Tank Girl
completed September 2007
Inspiration
I dedicate this costume to my friend Jess. I met Jess in grade school. She had thick plastic glasses, and a binder full of Fleer X-Men cards. Now, depending on the type of person you are, that can sound totally cool or totally nerdy. But let me assure you – she was the cool one.
What we had in common? Drawing X-Men and art. Past that – she was a true riot grrl of the 90’s. She introduced me to Bikini Kill, Bjork, Belly, Boris the Sprinkler, Elastica, Atari Teenage Riot, Weezer, Green Day, and a truckload of other bands that I didn’t appreciate at the time. I was too busy listening to Mariah Carey and the Jurassic Park soundtrack, alternating on repeat. I was lame. Anyway, Jess took me to see Tank Girl when it came out in the theatre, and she let me read all the comics that she had. I wonder if she still has them – all original runs. Jess painted a larger than life portrait of Tank Girl on my wall when we were young, and I remember telling her “don’t have her smoking, SMOKING’S BAD.” Again, reinforcing my part as a total dweeb. I didn’t realize how cool Jess was until many years later. She was ahead of her time – well, my time.
While I didn’t take all of the bands with me from Jess (but most of them I’ve come to realize ROCK), Tank Girl slowly melded herself into my core. Like some sort of totem that you associate with and are fascinated by because it is so unlike you. You wouldn’t guess this looking at me today, because as all of my IRL friends can tell you, I play dress up every day, in a very Tank Girl Who-Gives-A-Damn way. Of course, cosplay has warped my brain a bit so the line between “dress up” and “normal” is a little more blurred than for most people. But I think Tank Girl would be okay with that. And Jess would (finally) approve.
Construction
What’s to say? It’s all modified junk. Not exactly award-winning craftsmanship here. The iconic missile bra is made from a base of 2 liter coke bottles. Shorts were dyed, shirts were hacked, shot gun shells and Busch Lite cans were consumed, band-aids and dirt were slapped on. The guns are from the Puma Twins costumes, which were perfect for Tank Girl.
Photos
Convention photos were from DragonCon 2007, where I cosplayed with Daguru and met Lori Petty, who played Tank Girl in the movie. The set in the desert by Kyle has been a dream since I started cosplaying. Of course, Tank Girl has been a pivotal icon in my brain since wee-hood, and once I finally made the costume I dreamt of one day shaving my head and having a spectacular desert photo shoot. IT WAS DELIVERED AND THEN SOME. This is an epic photo shoot in my brain that I’ll remember forever.
Photos by Kyle Johnsen – Nevada Desert
