Joanna Tan is a special kind of freelance agent. She is not a killer or a thief. She is one of a kind. 
Known as Gun Honey, Joanna Tan is an expert in infiltration and smuggling. Specifically, she’s a gun runner, but also a specialist. If you’re an assassin and you need the right weapon for the right job, Joanna is the one who gets it for you and delivers it where it needs to be. No matter how impossible.
Over the course of her career, Joanna has smuggled a taser into the Vatican and a pistol onto a private yacht while wearing nothing but a bikini and a smile. Unfortunately, one of Joanna’s latest jobs had unintended consequences. The last gun she delivered led to a prison riot and a bombing, killing dozens of innocents. Now, recruited by the US government and partnered with FBI agent Brook Barrow, Gun Honey must track the man responsible or go to prison herself.
Joanna is a typical tough girl hero. She doesn’t get much definition outside of her work, apart from owning a cat. Despite this, she is likeable and sympathetic, despite her criminal background and self-serving attitude.
Gun Honey Vol. 1 is as neat a thriller as one would expect from Charles Ardai. His premiere novel, Little Girl Lost, was nominated for both the Shamus Award and the Edgar Allan Poe Award. His second novel, Songs of Innocence, won the Shamus Award. He’s also won the Edgar and Ellery Queen awards for his work on his Hard Case Crime imprint. It is no surprise he can write a good mystery, but it is something of a surprise he’s also a solid comic writer.
The artwork by Malaysian artist Ang Hor Kheng is as impressive as the writing . Kheng is an up-and-coming artist, but they showcase their skills throughout this first volume. The action sequences are all well blocked, with vivid detail. The effect is reminiscent of Mike Grell’s work on Warlord and Jon Sable: Freelance. Kheng does a fantastic job of highlighting the musculature of his characters. Unusually, he also depicts a variety of body types. Not all of the women have the same cookie-cutter perfect body and same face. Every characters looks distinctive and there is no chance of confusing the characters, even in the middle of a crowd shot.
Gun Honey is rated 17+ by Titan Comics. I believe that to be a fair assessment. There is a copious amount of violence, with several people being shot including being shot in the head. There are multiple bombings and the villain of this first volume is covered with scar tissue from multiple burns, which is vividly illustrated and appropriately disturbing. The most likely sticking point, however, is there is a lot of nudity and sexuality. Joanna is very free with her body and Is shown seducing a female prison guard in order to steal her ID. She also strips down completely to hide in a women’s spa, were she and several other women are pictured in detailed full-frontal nudity.
Gun Honey Vol. 1
By Charles Ardai
Art by Ang Hor Kheng
Titan, 2022
ISBN: 9781782763468
Publisher Age Rating: 17+
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+)
Creator Representation: Malaysian,
Character Representation: Singaporean, Bisexual,
