, a layer. This is why I specifically mention these.

5. Ilya Repin
I’ve always been obsessed with Russia, specifically during the early 20th Century. In his painting “October 17, 1905” I find myself staring at the faces of these people, trying to comprehend what Russia was like at that time, before the revolution.