The irreverent, tank-driving troublemaker has been captured in a somewhat sultry moment by her original creator for a one-off open-edition print.
Way back in 1988, comic artist Jamie Hewlett and writer Alan Martin created Tank Girl—a female character with a snarl, wit, and attitude who seemed to perfectly represent the vibe of a youth culture that was tired of batting back the same-old platitudes and prejudices faced by kids in the 1970s, 1960s, ’50s, and so on.
So, why did he decide to revisit her with an open edition print for Tank Girl, priced at £100 in 2024? “When I first drew the Tank Girl strips, there were a couple of months where all the style press was talking about this new character – ‘Tank Girl by Jamie Hewlett, and it’s really cool’,” says Jamie. “I think I’m much better at drawing today than I was back then, so I thought, maybe I can right a few wrongs – things I wasn’t happy with when I look back on those early comic strips. It was just nice to have an opportunity to spend time with her again, really.”
Tank Girl rocked the world of comics and arrived at a time when British comic artists and writers were making a bigger impact globally than ever before. Names like Alan Moore, Brian Boland, Grant Morrison, and Garth Ennis were among them. Even so, we weren’t seeing female characters who were quite as kick-ass as she was.
“It was at that time – early ’90s – there were attempts to have this big comics renaissance in England because there were a lot of adult titles at the time, and we never really had a comics industry in England,” says Jamie. “Although we’ve had some of the best writers and artists ever in the history of comics, they’d all gone over to America. So, there was a moment in the early ’90s when they really wanted to celebrate English comics. You know, we’re like Japan, we’re like Europe, we’re like America. Magazines were doing pieces about all the new comics that were coming out, and i-D Magazine did something about Tank Girl.”
With the style press taking an interest and Tank Girl celebrated in the indie-minded counterculture throughout the decade, the character’s impact spread beyond the pages of comics and magazines, inspiring the LGBTQ+ community and political activists. Tank Girl seemed unstoppable, and other artists took up the challenge of drawing her. In 1995, she hit the silver screen—though perhaps the film missed the original tone of the comics.
“People connected with her from the very beginning,” says Jamie. “There was probably a period of about three or four years around that time in England that being a comic artist was really cool. It was like being in a band or being a fashion designer or an actor, and for the first time, it felt like being taken seriously, and I just happened to arrive at that moment. It was definitely a very unexpected and thrilling time for me as a young artist. She’s been a part of my life ever since.”
In 2023, Jamie Hewlett recreated a 1996 image of Tank Girl for his Warriors series, based on a pre-digital image that was sent to the printers and never came back.
For Jamie Hewlett, Tank Girl represented the first step in a career that arguably went on to bigger and better things. Ten years later, he co-founded Gorillaz, the virtual band he styled entirely with his pencilling skills. In recent years, his output has spanned illustration, music, animation, and contemporary art. How would Tank Girl fare in the 21st century, with wars raging, drones, cyberattacks, and the climate crisis? Well, she’d probably be all right, given how successful she was in post-apocalyptic Australia.
“She is a character who makes up her own rules and makes her own way in life, which is a reflection of so many of the women I know,” Jamie continues. “She was just about not giving a f**k, really, and saying whatever she wanted to say and doing whatever she wanted to do. There is something about the anti-hero which is alluring. It’s very much part of what makes her cool. That element of the character is still very appealing today.
“It makes much more sense to me when I look at how politicians lie and how corrupt governments are, and how everything’s so shit. It’s like they’re the real criminals. So, the idea of being a bank robber, making your own way, and stealing to survive seems to be quite alluring. And it’s true that we still don’t have enough really strong female characters in comics and even in cinema, so I guess she’s still blazing her own unique trail in that regard.”
In the new print, she looks a little wistful and contemplative, perhaps. Yet she is ever ready for what the apocalypse throws at her, shotgun to hand. Ever since she first appeared, Tank Girl has been a huge inspiration for generations of up-and-coming comic book, sci-fi, and fantasy artists, who have drawn her in Jamie’s style in adulation. Tutorials appeared in creative magazines with instructions on how to do so.
“My first experience of creative inspiration is being inspired by others… So many artists continue to be an inspiration for me. David Hockney, Norman Rockwell, Chuck Jones, Mobius, and French comic artist Jean Gerard. And Charles Schultz. Peanuts is the greatest,” says Jamie.
He continues: “When Brett Ewins and Steve Dillon first contacted me to ask if I would draw a comic strip for Deadline, that was a huge moment in my life, not only because it led to the creation of Tank Girl and everything that followed, but also because I was getting a call from two artists whom I worshipped – that was so hugely exciting. So, while I don’t really think too much about others being inspired by me, it’s always nice to know that people appreciate my work. And that maybe some kid in their bedroom somewhere – like I was – is thinking, if that guy can do it, maybe I can draw for a living too… That’s a nice thought.”