Tank Girl

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Tank Girl is a British comic character created by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin. Originally drawn by Jamie Hewlett, the strip is currently drawn by Rufus Dayglo, Ashley Wood, and Mike McMahon.

As the name suggests, Tank Girl drives a tank, which is also her home. She undertakes a series of missions for a nebulous organization before making a serious mistake and being declared an outlaw for her sexual inclinations and her substance abuse. The comic centers on her misadventures with her boyfriend, Booga, a mutant kangaroo. The comic's style was heavily influenced by punk visual art, and strips were frequently deeply disorganized, anarchic, absurdist, and psychedelic. The strip features various elements with origins in surrealist techniques, fanzines, collage, cut-up technique, stream of consciousness, and metafiction, with very little regard or interest for conventional plot or committed narrative. In fact, Martin described his attitude to plot in the third strip anthology as such:

“

Never start with a clear idea of storyline. Instead, commence blindly, with a vague notion of trying to include a reference to your favourite band, gift shop, or chocolate bar.[1]

”

The strip was initially set in a stylized post-apocalyptic Australia (indeed, Hewlett and Martin have described her as "Mad Max designed by Vivienne Westwood"^[2]), although it drew heavily from contemporary British pop culture. Real-life celebrities were commonly cameoed (usually B list, from Britpop bands and UK children's TV, although on one occasion Tank Girl did headbutt Princess Diana and steal her tiara).

Contents 1 Publication history 2 Characters 3 The future of Tank Girl 4 Collected editions 5 Film 6 Trivia 7 See also 8 Notes 9 References 10 External links 10.1 Interviews

[edit] Publication history

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Martin and Hewlett first met in the mid-1980s in Worthing, when Martin was in a band with Philip Bond called the University Smalls. One of their tracks was a song called "Rocket Girl". They had started using the suffix 'girl' to everything habitually after the release of the Supergirl movie, but "Rocket Girl" was a student at college who Bond had a crush on and apparently bore a striking resemblance to a Love and Rockets character. Hewlett and Bond hit it off straight away, but Martin was at first a little put off by Hewlett's habit of drawing huge penises on any paper he came across.^{[citation needed]} (Martin is known for insisting in interviews that Hewlett's penis is 'hammer-shaped'.)^{[citation needed]} They began collaborating on a comic/fanzine called Atomtan, and while working on this, Jamie had drawn

“

a grotty looking beefer of a girl brandishing an unfeasible firearm. One of our friends was working on a project to design a pair of headphones and was basing his design on the type used by World War II tank driver. His studio in Worthing was littered with loads of photocopies of combat vehicles. Alan pinched one of the images and gave it to Jamie who then stuck it behind his grotty girl illustrations and then added a logo which read 'Tank Girl'.[3]

”

The image was published in the fanzine as a one-page ad (with a caption that read: "SHE'LL BREAK YOUR BACK AND YOUR BALLS!"), but the Tank Girl series first appeared in the debut issue of Deadline (1988), a UK magazine intended as a forum for new comic talent, or as its publishers Brett Ewins and Tom Astor put it, "a forum for the wild, wacky and hitherto unpublishable," and it continued until the end of the magazine in 1995.

Tank Girl became quite popular in the politicized indie counterculture zeitgeist as a cartoon mirror of the growing empowerment of women in punk rock culture. Posters and t-shirts began springing up everywhere, including one especially made for the Clause 28 march against Margaret Thatcher's legislation. Clause 28 stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship." Deadline publisher Tom Astor said, "In London, there are even weekly lesbian gatherings called 'Tank Girl nights.'"^[4]

With public interest growing, Penguin, the largest publishing company in Britain, bought the rights to collect the strips as a book, and before long, Tank Girl had been published in Spain, Italy, Germany, Scandinavia, Argentina, Brazil and Japan, with several US publishers fighting over the license. Finally Dark Horse Comics won out, and the strips were reprinted in color beginning in '91, with an extended break in '92, and ending in September '93. A graphic novel-length story named Tank Girl: The Odyssey was also published in '95, written by Peter Milligan and loosely inspired by Homer's Odyssey, Joyce's Ulysses^[5] and a considerable quantity of junk TV, (although Milligan asserts in the preface that the story is entirely based on real events, inspired by the wanderings and adventures of a group of lost friends, all of whom appear in the pages under various pseudonyms). Another graphic novel called Tank Girl: Apocalypse, in which TG becomes pregnant, also appeared in '96, written by Alan Grant after he spent several hours alone in the pitch-dark bowels of an actual tank, experiencing sensory deprivation. Apocalypse was co-authored and drawn by Philip Bond. These last two stories, being graphic novels and not compilations of the strips, are distinctly more linear in nature, Apocalypse having absolutely no involvement from either Martin or Hewlett (and being dramatically less well-received by fans^{[citation needed]}).

[edit] Characters

• Tank Girl. (Real name - Rebecca Buck) According to her own herstory included as a preface to one of the books, her first words were "cauliflower penis." When she was 7, she started a collection of novelty pencil sharpeners (the collection is now housed in the National Museum of Modern Pencil Sharpeners, Sydney). She later became a tank pilot and worked as a bounty hunter before shooting a heavily decorated officer, having mistaken him for her father, and failing to deliver colostomy bags to President Hogan, the incontinent Head of State in Australia, resulting in him publicly embarrassing himself at a large international trade conference. These events resulted in Tank Girl becoming an outlaw with a multi-million dollar bounty on her head. She is prone to random acts of sex and violence, hair dyeing, flatulence, nose-picking, vomiting, spitting, and more than occasional drunkenness. She also has the ability to outrun any ice-cream van - even Mr Whippy.
• Booga: a mutated kangaroo, formerly quite a successful toy designer of "products Santa would've sacrificed a reindeer for," and presently Tank Girl's devoted boyfriend. She met him when he sneaked into her tank one night to pinch a pair of her knickers. He is a big Dame Edna fan and once impersonated Bill Clinton. Booga, often against his will, always does the cooking, particularly the great British institution of tea. He follows TG everywhere and does whatever she tells him, by his own admission.
• The talking stuffed animals:

• Camp Koala: a stitchy, brown, gay, koala-shaped stuffed toy described as "the Jeremy Thorpe of comics", whom TG sodomizes with a hot banana. Camp Koala died tragically when they were playing baseball with live hand grenades which Camp eagerly caught in the outfield, exploding on impact, resulting in a violent, bloody, and gruesome death. After a tearless and comical funeral service, the other characters go to a toy store and buy a new one. Camp Koala is known for visiting occasionally as a guardian angel. He is the only character TG's ever admitted to loving.
• Squeaky toy rat: a squeaky toy rat.
• Mr. Precocious: a "small Shakespearean mutant" who looks a bit like a mini bipedal pink elephant, though may possibly be a bilby.

• Stevie, a wild-haired blond Aborigine who owns a convenience store and chain-smokes. Being TG's ex-boyfriend, Booga is always a bit jealous of him. He has various familial ties and connections with Aboriginal culture and remote traditionalist tribespeople.
• Barney: busted out of a mental hospital by TG, she is more or less insane. In The Odyssey, she is responsible for killing the whole cast, thereby sending them all to the land of the dead, from which TG was forced to save them by finding the Prince of Farts.
• Sub Girl (real name unknown, although a trading card for the film once listed her real name as 'Subrina'). Described as "like a beautiful flower floating in the loo", she pilots a submarine. A friend of TG's since childhood, she used to come round her house with Jet Girl and try on her mum's underwear.
• Jet Girl (real name unknown), a talented mechanic who flies a jet. All her friends call her "boring" (she has admitted to being a big fan of Rod Stewart).
• Boat Girl. Otherwise known as Jackie. Barney's nervous hairdresser, former figure skater. Her only brother killed by TG and Booga after they stole from a church. She owns a greatly modified WWII Motor Torpedo Boat.

[edit] The future of Tank Girl

After the 1995 film, Hewlett went on to make his fortune creating Gorillaz with Blur's Damon Albarn. Gorillaz are a virtual band for which Hewlett reportedly received a "big money" offer from Dreamworks for the film rights. Hewlett declined, still soured from his previous Hollywood experience, and opted to wait until he could control things on the project himself.^{[citation needed]}

Martin wandered around for a bit, staying at communes with hippie friends, looking for stone circles and ancient sites before settling in Berwick Upon Tweed in the Scottish Borders with his wife Lou and son Rufus Bodie (named after Lewis Collins' character in The Professionals). Martin has played in various bands, written a Tank Girl "novel" (Armadillo) published in March 2008 by Titan Books, as well as various screenplays and scripts. He is currently creating the first new Tank Girl limited series in over ten years: Tank Girl: The Gifting with award-winning Australian artist Ashley Wood and Rufus Dayglo. Published by American publishers IDW, the first issue of which was released in June 2007. He is also producing Tank Girl: Carioca with Brit comics' legend Mike McMahon for Titan Books which should see print in summer 2009. On October 24, 2008, it was announced that Alan and Rufus will be doing an exclusive page a month of Tank Girl for SuicideGirls.^[6] The first page in the series was posted on November 2, 2008.^[7] The follow up, posted on December 4, 2008, shows Tank Girl getting cryptically political (in a festive way), and is somewhat of a departure for the character.^[8]

“

We went to the comics graveyard and dug her up. She's smelling pretty bad, but we're gonna put her in a wheelbarrow and parade her around for all to see, anyway.

”

Summer 2008 saw Tank Girl: Skidmarks appearing in all-new Nine-page episodes in the Judge Dredd Megazine, again written by Martin, with art duties taken on by Rufus Dayglo, who drew issues 2-4 of the The Gifting, and Visions of Booga for IDW Comics. In an interview Martin revealed that Visions of Booga was the only Tank Girl comic that doesn't contain any major swear words: "It has a "bastard" here and a "bitch" there, but it doesn't have any F-words or C-words."^[9]

Alan Martin and Rufus Dayglo have produced a comprehensive Tank Girl website, at www.tank-girl.com which has info, exclusive art, forums, blogs, exclusive sneak previews, as well as links to all Tank Girl material in print.

Titan Books have released The Cream of Tank Girl, complied by Alan Martin, containing Jamie Hewlett art and Alan Martin scripts, starting from her earliest beginning as a pin-up in Atomtan, it features a brand new Jamie Hewlett cover as well as brand new script from Alan Martin.

[edit] Collected editions

Tank Girl has been collected into a number of trade paperbacks over the years. The entire back catalogue was reprinted by Titan books in 2002 and these books were "re-mastered" in anniversary editions, stripped of their subsequently-added computer colouring and line work repaired. Book one is expected in April/May 2009.

• Tank Girl Book 1 consists of the first 15 episodes, originally published in Deadline Magazine, starting Sept. '88, all originally in black and white.
• Tank Girl Book 2 consists of the next 17 episodes, some colour, some black and white.
• Tank Girl Book 3 rounds up a final 9 episodes, including some featuring Booga as the star. All in colour.

There are still some original Martin/Bond strips as yet uncollected.

• Tank Girl - The Odyssey consists of 4 issues released between June and October 1995, published by DC's Vertigo imprint. These comics were printed in full colour.
• Tank Girl - Apocalypse consists of 4 issues released between November 1995 and February 1996, published by DC's Vertigo imprint. Again these comics were in full colour.

• A graphic novel adaptation of the movie was also released by Penguin books in 1995.^{[citation needed]}

• The trade paperback of Tank Girl: The Gifting 4 part, was released in November 2007.
• Tank Girl: Armadillo and a Bushel of Other Stories (Novel, Fiction, cover art by Jamie Hewlett) released by Titan Books in March 2008.
• Tank Girl: Visions of Booga (4 part mini, IDW Published Comic, covers by Ashley Wood and art by Rufus Dayglo) released in May 2008.
• Tank Girl: Carioca 6 part mini series drawn by Mick McMahon.
• Tank Girl: SkidMarks 12 part series in the Judge Dredd Megazine , released August 2008. (To be collected as US Fomat mini series for the US market in 2009)
• Tank Girl: The Royal Escape"" (4 part mini, IDW Published, art by Rufus Dayglo) to be released in 2009.

[edit] Film

The comic was also adapted into a critically and financially unsuccessful film, albeit with a considerable cult following. The film featured Lori Petty as Tank Girl.

Martin and Hewlett are known for speaking poorly of the experience, calling it "a bit of a sore point" for them. Ironically, despite its critics, the film did however undeniably broaden the comics' fanbase from a relatively modest UK cult following to an international audience. A great many fans today cite the film as their first introduction to the character, which later prompted them to seek out the comics.

[edit] Trivia

• In the TV show 1000 Ways to Die, one of the segments is entitled "Tanked Girl", wherein a scuba diver in a hyperbaric chamber is killed from explosive decompression.

[edit] See also

• The Invisibles
• Action Girl Comics
• Kill Your Boyfriend
• Feminist science fiction
• Gorillaz
• Riot Grrrl
• The Nao Of Brown - Glyn Dillon (Jamie Hewlett collaborator) blog
• Philip Bond - Tank Girl collaborator and artist

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Tank Girl

• Official website
• Tank Girl on Suicide Girls Website [1]
• archives (fan site)
• Tank Girl Twitter[2]

[edit] Interviews

• Suicide Girls Interview - With Alan Martin about the Tank Girl relaunch
• Alan Martin interview - about the 2007 relaunch from IDW comics.
• Jamie Hewlett interview about influences