{"id":3323,"date":"2009-04-14T06:00:19","date_gmt":"2009-04-14T06:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=3323"},"modified":"2009-04-13T21:48:26","modified_gmt":"2009-04-13T21:48:26","slug":"tank-girl-two-remastered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2009\/04\/14\/tank-girl-two-remastered\/","title":{"rendered":"Tank Girl Two (Remastered)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Hewlett<\/strong> & Martin<\/strong> (Titan Books)
\nISBN: 978-1-84576-759-4<\/p>\n

Hard on the funky-booted heels of the first volume, the second in the series of remastered, chronologically complete compilations featuring the wildly absurdist ever-so-cool independent girl who took the early 1990s by storm includes work from Deadline<\/strong> March 1990 to April 1993, plus relevant excerpts from The Tank Girl Postermag<\/strong>, the Comic Relief Benefit Comic<\/strong> and a Christmas prezzie from the December 1990 Speakeasy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Never too wedded to the concept of internal logic or narrative consistency (or spelling – so if you’re pedantic be warned!), the next couple of years saw the creative team’s energies dissipated by other gigs, with a consequent irregularity of stories about the big-eared social iconoclast. But the level of in-yer-face absurdity, British Cultural Sampling and addictive sex’n’violence remained high in such smuttily psycho-active tales as ‘I’ve Got Friends at Bell’s End’<\/em> and ‘Force Ten to Ringarooma Bay’ <\/em>whilst the introduction of vibrant colour for the 5 part ‘Summer Love Sensation’<\/em> (a nominal return to the old homestead for the slap-happy slapper and her mates) plus the visually stunning ‘Sunflower’<\/em> from The Tank Girl Postermag<\/strong> did much to cement her position as the style touchstone for the crucially hip of the commercial acid-house generation beyond the world of comics.<\/p>\n

In Deadline<\/strong> the work became more radical, experimental and often impenetrable (perhaps rushed would be kinder or fairer). Three-part Seventies crime-spoof ‘Askey & Hunch’<\/em> was self-indulgent and far too long whilst the Jack Kerouac homage\/pastiche ‘Blue Helmet’<\/em> was often clever, sharp, funny and facile at the same time. The art however, was always astounding – radical, fresh and with an underlying patina of unique Englishness made up of equal parts Steve Parkhouse, Brendan McCarthy and sheer original enthusiasm.<\/p>\n

Always self-referential, the strip hit new highs with ‘The Fall and Rise and Fall of the Ship in the Bottle’<\/em> and ‘Guide to Joy’<\/em> (Hewlett & Martin’s observations on swearing, sex, the mind, drugs, comics and fans). The book closes with a selection of strip oddities comprising ‘Booga’s Christmas Carol’<\/em> (from Speakeasy<\/strong>), ‘Jet Gurl in Hairy Pussy’<\/em> (Deadline<\/strong> December 1992) and the two pages by Hewlett and Martin from the Comic Relief Comic<\/strong> jam featuring a stupendous battle between Dawn “I’m Sorry Jennifer Woman” French and Ben “Student Fridge Sausage Man” Elton. The heady brew is all topped off with a selection of covers from Deadline USA<\/strong> and the Tank Girl II Dark Horse Comics US reprint comics.<\/p>\n

Even if you’ve never seen the anarchic, surreal, ultra-violent (in a funny way) and neo-pop-culturally drenched peculiarity that was Tank Girl, or if the gag might be wearing a little thin in places, this is still a culturally viable, generally readable and wonderfully pretty package of Rude Britannia, and a part of our history well worth the occasional visit.<\/p>\n