Tank Girl’s superhero debut comes to an end, as her original creator Alan Martin and fan-favourite artist Brett Parson unleash fast-paced and foul-mouthed hilarity upon us! Could this be the start of a grand new superhero cinematic universe? No. No, absolutely not…

What happened to the review of #3 of 4, I hear you ask (with my super-hearing)? Has it vanished into the Phantom Zone? Was it erased by Thanos? No, we simply didn’t receive a PDF for review.

Nevertheless, I found it relatively easy to pick up the story of Barney and Joanie versus the rest of Barney’s friends, at least to begin with, despite a comically unhelpful recap: “We rejoin our heroes as they… No… Sorry… I can’t be arsed to explain…” I guess this says a lot about the repetitious nature of superhero smack-downs – I tune back in after missing an instalment and, yup, they’re still fighting. That huge meteor / asteroid / sesame seed / whatever is still hurtling towards the Earth. Barney and Sub Girl are plummeting from the edge of a cliff that was seen on the front cover of the previous issue.

Things get weirder towards the end of the comic. Some pictures are inexplicably black and white. Some subsequent panels have been coloured in by a small child. One page looks as though it’s been torn out – I do hope that wasn’t a vital part of the resolution, guys. I didn’t understand some of what was going on, such as exactly how the villainous duo were overcome. At this point, reading the third issue might have helped…

Barring the opening page, there isn’t much in the way of the hilarity that was promised in the synopsis. Aside from a feeble pun from Booga on the word “endgame”, things get rather serious as this four-part saga draws to its conclusion.

Ongoing? Forever? Those titles seem ironic in view of the way the story closes. Is this the end for a beloved character? I might have thought so if Sub Girl hadn’t already faced and survived a similar ordeal. Further hope is offered by the final page, which references imagery from the endings of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Snow White. What do I mean? I’m being deliberately vague to avoid spoiling things for you. Or, to put it another way, I can’t be arsed to explain.

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Richard McGinlay