I have always had a fondness for “Tank Girl” although I don’t think I’ve ever sat down and read an entire comicbook. I’ve just seen frames from the books and of course the Lori Petty movie which people seem to love or loathe. I loved it because at the time it was really freakin’ rare to see women kick ass. I do remember that the target roundel showed up here and there but I didn’t even know what that was about at the time. I just thought she was making herself a target which fit in with her M.O. perfectly. I also didn’t think of her riding a scooter. A yak-like animal and well, a tank. So I was very happy to come across these images and things all started clicking into place. It is a British comic after all.

The poster magazine up top is available for £6.99 at this site.

The other cover can be considered a bit of Rare Swag but the tenacious among you will no doubt find it.

And for a little mid 90s nostalgia, watch the Tank Girl trailer here.

Tank Girl Trailer 1994

Here’s Amazon’s description which really can’t be improved upon:

“El Crappo Comics (New Zealand) is proud to present “Scooters of the Apocalypse”. Quite possibly the first book ever to combine Homer’s “Odyssey”, the “Revelation” and classic scooters in comic book form. If you’re one of those people who find James Joyce’s “Ulysses” too long and lacking in pictures “Scooters of the Apocalypse” is the book for you – it’s much shorter, got more pictures and has scooters!”

It’s just $9 at Amazon. Would anyone be interested in doing a book report for ScooterSwag?

Scooters of the Apocalypse

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund puts out a fund raising special edition comic book every year. Edited by Image Comics, these editions are filled with all-new stories about freedom from an all-star line-up of artists and writers. It’s just $4.99 and money from the publication goes to the Fund which has been fighting censorship in comic book industry for over 25 years.

Thanks to Paul from Sportique Scooters in Denver, Colorado for this neat find!

Liberty Annual at imagecomics.com

One of ScooterSwag’s very first posts was about this comicbook series. And just this year they released to entire collection in a book form.

From Amazon:

“In this stylized book of mystery and science fiction, a drug-dealing car thief must discover the secret behind his visions in order to save the world. Twenty years after the devastating Cataclysm, society has been separated into sectors in which the rich are able to enjoy machine-generated weather and sunlight while the poor are forced to live an eternally dank and dark existence. Banished to the dismal Sector 5, the angst-ridden Beezer discovers that the corrupt city police are hunting him because of his experiential visions of a pre-apocalyptic world. Now Earth’s reluctant savior must learn his true origin and the meaning of his visions before he is captured and killed.
This trade reprints critically acclaimed writer Ed Brubaker’s DEADENDERS issues 1-16 as well as Vertigo Winter’s Edge #3!

Thanks to Paul from Sportique Scooters in Colorado for reminding me of this great series!

Deadenders Book

From Amazon:
The Roman poet Statius called the via Appia “the Queen of Roads,” and for nearly a thousand years that description held true, as countless travelers trod its path from the center of Rome to the heel of Italy. Today, the road is all but gone, destroyed by time, neglect, and the incursions of modernity; to travel the Appian Way today is to be a seeker, and to walk in the footsteps of ghosts.

Our guide to those ghosts — and the layers of history they represent — is Robert A. Kaster. In The Appian Way, he brings a lifetime of studying Roman literature and history to his adventures along the ancient highway. A footsore Roman soldier pushing the imperial power south; craftsmen and farmers bringing their goods to the towns that lined the road; pious pilgrims headed to Jerusalem, using stage-by-stage directions we can still follow—all come to life once more as Kaster walks (and drives—and suffers car trouble) on what’s left of the Appian Way. Other voices help him tell the story: Cicero, Goethe, Hawthorne, Dickens, James, and even Monty Python offer commentary, insight, and curmudgeonly grumbles, their voices blending like the ages of the road to create a telescopic, perhaps kaleidoscopic, view of present and past.”

$17 at Amazon. And it’s also available on Kindle.

The Appian Way: Ghost Road, Queen of Roads

Thanks to Babette S. for sending these photos of her find at a local gift shop. If I find an online source, I’ll let you all know.

This 1951 issue recently appeared on eBay. “Otto” looks to have been an Italian gentleman’s magazine ala “Playboy,” with articles focused on women and vehicles. Kremos is a well-known pin-up artist from that era.

Here’s a comic book that sometimes shows up on Amazon or eBay. And yes there was really a series of cartoons with the Wolf and Red like this one.

Thanks to Thomas C. for this find!

Had to show off my homemade scooter crackers that I made for a friend’s fête BECAUSE IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. OMG, the amount of work was insane. But in case you want to go nuts and make your own, this is the mold I used. It’s quite wee compared to other scooter cookie molds.

And Mark Bitman’s recipe for simple crackers is great. Here’s his recipe for Parmesan crackers to give you some idea. But really, just go out and buy his book “How to Cook Everything.” A week doesn’t go by when I don’t refer to it. And as a single girl I don’t cook all that often. But he’s helped me fix recipes when I was elbow deep into them:

How to Cook Everything

Gotta love a travel book with a mint Lambretta Starstream on it.

From Amazon:
“Only a renaissance man could have described this glorious city in its heyday. And only Carlo Levi, writer, painter, politician and one of the last century’s most celebrated talents, could depict Rome at the height of its optimism and vitality after World War II. In Fleeting Rome, the era of post war ‘La Dolce Vita’ is brought magnificently to life in the daily bustle of Rome’s street traders, housewives and students at work and play, the colourful festivities of Ferragosto and San Giovanni, the little theatre of Pulcinella al Pincio; all vibrant sights and sounds of this ancient, yet vital city.”

Published in 2005, it’s available for $15.95.

Thanks to Poliana for this find!

amazon.com