Tank Girl is Back
June 5, 2015Tank Girl is back, and by the same creative team that breathed life into her. Creator/writer Alan Martin and artist Jamie Hewlett collaborated once again to bring 21st Century Tank Girl to print, a three-issue miniseries. Along for the ride they have brought in artists Philip Bond (Kill Your Boyfriend), Jim Mahfood (Miami Vice), Brett Parson, Jonathan Edwards, Warwick Johnson Cadwell, Craig Knowles and more. The first issue highlights several different scenarios Tank Girl takes on in true anarchic and absurdist fashion. Oh yeah, you also get Booga and Jet Girl popping in too.
In this Tank Girl reincarnation, there are several different vignettes we see Tank Girl put in. In the first one, Space is Ace, she finds herself pining for a precious metal to fuel her, well, tank. The illustrations are often just a tad raunchy in true Tank Girl style. She infiltrates the mine, kills a bunch of the mines’ workers, which doesn’t seem like something she would actually do. The mines’ workers are annoying but they aren’t really against her, and Tank Girl really only has a problem when there are those against her.
In another vignette called The Runny Man, this seemingly mischaracterization also appears. As Tank Girl finds herself imprisoned, and to survive she has to partake in a Darwinist Hunger Games/Battle Royale style reality show. Instead of just having a problem with the organization setting people upon each other to survive, Tank Girl goes after the other contestants as well. It detracts from the overall story only slightly as the art direction guides the story with full entertainment value.
In all of these vignettes, Tank Girl does maintain her raunchiness, and her smug one-liners are in tune with her spirit. There is also the air of childish humor. The addition of Mister Shoob as a new companion in Space is Ace is amusing. In The Runny Man story, a contestant rips off the band-aid above her eyebrow to reveal what she is hiding under it and it ends up being a smaller band-aid.
The art is another highlight. Each separate story has its own style, but none of it is overly refined. Hewlett and the other artists tagged with the project do a marvelous job on keeping the grit and grime of Tank Girl, Jet Girl and Booga. The colors are vibrant, but not exotic to the typical color palette used for her. In the stories at the end, the illustrations take on a gonzo effect and it ends up being a perfect match for the Tank Girl flair.
Tank Girl is back. She has heart and is unforgiving. Find your local comic shop and check that they will have 21st Century Tank Girl #1 on June 10.
