Westfield: Tank Girl probably isn't too well known in the States, except for possibly the film version. What should people know about Tank Girl before picking up this series and who are the main characters in the book?

Alan Martin: Tank Girl was created by myself and Jamie Hewlett (who is now the artist behind the cartoon band Gorillaz), way back in 1988, for the first issue of a Brit magazine called Deadline. We continued the strip right up until the movie version came out in 1995. Unfortunately the film bombed and took the comic down with it. Aside from Tank Girl, the main characters are Booga -her kangaroo boyfriend, Barney - her psychotic best friend (actually a girl), Jet Girl - another stoner friend who flies a jet, Zulu Dobson - an old school buddy who designs her weapons, and Sub Girl - a girl in a submarine who I'm trying to phase out (she's already been killed once in an earlier comic!).

Westfield: Why did you decide to bring back Tank Girl now?

Martin: I didn't make a decision to stop writing Tank Girl, it was just the up-shot of a series of unfortunate events. Likewise, the return has not been planned for this specific point in time, in actual fact I have been trying to get this comic made for nearly five years. It has been my meeting up with Rufus Dayglo, and him introducing me to Ashley (and Ashley's passion for the character) that has brought the project to fruition.

Westfield: What can people look forward to in Tank Girl: The Gifting?

Martin: They'll get to read about Tank Girl having a war with a family of cab drivers, pooing in a handbag, sticking an antique toy gun up Booga's bottom, joining a 60's style beat combo, painting her face with the rotten brains of a dead cop, passing out from wearing a tight bra, and throwing a lovely tea party.

Westfield: You're working with artist Ashley Wood on this book, whose style is quite different from your former Tank Girl collaborator, Jamie Hewlett. What do you think makes him a good artist for the series?

Martin: Within his frantic, chaotic style, Ashley has a great sense of subtlety and humour. Tank Girl is all about getting a certain sense of humour across to a certain kind of reader, and I have great faith in Ashley's ability to get job done in a spectacular way.

Westfield: If The Gifting does well, do you have more Tank girl stories you want to tell?

Martin: I have already written a Tank Girl "novel" (Armadillo! ) that will be published by Titan Books (who will be doing the UK edition of The Gifting) in November. There are great plans to follow up The Gifting already in the pipeline. Expect the ridiculous.

Westfield: Are there any other projects you're working on that you'd like to mention?

Martin: It's all top secret and hush-hush, but I'm getting something together with Ashley Wood, Jamie Hewlett, Glyn Dillon, Phil Bond and Brendan McCarthy that will blow away any other comic you might care to mention.

Westfield: Any closing comments?

Martin: Hello Mum!