Picking up the pieces
Picking up the pieces |
|
Page 19 of 38  Meltdown (Marvel Comics, 1991), art: Cam Kennedy. It may be stretching things to search for deeper meanings in Tank Girl, but there were a few. For example, she reflected successive fashion 'looks' that were popular in the London club scene (to begin with, the cropped hair and boots; later the 1970s retro clothes), and would have appealed to a certain kind of readership on that (hip) level. Also, she interested women readers. Even though she was drawn in a way that might be attractive to men, it was still unusual to see a female comic character who was not a stereotype: this was definitely not the pointy breasted sex goddess of so many Marvel comics. Unsurprisingly, she soon became a mascot for various feminist groups, and later for 'riot grrl' bands. With a success like Tank Girl to sell the comic, Deadline's other strips could afford to be more exploratory. Over time, it increasingly acquired a reputation for publishing new talent, and in particular for raiding the best material from the so-called 'small press'. This was a network of low- or no-budget comics that were home-produced (often on a photocopier), and generally sold through the post or in specialist comics shops. Because the small press was not tied to commercial imperatives, it became synonymous with self-expression and unorthodox material. In a sense, Deadline fed from this source in the same way that 2000AD had once fed from the underground and fan scene - the important difference being that creators at Deadline kept copyright over their work.  Deadline (Tom Astor), the comic that brought the world 'Tank Girl' |