Tank Girl is the British counter culture icon that you’ve undoubtedly seen on someone’s t-shirt, patch jacket, and the shelves of your local comic shop! Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin’s stories of a girl and her tank in post apocalyptic Australia first debuted three decades ago in the UK’s Deadline magazine before she became a comic book staple, drawn by some of the most prestigious men in indie comics including Phillip Bond, Jim Mahfood, Brett Parsons, and Rufus Dayglo! This year it’s Tank Girl’s 30th Birthday and Titan Comics is celebrating in a serious way. We’ve got the rundown of all the info you need to know for Year of the Tank Girl!
As we already revealed recently, The Year of Tank Girl begins in April with Tank Girl: Full Color Classics 1988-1989, the original comics recolored by Tracy Bailey and Sofie Dodgson. This rad color collection will also include rare and unseen artwork alongside photos from the early days of Tank Girl. But that won’t be the only Tank Girl gem that month!
April will also see the release of The Way of Tank Girl, a hardcover gift book that Titan describes as “full of Tank Girl’s most personal and bonkers brainwaves, musings, and secret weaponry. Original creators Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, with artists Brett Parson and Ashley Wood, bring together a collection of strips, poems, covers, and extracts from Tank Girl’s 30-year career. It’s Tank Girl’s philosophy on life, distilled from her filthiest, dirtiest, stupidest best!” If you’ve ever wanted to live like Tank Girl, this is for you!!
Plus, this Free Comic Book Day–Saturday May 5–you’ll be able to find Tank Girl in your local comics shop with a special Tank Girl FCBD comic. “A Brief History of Tank Girl” will be a classic origin story for how our heroine came to be! Plus it’ll have a new cover by Jamie Hewlett himself!! If you’re excited for new Tank Girl stories, Titan’s got you covered with Tank Girl All Stars. Coming out in June, the series will feature stories from beloved Tank Girl creators Brett Parson, Chris Wahl, Ashley Wood, Philip Bond, Jim Mahfood, and Mick McMahon!
June will also see The Wonderful World Of Tank Girl collected for the first time, featuring four stand-alone stories starring Tank Girl and her supporting cast, including: “Tank Girl Strikes Again,” “The Man from Tank Girl,” “The Importance of Being Tank Girl,” and “Tank Girl Takes a Trip.” The Legend Of Tank Girl will be unleashed in August. Titan’s official announcement states: “This highly-anticipated edition features the madcap adventures of Alan Martin and Brett Parson’s best-selling, 2017 graphic novel trilogy: ‘Two Girls One Tank,’ ‘Tank Girl Gold,’ and ‘World War Tank Girl.’ Packed with dozens of guest artist covers, previously unseen artwork, and character and vehicle sketches, this is the trilogy as you’ve never seen it before!”
October will see the actual 30th Anniversary of Tank Girl! And a whole bunch of events, signings, comics, variant covers, and releases! “October 9 sees the release of a fun Tank Girl Coloring Book--where fans can make their own pages and pin-ups of their favorite anarchist as colorful as her language!” Titan told us. Tank Girl All Stars will be collected in hardcover and hits bookstores on October 16. Just one day later on October 17, comic shops will see a brand-new Tank Girl comic series from original Tank Girl creator Alan Martin.
But perhaps the biggest thing that Titan has planned is October 20th’s Tank Girl Day–a global event celebrating everything Tank Girl! “The event will see new comics and collections, variant covers, signings, and events across the world at comic shops, bookstores, retail chains, libraries, and digital platforms.” And if you’re a retailer or librarian, you can sign up for Tank Girl Day right here! And if you’re neither of those and just a fan, you can register here to run your own Tank Girl Day celebration!
Are you stoked for The Year of the Tank Girl? Which of these Tank Girl gems will you be picking up? Let us know in the comments!
Images: Titan Comics
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