Gun Honey #1

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IF THE HEAT IS ON, DAHLIA RACERS CAN HELP YOU DISAPPEAR – FOR A PRICE. Marked for death by a U.S. intelligence agency, Gun Honey Joanna Tan turns to Dahlia Racers to help her pull a vanishing act. But the killer hot on her trail, beautiful sociopath Sarah Claride, will leave bodies strewn from New York to Las Vegas to Tijuana, Mexico, if it means cornering Dahlia – and breaking her…

GUN HONEY is sexy, violent and fast, a blistering burning house of a narrative." – Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition) I tell one of the writers I edit that it's more challenging than you think to write something whose main virtue is that it's easy to read. At the time, I was thinking of romance novels, but it could just as easily apply to the first collection of Gun Honey. I believe Titan promoted the series at NYCC last year? Gun Honey volume one cover by Bill-Sienkiewicz Marked for death by a U.S. intelligence agency, Gun Honey Joanna Tan turns to Dahlia Racers to help her pull a vanishing act. But with the killer hot on her trail, beautiful sociopath Sarah Claride, will leave bodies strewn from New York to Las Vegas to Tijuana, Mexico, if it means cornering Dahlia — and breaking her… A further point to appreciate is that Joanna isn’t overly feminised at a characterisation level, or that her feminine traits are treated as a weakness. Joanna experiences an array of emotions but there are no teary breakdowns to “soften” the character. Matter of factly, she shrugs things off and gets on with the task at hand. The award winning Charles Ardai, co-founder of Hard Case Crime, brings his noir expertise to the fore in his debut graphic novel about a sexy weapons smuggler.

AFRO SAMURAI BOX SET (MR)

The storyline is intriguing and full of suspense, keeping the reader engaged throughout. The artwork is equally impressive, with dynamic illustrations that effectively capture the gritty and violent world, with many different, interesting locations. What follows is another globe-trotting cat-and-mouse adventure as Joanna tries to stop Filippa and clear her name. From Malaysia to Monaco, Milan to Montana, there are car chases, shootouts, bombings, executions, and even a topless fight between the two adversaries disguised as burlesque dancers…

That said, Gun Honey, from writer (and Hard Case Crime co-founder) Charles Ardai and Malaysian artist Ang Hor Kheng, comes with some serious pedigreed praise – not to mention series cover art by the likes of Bill Sienkiewicz, Adam Hughes, and movie poster legend Robert McGinnis. Meanwhile, endorsement quotes are from such big names in crime fiction as Ed Brubaker, Max Allan Collins, Stephen King and Duane Swierczynski. Ang Hor Kheng's artwork remains bright and colorful. (He must have learned how to draw the female form from Tomas Giorello; neither artist has apparently ever met a woman without a silicone-enhanced bust.)The TV adaptation is worth mentioning because Gun Honey – which is out today in graphic novel format, collecting issues 1 to 4 – brings to mind such on-screen entertainment as La Femme Nikita, its various reboots, and Anna. Gun Honey is supremely cool, but also kinda (and consciously) trashy at times. With its mature content, this stylish, hardboiled crime tale is definitely an adults-only read. That said, I generally liked the artwork here. It had a nice, noir feel and there was good detail in nearly every panel. This is not like the modern manga artwork, but more akin to the comic art of the 1970's and 80's.