Pop Culture Gadabout | ||
Wednesday, December 09, 2009 ( 12/09/2009 07:06:00 AM ) Bill S. “HOW ARE WE FOR NUKES?” “Now with added swearing,” the cover to the first ish of the newest Tank Girl (Titan) mini-series trumpets. And that little bit of hype is enough to let readers know that their Aussie heroine hasn’t change a bit since Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin first let her loose on the outback. Originally serialized in the Brit comic mag 2000 A.D., Tank Girl: Skidmarks has been colorized and uncensored for its four-issue mini-. Good news for fans of TG's brand of wanton mayhem. The plot for this outing turns out to be an ultra-violent parody of Cannonball Run/Death Race 2000. Our hardnosed heroine has joined an illegal cross-continental race to win the money for an operation that’ll bring her friend Barney out of a skakeboard accident coma. The rule-free competition is peopled by disposable caricatures like a souped-up cart of club-wielding golfers and a Burt Reynolds lookalike. Accompanied by her boyfriend Booga, a talking mutant kangaroo, Tank Girl enters the race little knowing she’s being pursued by a mysterious figure who speaks in futuristic Abo gibberish. Car and tank crashes -- plus at least one decapitation -- ensue. Oh, and one guy gets a grenade stuck in his mouth. Scripted by Martin and illustrated by Rufus Dayglo with plenty of flair -- though he doesn’t make our heroine look quite as punk-y as original artist Hewlett did -- Skidmarks proves a worthy successor to earlier adventures. Next ‘un, we’re promised a look back into TG’s school days. Now that should prove an edifying reading experience. Labels: modern comics # | |
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