By Mike Badilla
We start off with the explanation that Sub-Girl has died, then came back from the dead but was not really 100%, then died again 15 minutes ago. Now we're on her sub, a bunch of Nazi gold in tow, and suddenly under attack by some kind of armed helicopter. Keep in mind this is issue 1, people. Was there a Tank Girl: Silver or something that came before that would give more backstory? No idea. The remaining girls don't know how to pilot the sub and suddenly, when it seems all is lost, Booga (some kind of kangaroo man) and another of the girls swoop in on a jet and destroy the chopper, all the while the girls on the sub accidentally electrocute Sub-Girls body, which brings her back to life, albeit with some memory loss. Later on they are all relaxing on a beach, and Tank Girl starts to question Sub Girl about the past, and although she can't remember anything they put together enough clues to discover that it was actually Booga that caused her death. As punishment, they send him down "Furry Road" (it's explained later). Tank Girl also punishes Barney, the girl in the jet with Booga, as both she and Booga had a part in selling her tank, by making her write a 2000 word apology letter to both TG and SG.
I'm going to stop there, because it's all just too good. I've known about Tank Girl for a long time, but never had the opportunity to read any of it, and now that I've read this book I'm planning on going back and reading way more. Everything is funny and slapstick, from the dialogue between characters to the art, including things like TG wearing an Encino Man t-shirt at one point.
The art is fantastic. Everything is bright and cheerful looking, but with tons of fun little details thrown in that make every panel worth examining to see if there are any jokes or 90's references tucked in anywhere. The characters are expressive, and the whole book just looks great. Things like character and vehicle designs are fun and fresh, nothing in this book looks boring.
The dialogue is hilarious. There is swearing and comical back and forth between characters and I really enjoyed it. The story leaves some questions unanswered, and is such a good book that I look forward to finding out more. The punishments for both Booga and Barney were hilarious and resulted in a great (and unexpected) ending.
Sorry to gush so much, but I just haven't enjoyed or laughed at a comic this much in a long time. I've found a brand new IP to enjoy, and if you like comedy in your comics, fun and creative art as well as a fresh story that will NOT head in a direction you could guess, give this a read.
Score: 5/5
Tank Girl: Gold #1
Writer: Alan Martin
Artist: Brett Parson
Publisher: Titan Comics