Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1 Review

 

Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1 Review

Writer: Alan Martin

Artist & Cover Artist: Jamie Hewlett

Additional Coloring: Sofie Dodgson

Editor: Jake Devine

Designers: Alan Martin & Matt Bookman

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $5.99 US

Release Date: August 5, 2026

 

Tank Girl only has a few days in England. But her itinerary gets reshuffled when Booga gets arrested. Once the Hampstead Police Station releases the Kangaroo, the next problem arises. How do they get to Titting Coombesbury? Things look dark as Tank Girl and Booga stand along a narrow country road in Surrey. Then, fate gives them a chance to emulate Jack Kerouac. Mental!

 

What will Tank Girl and Booga find when they arrive in the idyllic English village? And why does Tank Girl have a beef with Penelope Keith, the dearly departed star of the TV series "The Good Life?" Let's grab a Ginger Beer, leap into Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1 and see!

 

Story

After some lethal hijinks, Tank Girl and Booga arrive in the village. After obtaining directions, she arrives at her grandparents' home. While she finds her grandmother ill, her grandfather insists on taking her and Booga out for the evening. Her cousin, who was traumatized by his parents and 1970s British TV, accompanies them. While Tank Girl and her grandpa reconnect over drinks, her cousin and Booga find their groove by playing music together.

 

Although her grandfather has soft-soaped the situation, Tank Girl discovers that her grandmother is dying. There is only one possible cure. But to find it, she must set off on a journey across England in Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1. Thankfully, a nearby museum has a tank available for rental.

 

As Alan Martin’s story follows Tank Girl’s journey across her ancestral homeland, he shares her thoughts and feelings about the island’s countryside. Along the way, strangers become friends, obstacles must be overcome, and she forms a deeper connection with England. Like H.G. Wells' early novel, The Wheels of Chance, the journey presents new opportunities for her future. Yet as Tank Girl undertakes this mission of mercy, she must balance selflessness with doing what's right for her in Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1.

 

Art

As Tank Girl sits beneath a blazing sun beside her stuffed animal-backpack, Booga arrives wearing a hat and a shirt adorned with flowers. A sideways cap adorned with The Problem Solver allows the ponytail atop her otherwise bald head to spill out. As they hitchhike along a country lane, the travelers spot a sweet American ride. When they reach the English village, Tank Girl makes a shopkeeper cry as she questions her before a counter filled with Beans Very Nice. Later, an insect with a demonic face and long ears flies past as Tank Girl walks through a flower field drinking Ginger Beer.

 

Jamie Hewlett and Sofie Dodgson lavish vibrant colors on the hand-drawn art in Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1. At times, Tank Girl's skin glows red, linking her with her backpack and evoking her home in the Australian Outback. Booga’s green shirt seems more at home in the verdant countryside. Purple descends upon her grandparents' property as she arrives, evoking the hat that reminds Tank Girl of Penelope Keith in “To The Manor Born.” Yet her orange shirt links her with her traumatized cousin, who wears a sack over his head.

 

Uppercase black letters fill dialogue balloons and boxes, as Tank Girl interacts with characters while narrating her adventure. Music notes fill the air as her cousin and Booga demonstrate their musicianship, while handwritten letters swell for volume or shrink to fit. Sound effects enhance revving engines, gunfire, and a riotous crowd that recalls Jake and Elwood's concert at Bob's Country Bunker. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Tank Girl may have a short fuse when it comes to rudeness and intolerance. Still, her visit to England infuses her with whimsy. As the soul of the country speaks to Tank Girl, her thoughts wax poetic. Still, her frequent celebrity name-drops remind readers of her love for pop culture in Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

For more cover options see my cover preview of Tank Girl: Summer Love Sensation #1.