Amanda Palmer has had a multitude of gigs over the years: singer, songwriter, punk cabaret "piano-slayer," author and living statue, among them.Dark Horse ComicsMusician Amanda Palmer dives in as a graphic novelist with the book Evelyn Evelyn, which she co-wrote with Jason Webley.
Dark Horse ComicsMusician Amanda Palmer dives in as a graphic novelist with the book Evelyn Evelyn, which she co-wrote with Jason Webley.
Palmer is co-writer with fellow musician Jason Webley on Evelyn Evelyn, a hardcover book from Dark Horse Comics out in comic shops Wednesday and available at bookstores and Amazon Oct. 4. Gorgeously illustrated by Cynthia von Buhler, the graphic novel chronicles the story of conjoined twin sisters Eva and Lynn Neville.
Their life has been a series of unfortunate events, beginning with their birth in an Airstream trailer in Kansas on Sept. 11, 1985, that is followed by the quick deaths of both parents. Together, the orphans never waver in trying to find a better life, no matter if they somehow happen upon a production house of ill repute or lose their best friends — a pair of conjoined twin elephants who succumb to death on Sept. 11, 2001.
It's a touching artistic perspective on that fateful day, and it's symbolic of how the girls "keep the faith" in a way with whatever struggles they come across.
"They have persevered in the face of so much horror, these two girls, but there's a simple beauty in how they always have each other, for what that's worth," Palmer explains. "It's deep food for thought, how these two souls work almost completely in tandem. In a way, they represent the human paradox, our biggest fear and greatest wish: to be completely known to an Other."
Later, the Neville sisters found success as the musical duo Evelyn Evelyn, based in Walla Walla, Wash. The siblings — whose musical influences include Joy Division, the Andrews Sisters and Jesus Christ Superstar— actually have released two albums and toured the world. (In concert, they also happen to look a lot like their producers, Palmer and Webley. It's almost like they're the same people.)
Palmer says there was "a wonderful chicken-and-egg situation" with the story of the twins' self-titled album last year and the book of the same name. "The music on the record is so visual and theatrical, and the book screams for a soundtrack."
At first glance, the graphic novel almost seems like a children's book, until one sees the subject matter and one bloody chainsaw. That fa?ade was intentional, though, to symbolize the twins' own wide-eyed innocence amid the tragedy around them.
"I do think children's books can still be children's books and incredibly dark and morose. I mean, look at the Grimm brothers' fairy tales or, um, Neil Gaiman's stuff," says Palmer, who married comics icon Gaiman at the beginning of this year.
"Kids love dark twisted stuff — in fact, I think you could argue that they need it. I would simply advise that parents reading this book to their children not explain some of the more adult in-jokes."
Gaiman contributes an afterword to Evelyn Evelyn, and he mentions how it was Webley who introduced him to his future wife four years ago through e-mail. Webley and Palmer met more "poetically," she says: He was playing accordion during the Adelaide Fringe festival in Australia in 2000, and she was performing as the living statue called "The Eight Foot Bride" down the street.
Aside from the fact that it needs to both entertain and hold an audience's attention, Palmer didn't find much similarity between writing a graphic novel and performing as a musician or a living statue.
"The trickiest thing — and I think Jason and Cynthia deserve the lion's share of the credit — was to keep the visual perspective on the story constantly shifting so the images didn't get flat or repetitive," she says.
A native of Massachusetts, Palmer has been a fan of comics since she was a teenager discovering Julie Doucet's Dirty Plotte series for the first time.
"I'd never seen a woman be so brutally honest and simultaneously funny about sex and life," Palmer says. "I'm also a big fan of Hans Rickheit, one of the underappreciated geniuses of the comic world.
"And that Neil Gaiman guy, his stuff's not too bad. Honestly, I'm reading Sandman slowly and enjoying it immensely." (Her favorite so far is the fifth collection, A Game of You.)
Seeing the finished graphic novel was special for her, but it still paled in comparison to opening the live record A is for Accident by the Dresden Dolls, her punk cabaret duo with Brian Viglione in 2003.
"Getting that first Dresden Dolls CD from the printer was something I'd waited for for 25 years," she says. "This one just doesn't match up in the anticipation category. But it was still incredible to sit there with Jason and look at it and be able to say: 'This exists because we made it!'"
Palmer and Webley recently took the twins to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August, but there's no plan for another Evelyn Evelyn album or tour. Palmer says Webley is about to take a hiatus from the road, and she's gearing up to record a new solo record. Plus, she and Gaiman are doing their own tour in November.
"They stayed at home in Walla Walla, actually. They don't go out much," Palmer says. "Jason and I had an ice cream cake delivered to their house with a special Twix bar crumble topping. They were very pleased."
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