Broken Frontier

First, I think it’s important for me to mention that I’ve never read any Tank Girl comics before, and I’m not at all familiar with the Tank Girl character.  I know that it’s British, and that earned it some points with me, and I vaguely remember something about a movie.  That’s about it.

That being said, I absolutely enjoyed Tank Girl: The Royal Escape #1.  In this first issue, entitled “The Golden Egg”, Jet Girl hurls her golden egg at a sniper that is shooting at her friends.  She misses, and the egg falls out the window and gets carried away by an eagle. This leaves Jet Girl in a near-comatose state, so Tank Girl gets the whole crew on a quest to find it. 

As you can see from this synopsis, this comic is ridiculous… and awesome at the same time.  Nearly every page has gushing blood, comically large guns, huge explosions or any number of equally crazy things. Artist Rufus Dayglo’s art is incredible.  His use of space and color make every panel exciting and dynamic.  His characters convey strong expressions, and, while his style may be loose, each figure is really solid.  I really loved the attention to detail on everything from the uniforms on the soldiers to the shrapnel from the explosions.  Dayglo is incredible at drawing ruins and wreckage, which is good because there are plenty of both in this book. 

I have a few mixed feelings about Alan C. Martin’s writing.  While there’s no doubt that the writing plays a huge part in making this comic fun and crazy, I’m not a big fan of over-exposition. Martin makes each of the characters describe what they’re doing and why they’re doing it in almost every panel.  Like I said, I haven’t read any Tank Girl before so I’m not sure if this is just the style of the book, but I felt like that was unnecessary.  Dayglo handles motion really well and reading each action while seeing it felt excessive.  I really liked the style of the dialogue, though.  It was fun non-sense, and enhances the story a lot.  Even the sound effects are something special.  I can’t think of any other book where I’ve seen “Tittyblam” or “Explodeah!”

After reading this issue, I may have to pick up the old Tank Girl trades.  It’s just a fun read.  The art and the story make it really easy to escape into the Tank Girl world.  If you like action, insanity and comics that don’t take themselves seriously, like I do, then this is a must-read.