Comic Book Resources

Comic BLOG Tattoo – Episode 1 Bitch-slapped by a song

Welcome to the first installment of Comic BLOG Tattoo, the ongoing blog (via our pals at CBR) where myself and the many and multitudinous makers of the multiple musical missives in the upcoming Comic Book Tattoo anthology tell you our respective’ behind the scenes’ tales. (That’s enough alliteration to be ‘classic’ comic form, right?) We’ll talk about what it was like working on the project, how the stories and the book came to be. The laughs, the tears, the two-fisted drama…

(It’s like the now-defunct VH-1 ‘Behind the music’ except it’s dealing with a.) comics and b.) there are no tragic overdoses or trips to rehab before the big ‘comeback.)

Since I’m up first, and since at this point I’ve given multiple interviews (including this one here at CBR) on the project and how it came to be, I thought I’d give some insight into one of the two stories I worked on. Namely, The Waitress.

Sequential script pages for Page 3 of ‘The Waitress’ for CBT, Story Rantz Hoseley, Art Ming Doyle

First off, let me say that, since Tori and I have been friends longer than she’s been putting out albums, I know all of her music REALLY well. I know songs that haven’t been released, songs that got scrapped along the way, and songs that changed radically between when they were first written, and what ended up being released. Because of that, most of the songs of hers that are my favorites… the ones that have significant emotional resonance with me, AREN’T the ‘big hits’. They are the B-Sides or soundtrack songs more often than not. Songs available in limited form. Songs that only get played every once in a great while in concert. So, the first ‘short list’ I had for songs that I thought would be good to tackle were my all-time favorites. Honey, Here in my Head, Sugar, Take me with you… songs that I related to as much for when I first heard Tori play them, as I do the strength of the song.

Now, because I was editing the book as a whole, and had to have all of the songs ‘fresh’ in my mind as I read through plot summaries or scripts or rough layouts, I had made multiple CDs of Tori’s entire discography. Part of it was to get ‘in the groove’ for the project, but part of it was also just to make sure we weren’t missing any obvious songs that we really SHOULD have as part of the book. So, I listened to the songs

…and I listened.

…and I listened.

…and I listened some more.

I began to get a bit panicky because, to be honest, I could not for the life of me, come up with a compelling ‘hook’ for a story on any of the aforementioned ‘first picks’. I listened to those songs over and over, figuring something would come to me on ONE of them, making it clear WHICH one I should do, but after weeks, I had NOTHING. Sure, I could come up with various ideas and plots, but none of them really had any ‘oomph’ or kick to them. They all felt too… how shall I put this… they felt expected. Like the obvious, boring, uncompelling option. So weeks of this, and I’m panicking. I’m telling the creators I want them to do songs that speak to THEM as individual creators, and here I am, bashing my head against a wall, trying to come up with one, good, narrative hook.

Ming Doyle’s first layouts for page 3 of ‘The Waitress’

In this frustrated, annoyed, and somewhat crazed state I drove to work one morning, and on one of the Tori mix CDs, the live version of the Waitress came on. I drove along, listening to it, and the weirdest thing I have ever had happen to me as a creator, occurred. It told me that I had to do it.

By that, I don’t mean that I heard voices telling me in a Vincent Price-esque rumble “YOOOUUUU WILL DOOOO THEEE WAIIIIITTRESSSSS”. (I’m a bit crazy, but not THAT far gone yet) No, I mean that, as I drove along, I saw the whole story. The fact that it would be two narratives that ran parallel next to each other on each page. One of them telling the events of the past, the narrative jumping months forward with each page, while the other sequence was set in the present… the outcome of all of those events of the past, running forward in 10 second increments per page. I saw the way that visually it would have to look, the way the past and present sequences would play off each other… the words from one adding resonance or added impact to a phrase or action in the other. Beginning to end, the whole thing, as if I was reading someone else’s comic. The dialogue wasn’t there, but I knew the beats… how many panels, the emotional weight and significance of each ‘shot’… it was, to put it mildly, really REALLY freaky. So, of course I did what any rational person would do, when confronted by such a thing…

I tried to ignore it.

I did my best to focus on the other songs. After all, while I LIKE the song, The Waitress has never been one of my ‘faves’. I love the chorus for obvious reasons, but if Tori doesn’t play it in concert, I don’t think ‘Aww man, why didn’t she play THAT?!’

I tried to think of other stories for another couple of weeks, but the narrative for the Waitress kept coming back, and with more detail each time. Dialogue was starting to gel. Situations and settings were becoming clearer, more refined.

Rantz’s futzing about with Ming’s original layout to help explain the angle and width of the last panel better

Now, Tori used to tell me, AGES ago… like during the first Little Earthquakes club tour, that the songs TOLD HER which ones to play on a given night. That she didn’t pick them… THEY picked which ones ‘would come out to play’. Like many situations in the time that we’ve known each other, where she assumes the role of the believer, and I take on the role of the cynic, I kinda rolled my eyes, and smirked, and said “Sure Tor’, ok, whatever”

And now here, years later, I have this damn song SHOWING ME WHAT SHE MEANT.

So, I gave into it.

Writing the script, ironically, took longer than anything I’ve ever written. Largely because of the sheer amount of detail in the script, going not QUITE ‘Alan Moore’ with it, but with a 60 page script for 11 pages of comic, it’s pretty damn close to it.

I was ecstatic when Ming Doyle agreed to illustrate the story because, while I love her art in general, I knew her style was perfect for nailing that blend between grit and surface veneer necessary to make a tale of betrayl in Hollywood between the best of friends feel ‘right’. Luckily Ming was up for the challenge of the crazy narrative style, and turned out to be one of the best collaborators I’ve ever worked with in terms of bouncing layouts back and forth, and being so open to ideas, while at the same time bringing key elements that were all her own to the tale. In terms of my own work, it’s by far the story I’m most proud of to date, and the high water mark I feel I need to ‘beat’ with everything I do from now on out. Hopefully, you’ll enjoy it as well.

On a final note about Comic BLOG Tattoo… If you have specific questions about the book, the project, or the stories, please ask away in the CBR forums! We’ll do our best to answer them. Thanks!

Finished page 3 for ‘The Waitress’ Art by Ming Doyle, Colors by Mark Sweeney, Letters by Kristyn Ferretti