Picking up the pieces
Picking up the pieces |
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Page 21 of 38  Page from 'Tank Girl', (1989), relating a typically pointless story. Art/script: Jamie Hewlett. Beyond these additions and improvements, hopes for a sales boost were pinned on the 1995 release of the movie of Tank Girl. This was another big budget Hollywood affair, directed by Rachel Talalay and starring Lori Petty in the lead role, with plenty of appropriate indie rock on the soundtrack. Unfortunately, however, none of the anarchic humour of the original strip survived its transition into celluloid, and the movie bombed spectacularly amid some of the worst reviews seen in cinema journalism. The consequences for Deadline itself were entirely negative. There was no way to reason the situation, and Tom Astor eventually decided to pull the plug on the comic later in the year. The film did, however, have further knock-on effects. By the time of its release, various other comic spinoffs had already been put into production. These saw publication later in the same year. DC Comics produced the official adaptation of the film, plus a four issue Tank Girl series The Odyssey, with a story by Peter Milligan and art by the original co-creator Jamie Hewlett, concerning the heroine's efforts to save the soul of her boyfriend, Booga the kangaroo. This was followed by a monthly Tank Girl comic (Manga Publishing/Deadline), which reprinted the 'Odyssey' story and added new strips by other creators. Once again, it did not survive in the wake of the film's eventual fate. |