REVIEW: ‘Tank Girl Action Alley,’ Issue #2

Tank Girl Action Alley #2 is published by Titan Comics, written by Alan Martin, drawn and lettered by Brett Parson.

With their tankmaster having been stolen while traveling to see Tank Girl’s dying adored mom last issue, Tank Girl and company find themselves in a fight to reacquire their vehicle. This chase swiftly escalates into much bigger problems than they originally expected. With lots of bone-crunching action along the way, and a daring chase that keeps up its energy right till the end of the issue.

Tank Girl Action Alley #2 was an interesting mix to me. While the dialogue is mostly a rough hodgepodge of angry expletives and obvious declarative statements, there were some stand out moments that, perhaps because of the tone of the majority of the issue, struck rather strongly with me. While briefly taken out of the fight Tank Girl finds her mind reminiscing about her childhood and her interactions with her adoptive mother. These memories are not happy things for sure, and they stand as a stark contrast to the other highlight in the writing.

With as much time spent firing guns and taking hits, I would expect moments in between to be filled with the most common competitive style of banter I’m used to seeing from most hyper-violent stories. But instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see this style of banter replaced with the characters being much more of cheerfully supportive of each other. Instead of praising themselves they cheered the accomplishments of each other, which was a big tonal balancer to the harsh memories shown of Tank Girl’s childhood. Whether this is just the writer’s style or chosen due to the bulk of the cast being female I cannot say, but I found it a pleasant surprise.

The art compliments the story well, with lots of big panels to give plenty of space to show off the action. I feel the visuals is also greatly helped by the harmonious placement of words within the frames. This is no doubt facilitated by the fact that the art and lettering are done by the same individual. I especially appreciated the font, placement, and words chosen for the various onomatopoeias which are liberally scattered throughout the issue. They superbly enhance the tone and feel the book is clearly trying to obtain. And while it is easy to not notice them, I feel the book would be significantly diminished without their presence within it.

So, while some of the dialogue felt a bit corny for my usual tastes, the art and story came together seamlessly to create a tone I feel is exactly what the creative team was going for. And I wouldn’t be surprised if, despite my minor complaints, if I’m not back next month to let you know what I think of Tank Girl, Sub Girl, Jet Girl, and all the others next crazy misadventure.

Tank Girl Action Alley #2 is available in comic stores and digital retailers January 23, 2019.