Martin first met Tank Girl co-creator Jamie Hewlett in 1986 at Worthing Art College. With fellow student Philip Bond they began collaborating on a comic/fanzine called Atomtan. The Tank Girl series first appeared in the debut issue of Deadline, a UK magazine intended as a forum for new comic talent, or as its publishers Brett Ewins and Tom Astor put it, "a forum for the wild, wacky and hitherto unpublishable," and it continued until the end of the magazine in 1995.
''Tank Girl'' film
In 1995, the comic was also adapted into a critically and financially unsuccessful film. The film featured Lori Petty as Tank Girl and Naomi Watts as Jet Girl. Martin and Hewlett spoke poorly of the experience, with Martin calling it "a bit of a sore point" for them.
Since 1995
After the film, Martin wandered around for a bit, staying at communes with hippie friends, looking for stone circles and ancient sites before settling in Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland with his wife Lou, daughter Wynne, and son Rufus Bodie. Martin has played in various bands, written a Tank Girl novel published in March 2008 by Titan Books, as well as various screenplays and scripts. He wrote the first new Tank Girl limited series in over ten years: Tank Girl: The Gifting with award-winning Australian artist Ashley Wood. Published by American publishers IDW, the first issue was released in June 2007. He has also written Tank Girl: Carioca with artist Mike McMahon for Titan Books which was published as a three-issue mini-series starting November 2011.
We went to the comics graveyard and dug her up. She's smelling pretty bad, but we're gonna put her in a wheelbarrow and parade her around for all to see, anyway.
Martin has produced a comprehensive Tank Girl website which has information, exclusive art, blogs and exclusive sneak previews, as well as links to all Tank Girl material in print. Titan Books has released The Cream of Tank Girl, compiled by Alan Martin, containing Jamie Hewlett art and Alan Martin scripts, starting from her beginning as a pin-up in Atomtan. It features a new Hewlett cover and new script from Martin.
