Martin and Hewlett first met in the mid-1980s in Worthing, while studying at The West Sussex College of Art and Design (WSCD, later renamed Northbrook College). Martin was in college band The University Smalls with fellow comics enthusiast Philip Bond. One of their songs was called "Rocket Girl". They had started adding the suffix 'girl' to everything habitually after the release of the "Supergirl" movie, but "Rocket Girl" was a student at college who Bond had a crush on and apparently bore a striking resemblance to a "Love and Rockets" character. They began collaborating on a comic/fanzine called "Atomtan", and while working on this, Jamie had drawn