Tank Girl Classic #1

Tank Girl Classic #1

by Alan C. Martin, Jamie Hewlett (Illustrator)

The original Tank Girl comics, in stunning black and white as they were meant to be seen! Ripped from the pages of classic cult comics mag Deadline and tarted up to their original glory, don't miss these anarchic tales in all their world-striding majesty!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Adult, Graphic Novels Manga, Science Fiction

26 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 25, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Yousef · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illegible; nonsensical; and absolutely obnoxious. I love this shit.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pure unadulterated whack insanity!

Reading Classic ‘Tank Girl #1’ certainly took me back to when American graphic comic artists were commonly pushing the boundaries of good taste and mainstream acceptance in the 1970’s! At the time, these gentlemen (they were mostly misogynistic antisocial males) were called ‘Underground’ artists since the subject matter of their comic books was considered pornographic, violent and sick. And it was, but coloring WAY outside the lines was the point. They were intent on smashing cultural restrictions on the imagination and disturbing cultural givens of morality. LSD anyone?

‘Tank Girl Classic #1’ isn’t as mental as other underground-styling graphic comics I saw back in the day. And I DO find it hard to resist Tank Girls’s charmingly fey and light-hearted psychopathic attitude in accidentally causing the death of visitors who mean to harm her. I’m a bad person, I suppose. However, I wouldn’t give this comic to anyone for Christmas. Am I forgiven?

[Heather Fryling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the real deal, the type of the absurd and rebellious.

[Adrienne Blaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t often use the word horny, but that is the only way to describe this comic created by art school dudes in Scotland. This volume is a special collection of the late 80s/early 90s comics in chronological order. The comics follow a tank driving, rocket slinging, “wet dream in combat boots,” named Tank Girl. She rumbles around the Australian outback with her stuffed animals, kangaroo boyfriend and beer guzzling buds. I read this as a fashion text, because the highly detailed drawings are a snapshot of the punk styles from the time, including Tank Girl’s iconic shaved head (sometimes sporting band-aids) save the curl above her forehead. This book is smutty, violent and a wild ride.

[Shane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't believe I didn't read this back in the 80's/90's. I love the art, but thought it was just kinda silly for the first couple issues until I got into the flow of things. There are many references to people that I didn't get and it seemed kind of strange to keep referring to these people when you weren't sure who your audience was, so after a while it just got kind of irritating.

Now I just need to watch the movie and my training will be complete.

[Petr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is just pure madness. Tank girl is frantic, crazy, breaks all the walls with her tank and humor (including the fourth one) and is basically the opposite vision of a post-apocalyptic Australia to Mad Max. No silent, serious hero that struggles with his inner conflicts but a crazy girl that channels her unbounded craziness into a world just a little bit less crazy than herself.

Hope Humble Bundle brings in some more classical comics (Dredd...).

[ML Character · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so have to love this because child of the '90s even though it is also sophomoric teenage boy wankery. That's what it was to be a girl-interested-in-culture-of-various-levels at that time. it's stupid, it's very het-boy-gaze, and also I still love the look of Tank Girl, her style, and her being the center of this dumb comic. Which, also weirdly is British but set in Australia (Mad Max inspo?) and then became an American movie with Americans starring.

[Lena Kirichenko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Чёрный юмор, насилие, море выпивки и девушка, живущая в сворованном танке.
В комиксе идеальные чёрно-белые картинки с высокой детализацией, невероятным количеством отсылок к культурному и не очень музыкальному наследию. Подкупает своей искренностью, смешит и даёт почувствовать какой он, это бунтарский дух.

[Redi Bortoluzzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Desordenado, tosco e sem um pingo de educação. Ótimo.

[Myra Scholze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I often have a hard time with graphic novels because I get sucked into the words and forget to look at the pictures, but I really enjoyed Tank Girl. It was ludicrous, crass, and wildly inappropriate but always entertaining and I was constantly looking forward to seeing what weird shit Tank Girl was gonna get herself into in the next storyline. Also, the art. The ART! So amazing. I’m in awe of people who can convey so much with seemingly simple illustrations. Jamie Hewlett is spectacular.

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this from the library after reading I Am the Law: How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future because it was mentioned in that book, mostly because Tank Girl debuted shortly after Dredd did and was, sort of, the same ilk as Dredd and similar comics to come out at the time. However, while Judge Dredd has always has weird and very "out there" elements, the stories were still very well thought out and easy to comprehend. Tank Girl, on the other hand, was an utter mess that only a certain type of cult following could ever really "get." The art is, in some instances impressive, in others, amateurish and child-like; the stories, like they were written by some teenager who got drunk for the first time. How this lasted more than a handful of strips is beyond me.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A while back, I was brousing a New York City comic book store's trade paperbacks when I saw this Tank Girl trade. I had a vague understanding that Tank Girl was a British comic book character that must have had some name recognition of some kind because someone made an (apparently bad) movie about her at one point. I decided to give it a shot.

It took a while, but I finally got around to it, and it's not really for me. I appreciated the artwork, and I could see where a lot of the humor came from, but many of the pop culture references flew past me (despite living through that time period), and the style of the various short stories didn't really amuse me as much as I might have hoped. I don't regret reading these or anything. I just won't be getting any more of them.

[Nicole Dulany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tank girl isn't ashamed of who she is, what she's doing or what others think of her. She would never spare someone because they're attractive - though she might have fun with them first if they're up for it. She's violent and sexy and independent.

I honestly think that we need more heroes like this - women who aren't catering to other's expectations or making excuses for who they are.

This volume was fun. The first issue or two felt a little sloppy, but it was enjoyable and chaotic and what I was looking for. I could tell by the end of this volume that the art and writing was hitting it's stride.

[Tezzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

i mostly love hewletts line art and seeing it in black and white is the best way to experience it, which is primarily why i wanted this edition. the stories are irreverent, often nonsensical and totally inconsequential, certainly at this stage.

there are comments here about male artists creating a female sex symbol which caters to the male gaze and they are probably valid. on the other hand it's also extremely fun to have a female protagonist who drives a tank, doesn't wash much or give a shit, gets blind drunk, has a lot of sex, and behaves in a way which female protagonists are rarely portrayed - certainly in the late 80s when this was first created. so i see both sides, but i choose to just enjoy this one.

[LayDownYourSoul · Rating 5 out of 5]

(4.5 rounded up)
Loved the sillyshocking fun. Great artwork (some nice posters included in this edition), and a lot of sweet quotable lines. Really interesting culturally too for someone who wasn't around when these were coming out but is into punk and related subcultures where Tank Girl (and it's partial inspiration Mad Max) was really influential. Kind of amazed how old these are, though there's a few points where the age shows (some of them unfortunate).

[J.souza · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being a big fan of Gorillaz and Jamie Hewlett, I’ve always wanted to read Tank Girl, where it all started.

Now that I have I must say that it’s one of those cases where you should get it for the art not the story.

Because there’s not much of a story, just a bunch of gags and references to 80’s England pop culture.

So yeah, 3 stars.

[Taylor Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had some issues on my Kindle but on the app it worked fine

I did have some issues on the Kindle with some pages not showing up but they did show up on the Kindle app on my computer. The story felt pretty short and I am looking forward to reading more about this character

[Celtic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Punk as... raw, howling energy on the page - messy but enthusiastic and a collection of vignettes more than a storyline but, as clichéd as girl, guns and gears may seem now, it was a revelation at the time.

[Darjeeling · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story is a bit purple monkey dishwasher and often doesn't make much sense. I understand that this was a deliberate choice, but Tank Girl is an awesome concept, and it could have been more than this. That being said, I still quite liked it.

[Maddy Hayes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, I get it. The inking is just way too busy for me (a personal thing) and the first couple of stories just weren't interesting enough to make me keep going.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 2 out of 5]

My guess is I would've loved this when I was 15 or 16.. now I'm 41 (*sigh*), it's all a bit thin and trying waaaaay too hard.

The art is, on occasion, pretty great.

[Eugene · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me, which is disappointing. I had high hopes, but I couldn't get into it.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irreverent and fun! I'll probably read a few more volumes of this. Some of the writing is weak, but overall this was pretty enjoyable.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The linework is so killer. Everything is so rough but the whole composition is clear. I love that there's close to no setup, you just get dropped into the world and you'll figure it out

[Erik · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was too young when the movie came out and I think I'm too old to read this now. The art is fun and energetic but the writing seems to be trying way too hard.

[Ivo Smith]

Been meaning to read these since I was 12 and I’m certainly 9 years too late

[Eris Varga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hewlett's style is soooo detailed and gorge, can't be beat honestly.

[Chleo · Rating 4 out of 5]

un tank, une punk, de la bière et surtout un univers complètement déjanté où les kangourous fument des pet' et les koalas en pelluche et autre bestiods bizarroïdes ballancent des jurons comme des boomrangs. Une deferlante de missiles geants dans le Bush Australien et un cri suprême de liberté. Les peripeties de tank girl s'enchaînent comme des lignes de shot. Des doses de chaos à savourer pour leur sense de l'immédiateté et leur exubérance. La narration n'est visiblement pas au coeur du propos mais chaque planche regorge de petits details, clins d'oeil plein d'humour. Les références à la culture pop des années 80 sont parfois obscures mais retracent une époque.

[Josh Storey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always know about this series but I've never read it until now. It's so punk it wears a Ramones T-shirt it got at an actual show. Not from Hot Topic.

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having only heard about the basic plot of this, I originally thought I would be giving this a five star rating. But although I loved the art, and sometimes loved the characters, it never got quite to that level with me. Some of the plots were either too thin or didn't make any sense.

An inconsistency that bugged me is that they kept mentioning how Tank Girl was chubby, but in the drawings she is clearly not. After reading lots of Los Bros Hernandez and seeing them depict amply different body types, it's annoying that female characters in many comics are drawn with the exact same body type (big boobs, skinny) and Tank Girl's creators didn't stray from this, despite paying lip service to her supposed "chunkiness." The original Tank Girl that inspired the series was different--she actually had giant thighs!--but the actual series is not.