Tori Amos’s eclectic, swirling, piano-laden music could always be considered poetry set to thumping, driving tunes. Her lyrics can be dense, dangerous and hard to follow, but they can also resonate with the clarity of a writer with amazing insight into the human psyche. That she dances around in the realm of faeries and sprites and spirits, and gives everything she touches an ethereal quality, puts some off and embraces others. Regardless of which camp you fall into, there may have been something you’ve not noticed about her lyrics all this time: the stories.

A wealth of stories exist within Amos’s writing. Some have seemed obvious within the lyrics, but more of them have been inspired by the intense imagery she paints. Such inspiration is what has brought about the massive Comic Book Tattoo, a collection of nearly 500 pages from some of the best comic writers and artists working today. (A quick sampling of those creators: Colleen Doran, Pia Guerra, James Stokoe, John Ney Rieber, Mike Dringenberg, Ryan Kelly, and Ted McKeever--there are many more, and not a less-than-excellent one in the bunch.)

Comic Book Tattoo takes more than 50 of Amos’s songs and turns them over to those creators to flesh out. They use their talents to explore some of the hidden meanings in the song or just to take some of the lyrics and use it as a springboard for another idea (one of my favorites in this vein is based on Amos’s song “Bouncing Off Clouds” and features a woman who makes rapid deliveries by jumping from planes and—with the help of special shoes—bounces back up to her destination).

Other stories take bold risks and make for compelling storytelling independent of whether you’re a fan of Amos’s music. The story based on “Scarlet’s Walk” (written by G. Willow Wilson and illustrated by Steve Sampson) is simply exquisite. Sampson uses a breathtaking technique that places almost manga-like drawings against real photographic backgrounds. The effect is gorgeous. That it resides here, tucked somewhere in the middle of the book, without fanfare, should give you some idea of the hidden treasures to be found here.

Amos mentions in her afterword that she was most concerned, when embarking on this project, with making sure the creators felt no need to censor themselves, that they should flesh out their stories any way they see fit. It would seem they took that to heart. The stories inside Comic Book Tattoo can range from sweet to probing to outright violent, but they remain fascinating in their own right, and not just as interpretations of lyrics.

It’s difficult to pick out a favorite among the gems contained here, but one that stands out with strikingly lush painted images and sparse, poetically inspired narration is Mike Dringenberg’s “Honey.” Soft, muted colors and gothic typography help set a dreamlike stage for an exploration of bees, memory and time.