Gun Honey

Product Information

How do you improve upon a blood filled, breast laden, globe-trotting crime noir thriller? Well, surely you give people more of everything that made the original arc such a rousing success, right? Well, as many a sequel has learned the hard way over the years, not entirely. Without delving into a score of cinematic examples, simply dialing everything up to 11 isn't a sure-fire way to worm your way even deeper into peoples hearts (and wallets). It can work to varying degrees, occasionally surpassing the original with such tactics when everything falls into place just right, though I would suggest that this is a rare phenomenon, and more often, the subtle elements of what made the first movie get lost in the wash, and what you are left with is a slightly hollow victory lap. That said, Gun Honey Blood for Blood is nowhere near that level of disappointment. In fact, disappointment is not a word that should be uttered in reference to this arc, although in my opinion, it doesn't quite live up to volume one, for the above mentioned reasons. A slight aside ... this book contains a few photos of a model dressed (provocatively, of course) as Joanna Tan and the commentary states that the model is a cosplayer whom the publisher met at a convention and was invited to model professionally for the book. 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. Gun Honey: Bound for Blood #1 will launch later this year while Gun Honey Volume 1 goes on sale on April 5th. She'll get you the weapon you need, when you need it, where you need it – no matter how impossible.

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. In 2010, he began working as a writer and producer on the SyFy television series Haven,inspired by the Hard Case Crime novel The Colorado Kid byStephen King.The first episode of Haven aired on July 9, 2010and the last aired on December 17, 2015. His first novel, Little Girl Lost, was published in 2004 and was nominated for both theEdgar Allan Poe Awardby theMystery Writers of Americaand theShamus Awardby the Private Eye Writers of America; his second, Songs of Innocence, was called "an instant classic" by The Washington Post,selected as one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly,and won the Shamus Award.Both books were written under the alias Richard Aleas and were optioned for the movies by Universal Pictures. Gun Honey Finds Exciting, New Directions for a Familiar Genre WRITER Charles Ardai Artist Ang Hor Kheng Letterer David Leach Cover Artist Robert McGinnis, Andrea Camerini, Bill Sienkiewicz, Ang Hor Kheng Publisher Titan Comics Price 3.99 Release Date 2021-09-29 Colorist Asifur Rahman

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. A great read, with a fantastic lead character, written in a way that engenders a sexy, violent and fun book. 5 Stars" - Comic Crusaders 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… The supporting characters are also well-crafted. The plot twists and turns keep the reader guessing, and the resolution is satisfying, providing closure to the story while leaving room for future installments. Honestly, Gun Honey isn’t the type of comic that I would normally read. At least at first glance. Even as a queer woman, the various cheesecake covers for this pulp noir series feel a bit too male gazey for my liking. Much like the old Top Cow Tomb Raider series, its scantily clad, ultra-curvaceous and provocatively posed heroine visually blasts the message that Gun Honey isn’t a book for me.

That said, barring the times Gun Honey leaned too hard (for my liking) into gratuitous nudity, I really enjoyed the story of supremely efficient weapons smuggler Joanna Tan. Sometimes you’re just in the mood for R-rated popcorn thrills, and Gun Honey consistently delivers. Hor Kheng may fall prey to some weird perspective distortions at times but the artist has a suitably kinetic and scratchy style that brings the action to noir-ish life. 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. the powerhouse creation of a world-class criminal, a femme fatale, and James Bond all rolled into one.” - Comical Opinions In addition to his writing and publishing activities, Ardai serves as a managing director of theD. E. Shawgroup.Bound for Blood will open “with Joanna Tan, the legendary ‘Gun Honey,’ off the grid, recuperating from her last job, when a vengeful rival takes her place – and frames Joanna for murder. On the run from Malaysia to Milan, from Montana to Monaco, can Joanna catch up to her ruthless enemy… or will she catch a bullet first?” I think it's generally common knowledge that the readership for a book like this is typically middle-aged or older men. This book then panders to that readership with the non-stop action and fighting (especially the woman on woman fighting) but mostly with a great deal of nudity. Tan may be able to get a gun for any occasion but she also seems to be interesting in stripping whenever possible and her body is a classic comic book female figure.

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… GUN HONEY is sexy, violent and fast, a blistering burning house of a narrative." – Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition) If Hard Case Crime and Titan Comics can keep the team of Ardai, Kheng, Rahman, and letterer David Leach together, they've got an instantly recognizable guilty pleasure on their hands.Ardai previously received a Shamus nomination for the short story "Nobody Wins" and he received theEdgar Awardin 2007 for the short story "The Home Front". In 2015, he received the Ellery Queen Award for his work on Hard Case Crime.Ardai's third novel, Fifty-to-One, was published in November 2008.It was the fiftieth book in the Hard Case Crime series and the first to be published under Ardai's real name. 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… 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

Hard Case Crime and Titan Comics have announced that award-winning writer and Hard Case co-founder Charles Ardai is returning to the world of Gun Honey for the new spinoff Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series, which will focus on the all-new fiery heroine Dahlia Racers. So I was paying attention even before I got to the bit about Gun Honey being 2021’s best-selling non-premier comic, according to Diamond Comic Distributors. Oh, and the Titan Comics series already having a TV adaptation in development. With weapons expert Joanna Tan, the legendary "Gun Honey," off the grid, recuperating from her last job, a vengeful rival takes her place – and frames Joanna for murder. On the run from Malaysia to Milan, from Montana to Monaco, can Joanna catch up to her ruthless enemy…or will she catch a bullet first?OK, good news, the second volume of Gun Honey is better than the first one, albeit not by much. It still feels like a Friday night movie on Cinemax. It is still mindless, head-scratching entertaining, but at least there are not glaring plot holes in every issue. It's male gazey as hell, but then again, that goes with the genre. And when the publisher's Hard Case Crime, a publishing company literally founded to bring works inspired by those early pulp novels to market, I understand how they get there.