Tank Girl: Two Girls One Tank #1
Written by Alan Martin
Drawn & Lettered by Brett Parson
Review by Joey Braccino
“Let’s make like santa and leave their presence!”
What’s Tank Girl without her f**king TANK!?!?! The latest addition to the long-running Tank Girl strip asks that question as Tank Girl suddenly finds herself sans-Sherman and puts her and her friends on a quest to find new transport. Of course, given the incredibly provocative title, Tank Girl’s tank finds itself in the hands of another girl, Ms. Magnolia Jones. Hilarity, as is often the case with cult-favorite started-as-a-zine DIY-punk post-apocalyptic Brit/Aussie-pop comics, ensues.
Tank Girl as a franchise has been around since 1988, when creators Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett introduced the character in a comic strip in the back of a UK magazine. The character’s liberated, anarchic punk attitude and sexual empowerment quickly garnered attention from the comix scene in Britain. Most readers (including me!) will probably recognize the character from the film adaptation from 1995 starring Lori Petty, Naomi Watts, and Ice-T. Despite its flaws (studio control, forced rewrites, budgets, etc.), the film’s whimsy and feminist themes has led to an intense cult-following in the years since its release.
Fans looking for that absurdism, that attitude, and that sense of fun will find it here with Martin and Brett Parson’s newest addition to the Tank Girl mythos: Tank Girl: Two Girls One Tank #1. There is a sense of anarchy and wit in Martin’s writing that is so clearly reflective of that underground comics scene from the early ‘90s. Although the gags are practically a mile-a-minute in this first issue, Martin does take the time to include a very personal, intimate sequence with Magnolia in Tank Girl’s tank that lends an emotional weight to the proceedings.
And while Brett Parson’s cartooning aesthetic is very different from that hard scratchy edge of Jaime Hewlett’s era, the brightness and strangeness of it all still makes for an absolutely insane visual experience. Images burst off the page in dynamic layouts and stark, rich colors.
And Tank Girl’s first word: “F**K.”
‘Nuff said.
Verdict
BUY. Funny, dynamic, and delightful, Tank Girl: Two Girls One Tank is a reminder of how unique and totally rad the eponymous heroine is and has been for nearly 30 years. Alan Martin and Brett Parson take Tank Girl on one heck of a misadventure here, and the introduction of the Magnolia Jones character should make for some engaging and hilarious storytelling down the line. CHECK IT!!!
