To say a comic-book or comic-book character is life changing seems a bit bloody melodramatic, but for me this creation didn’t half help me over those awkward teenage moments. This took me right back to my stripey-tight wearing, Marlboro ciggie-smoking, dubious spikey hair-backcombing, Doc Marten-stomping teenage years with a bump – and what a lush nostalgic bump it was 
Here’s your formula: one kick arse/crazy/drink-til-you-puke-and-fall-down/koala-hugging/kangaroo-humping AWESOME female + mayhem/intrigue/ridiculous scenarios + tanks, a submarine and a jet = BEST COMIC BOOK CHARACTER OF THE 80s/90s
The long-defunct UK ‘Deadline’ pop-culture magazine was responsible for bringing Tank Girl to the attention of the masses, although ironically TG is blamed for its collapse after the motion picture of the same name tanked (see what I did there?). But its a testament to the uniqueness of the character that TG is still going strong (albeit after a decade of self-imposed exile – again the fault of the movie), and still appeals to thousands across the world. ‘Tank Girl One’ and ‘Tank Girl Two’ gives old and new fans alike the opportunity to see all of TGs ‘Deadline’ strips collected in two luscious volumes, with a whole heap of extra goodies to drool over.
The strips are definitely of their time, with masses of late 80s/early 90s pop-culture references – but that won’t put younger readers off – the artwork alone will bring a smile to anyone’s face, and pretty much every strip is a stand-alone story so you can dip in and out as you like.
Lets’ get this straight right now – TG does not give a flying &^%$. If you are easily offended/have a phobia of mutant kangaroos or camp koalas, this is not the book for you…and if you’re looking for straight-forward plots and finely polished artwork, I’d point you towards the newer Tank Girl work – still written by creator Alan Martin with pencil duties handed to Ashley Wood in ‘The Gifting’ (2007) and the genius Rufus Dayglo in ‘Visions of Booga’ (2008) and ‘Skidmarks’ for the Judge Dredd Megazine (2009).
These books are fascinating from an evolutional (it is a word, I just made it up) perspective of just how TG ‘grew up’ – these are the very first appearances of TG and while all the strips are jam-packed full of the finest detail in each panel, whether its Spunk Beer or Tank Girl’s knickers; as the strips progress (from Oct 88 – April 93) Hewlett’s pencils get subtly sharper and easier to follow, plus the gradual introduction of colour to the strips gives you a real sense of the strip maturing (in age not in content!). not to mention as they found their confidence, copious panels involving TGs boobies and Boogas willy
One and Two are bizarre, frenetic, and action-packed roller-coaster stories, with each panel crammed to the gills with detail and chaos. Read with awe the tale of how Tank Girl seduced Booga the kangeroo, be grossed out by the colostomy bag delivery that goes awry, reel in shock at TG gatecrashing the Second Coming, be even more grossed out by voodoo plastic surgery, and cheer as troublesome mutant ninjas are dismembered – and that’s only book One
Go read this book – to see what crazy and creepy scenarios can be dreamt up by two stoner art students in the 80s, to see what the hell was so good to make the name of Jamie Hewlett famous even before the Gorillaz, and to get a powerful reminder of one of the major players in the UK comic book scene of the early 90s….and then go read everything else Alan Martin has ever written 
