It's Tank Girl versus Tank Girl for new Titan mini series

Titan Comics has announced announce the launch of Solid State Tank Girl, a brand-new four-part series by creator Alan Martin and stellar new artist, Warwick Johnson Cadwell.

Originally created by Martin and one half of the critically-acclaimed virtual band Gorillaz, Jamie Hewlett, Tank Girl remains one of the greatest counter-culture comics anti-heroines, driving her attitude-laden tank straight into the face of bland, spandex-wearing simpletons!

Hitting stores on 15th May 2013, Solid State Tank Girl sees the post-modern princess of punk return to face her nastiest nemesis: ANTI-TANK GIRL!

Tank Girl, Jet Girl, Booga and Barney are back and on a mission to save their favourite little radio store. Things are going according to plan, too, but somewhere along the line Booga manages to electronically summon the gang’s evil counterparts, fronted by the darkest bitch on the planet – ANTI-TANK GIRL! The fight is to the death, as each gang member draws on their deepest, most screwed-up powers to eliminate their own personal nemesis. Things are about to get very dark, very bloody… and very stupid!

The new series has Martin teaming up with Warwick Johnson Cadwell, whose previous credits include Birdsong, New British Comics, Solipsistic Pop and West comic anthologies.

We're told Cadwell was forced to hand-wash 86 pairs of Tank Girl's soiled underpants, scour Jet-Girl's air-intake and lick Booga's salty bollocks while dressed as a Glaswegian nun before he was even allowed to submit his art samples. Imagine what he had to do in order to gain Alan Martin's approval and become the new official Tank Girl artist! (We'll give you a hint: it involved a plunger, an oxygen tank, seven mini-tubs of quick-drying hair-gel, the cogs of an antique watch, the spleen of a goat, and four kilos of body-chocolate).

“The new Titan Comics imprint is all about taking a chance on new creators and new talent," says Steve White, Senior Comics Editor, "and pairing Warwick’s street-art energy to Alan’s potty-mouthed imagination has refreshed Tank Girl once again. The results are blindingly good!”

• Solid State Tank Girl #1 hits comic stores on 15th May 2013. The series will also be available to read day and date on the iPad, iPhone, Web, Android and Kindle Fire, exclusively through the comiXology app and comiXology.com. Retailers can order Solid State Tank Girl #1 from the February 2013 edition of Diamond PREVIEWS.

• Titan Comics web site: www.titan-comics.com

Panel Borders: Young Graphic Novelists, Spring 2012

Art by and © Warwck Johnson Cadwell

As part of the Panel Borders radio show's month of episodes on British comics, they're having their twice yearly look at a pair of young graphic novelists this weekend.

Warwick Johnson Cadwell has garnered a great reputation for his small press work and contributions to short story collections, and Dickon Harris talks to him about his first graphic novel, Gungle, to be published in the near future by Blank Slate Books.

Also, Alex Fitch talks to artist Jennie Gyllblad who, following a number of web comics and self-published collaborations with writer Corey Brotherson, has just finished The Arrival, the first of a three volume steam-punk graphic novel series Clockwork Watch curated by film-maker Yomi Ayeni.

• Panel Borders: Young Graphic Novelists, Spring 2012 airs at 8.00pm, Sunday 22nd April, Resonance 104.4 FM (London) / streamed at www.resonancefm.com/ podcast after broadcast at www.panelborders.wordpress.com

Private Eye cartoonist Wilbur Dawbarn joins New British Comics line up

The latest issue of New British Comics, edited by Karol Wisniewski, co-creator of the upcoming Harbor Moon graphic novel published by Arcana, will soon go on sale, featuring the work of creators such as Dan White, Paul O'Connell and Lawrence Elwick, who provides the stunning cover featuring "Charlie Parker - Handyman".

Also in the line up are strips by Warwick Johnson Cadwell, artist on Tag Team Tastic for The Dandy, and Wonderland by top cartoonist Wilbur Dawbarn, who has had hundreds of cartoons published in such diverse titles as Private Eye, The Sun, New Statesman, The Oldie and many others. He also created the comedy adventure strip Bodkin and the Bear for The DFC.

As with past issues, New British Comics Issue 3 will be available in both English and Polish.

The full line up is as follows:

• Cindy & Biscuit Save The World (again) by Dan White

• Alfred Hitchcock: Master of Suspense by Lawrence Elwick & Paul O'Connell

• Ink vs Paper by John Miers

• Charlie Parker "Handyman": Animal Magnetism by Lawrence Elwick & Paul O'Connell

• Here Comes The Neighbourhood by Matthew Craig & Richard Johnson

• Better Living Through Distance by Dave Thomson

• The Quiet Burden by Craig Collins & Iain Lauire

• Luvvable Lex: Dirty 'N' Down by Rob Miller

• Wonderland by Wilbur Dawbarn

• Charlie Parker "Handyman": Skyscraper Lunch by Lawrence Elwick & Paul O'Connell

• (crack) by Van Nim

• A Complex Machine by David Ziggy Greene

• Von Trapp by Warwick Johnson Cadwell (WJC)

• For more information and stockists visit: http://newbritishcomics.blogspot.com

Tube Surfing: Dez Skinn, Fanzines Galore and Simone Lia

Right, what's happening out there...

Lew Stringer's ace comics blog informs us that Dez Skinn has a new website. Dez was, of course, the man behind such titles as Warrior, Comics International and Doctor Who Weekly (still with us as Doctor Who Magazine).

Warwick Johnson Cadwell has posted his ace A.B.C Warriors strip from new 2000 AD fanzine, Nu Earth online at his blog. Warwick sent me a copy of the fanzine and I have to say it's, well, zarjaz. Will Kirkby has done the same with the pencils for his cracking contribution, a fab Rogue Trooper strip. Tharg, employ these men now!!!

Paul Gravett's new article about and interview with cartoonist Simone Lia is well worth checking out. In the interview, Simone talks about various topics, including her new work-in-progress, a graphic novel about her relationship with God:

"I was passing through Leicester Square almost three years ago and the bubbling inspiration came to me and I had a fuzzy vision of the completed story whilst standing near a red telephone box," she explains. "I was so excited and happy to be suddenly inspired again, I had a sense the book would be about an adventure with God. When it came to starting the work however I really didn’t know how to go about having an adventure with God and how I might show it in a comic. Showing that relationship is such a personal thing. Part of me definitely did not want to open that up for everyone to see but the feeling to make the book didn’t go away. It’s been taking a long time to produce partly because of that uncertainty of depicting this personal area of my life and also because the story in real life has had to unravel."

Paul also sends word of an opportunity for creators of humorous zines and comics to have their work displayed in the reading room at Tate Britain as part of their Rude Britannia exhibition.

Here's the skinny, from the Tate's website:

"Help us curate the reading room of the Rude Britannia exhibition with an array of humorous fanzines, comics and home made publications. Rude Britannia: British Comic Art celebrates all that is comical, satirical, political, absurd and bawdy in British art from 1600s to today and we would like you to respond to these themes. The best fanzines will be selected by curator Cedar Lewisohn and placed in the exhibition space for a period of time. Please only send publications that you think are funny. We will notify you if your publication has been selected, but we cannot commit to sending your publication back to you."

And finally, small press comics news blog Bugpower draws our attention to another opportunity for self-publishers:

"Cerebus.TV are starting a "Small Press Comics Focus" feature, and they are looking for submissions for future episodes. Email indie@exoss.net for details. You can see a promo for the first one HERE. The 'pilot' has been put together by the guys at Cerebus.tv and features the minicomics of Dan Fish (Hey, that's ME). It appears as part of Episode 30, which streams online starting Friday 18th June and 24/7 all week long."