After a break of nearly 20 years Jamie Hewlett will be drawing a new Tank Girl story as part of 21st Century Tank Girl project conceived by Alan C. Martin, joining six other artists to create a brand new book that has easily secured backing via Kickstarter.
Tank Girl writer Alan Martin has re-teamed with Hewlett, Brett Parson, Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, Philip Bond, Jim Mahfood, Craig Knowles and Jonathan Edwards to deliver the boo which, with 25 days to go before its crowd funding campaign ends, has secured £82,764 in backing – well over the £57,000 target.
Tank Girl is a creator-owned comic book series about an Australian outlaw anti-heroine and her friends. The series began in 1988 when Tank Girl appeared in the first issue of Deadline Magazine in the UK. Since then she has starred in her own comics, magazines, a novel, and even her own Hollywood movie starring Lori Petty, Naomi Watts, Ice-T, and Malcolm McDowell.
With funding secured, the team will create a brand-spanking-new, 100 page, hardback Tank Girl book featuring artwork from seven different artists (some Tank Girl veterans and some new chaps), and will be written, edited, and designed by me.
“This will be a truly independent venture, side-stepping the publishing industry and distribution networks, to deliver a product straight into your hands, direct from the creators,” says Alan.
“The book will feature two different cover designs, both drawn by Jamie Hewlett – one on the hardcover (case), and one on a wrap-around dust jacket. The latter cover will only be available through this Kickstarter, this will be your one and only chance to buy the book in this form, when the Kickstarter is over, the dust jacket comes off!
“The book will be crammed full with a chaotic mix of short comic strips, poster pages, poems, longer strips, an illustrated text story, and much more,” he enthuses. “You’ll discover what Tank Girl’s real name is in the story “The Name of Tank Girl” (clue – it’s not Rebecca Buck).”
And, we’re told, you’ll learn tactical tank manoeuvres and vital post-apocalyptic survival techniques. What’s not to like?
“I’m totally over-excited about the line-up of artists: Jamie hasn’t drawn a comic for more than 15 years, and hasn’t drawn a Tank Girl strip since 1996!” says Alan. “Readers of the original run of comics will recognise the name of Philip Bond, who worked on Tank Girl with us back in the Deadline days, and has gone on to be a regular artist for DC Vertigo. Two recent Tank Girl artists, Jim Mahfood and Warwick Johnson-Cadwell, will return to inject TG with their diverse and radical stylings, and brilliant Brit illustrator Jonathan Edwards will finally get a turn at drawing TG, after originally being slated as artist back in 1996, only to see the Tank Girl publishing empire collapse before he had a chance. The list is topped off with two excellent artists, both new to Tank Girl, who have been setting my blog and the Tank Girl Facebook page ablaze with their incredible artwork – Craig Knowles and Brett Parson (aka Blitzcadet).”
“I’m honoured to announce that I will be involved with this amazing Kickstarter!” says Criag Knowles via Twitter. “What a bunch to be amongst!”
• Head over to Kickstarter to find out more
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Graphic Novels, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes Comics News, Featured News
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