Tank Girl’s welcome return

By John Freeman on May 9, 2007

Over on blogcritics.org, Cameron Archer has posted a detailed review of the new Tank Girl from US publisher IDW.

Those who remember Jamie “Gorillaz” Hewlett’s full on 1980s Deadline version of the character (Titan Books republished those strips some time ago) should know that he’s been replaced by artist Ashley Wood (various artists worked on later TG see below), but the Tank Girl: The Gifting series is still written by Tank Girl co-creator/writer Alan Martin, who is apparently going back to the basics with a scaled down cast. The stories mostly centre around Tank Girl, “mutated” kangaroo/former toy designer Booga and escaped mental patient Barney at this point, although Jet Girl cameos.

Archer says “The colourful and vibrant look that defined the comic when it went all-colour in the early 1990s has been replaced by a more stylized, muted colour scheme. The art style is still visually dense, but in a different way… ” and is pleased with the enjotabel, if inconsequential stories. “I’d like to know if Alan Martin can keep this pace up for all four issues of Tank Girl: The Gifting,” he signs off, “but the initial outing gives me hope that he can. Frankly, Tank Girl was MIA for too long and it’s good to see her back.”

I’ll second that emotion. At one point I know Titan Books was so pleased by sales of its TG collections they considered commissioning new stories, so there’s definitely a market for the gal. I’ll be looking out for this in Bristol.

Tank Girl Titles from Titan:

Tank Girl
Alan Martin & Jamie Hewlett Cover by Jamie Hewlett
Buy it from amazon.co.uk
Buy it from amazon.com

Tank Girl 2
Alan Martin & Jamie Hewlett Cover by Jamie Hewlett
Buy it from amazon.co.uk
Buy it from amazon.com

Tank Girl 3
Alan Martin & Jamie Hewlett Cover by Jamie Hewlett
Buy it from amazon.co.uk
Buy it from amazon.com

Tank Girl: The Odyssey
Peter Milligan & Jamie Hewlett Cover by Jamie Hewlett
Buy it from amazon.co.uk
Buy it from amazon.com

Tank Girl: Apocalypse
Alan Grant, Andy Pritchett, Philip Bond & Phil Gascoine
Cover by Brian Bolland
Buy it from amazon.co.uk
Buy it from amazon.com

About the Author
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John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as 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.