Exclusive: Jim Mahfood Discusses Everybody Loves Tank Girl
Steve Barton
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Titan Books released Everybody Loves Tank Girl on February 22, 2013, so we recently sat down with Illustrator Jim Mahfood to discuss the book in further detail and get an insider look at the series and the new direction that comics are taking today. Read on to learn more!
AMANDA DYAR: Tank Girl is a series that has been around for many years and reached its height in fame during the mid 90s. How did you first get introduced to the series, and how did you get involved with Everybody Loves Tank Girl?
JIM MAHFOOD: I first discovered Tank Girl around 1993, my freshman year of college. It completely blew my mind. I had never seen or read anything else like it. Discovering Jamie Hewlett’s artwork was a game changer for me.
I got involved with Everybody Loves Tank Girl when Alan Martin and I became friends on Facebook. We started chatting and he asked me to draw the book, and I completely freaked out and of course said yes. What a huge thrill!
AMANDA: For Everybody Loves Tank Girl, you teamed up with author Alan Martin to create a whole new chapter in the Tank Girl series. Can you tell us a bit about working together with Alan for this new project and how your art brings his story to life?
JIM: Yeah, it was a really easy collaborative process. Alan told me he was going to write a bunch of short stories and one-pagers and stuff, and I could draw them the way I wanted. He gave me a lot of creative freedom, which I think suits my art style the best. The more nuts and weird I’m allowed to get, the better the product. So Alan would basically email me the scripts and I would draw the stories one at a time. It was a painless process. Really fun.
AMANDA: Your work for Everybody Loves Tank Girl seems to have a real classic look to it that reminds us of comics we read ourselves while growing up. Is there a particular art style you try to portray in your work, or does it change from project to project. Also, who are some of your inspirations growing up and continuing as a professional artist today?
JIM: My style sort of changes up from gig to gig. The cool thing about this book is it’s made up of various short stories so I was able to experiment a bit and change up the styles for each story. And some of the stuff was in full color, some one-color, some black & white, so I think that helped in varying up the material, too.
As far as inspirations go, I would say Jamie Hewlett, Ralph Steadman, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jack Davis, Ash Wood, Basquiat, Keith Haring, Sergio Toppi, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko are at the top of the list.
AMANDA: Everybody Loves Tank Girl looks like a very entertaining comic and a fun one to make. What is your favorite part about working on the series, and why should fans pick up the graphic novel when it releases at the end of the month from Titan Books publishing?
JIM: My favorite part was being able to put my spin on all these classic, iconic characters. You know, to be able to play around with the look of Tank Girl, her hair styles, her outfits and weapons and all that stuff, that was very thrilling. It’s just fun material to draw. And it’s written in a way that I could add my own secret artistic herbs and spices to it. Very flavorful.
Fan should pick up the book because it’s Tank Girl, and Tank Girl totally fucking rocks!
Check out the official Titan Books website to learn more and pick up the book today!
Synopsis
Everyone’s favorite outback anarchist is back to blow things up, swear profusely, and offend the elderly! Alan C. Martin teams up with wunderkind Jim Mahfood to bring you Tank Girl as you’ve never seen her: wild, raw, foul-mouthed, and forever rockin’ but rendered in a style that will bring pleasure to thine eyes. Meet The Wee Wee Brothers, travel south to a Hippie Fest with all the gang, take a tour around Booga’s factory, and let Tank Girl show you How To Dress Quite Good.
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