‘Gun Honey’ by Charles Ardai with art by Ang Hor Kheng is a graphic novel from the Hard Case Crime line of crime novels.

Joanna Tan can get a weapon when you need it and where you need it. The more impossible, the more it will cost, but she delivers. When a gun is used in the escape of a criminal, Joanna finds herself forced to work for the U.S. government.

Be aware that this should have a content warning for nudity and sex. It is also a very action packed and violent story. I liked it as well as the accompanying art.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for send me an arc of this volume. Gun Honey collects issues 1-4 of the Titan Comics/Hard Case Crime series written by Charles Ardai and art by Ang Hor Kheng. This was a good start to these comics, the story was action packed and I loved the art work. If i get the chance I will be picking up the second volume.

3.5 stars

Action-packed, fast paced, and a page-turner. Joanna Tan is the titular “Gun Honey” who can get a gun anywhere, no matter the security. After what was supposed to be a simple job turns into a bloodbath, Joanna is forced to cooperate with the government to uncover the mysterious scarred man who massacred countless people to escape.

This is the start of a pulp noir comic series that doesn’t pull any punches. But while I had hopes for this book in terms of not being from the male gaze, that hope died just as quickly as the first casualty in this comic. It’s very obvious that a man wrote this but I will say this, the art is spectacular. Maybe it was the fifth nipple shot but at a certain point the nudity does nothing for the plot. I found the plot and the twists to be highly predictable and there was nil complexity in the characterization or backstory. This wasn’t particularly unique but it was a fairly entertaining read.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publishers Titan Books- Hard Case Crime for an advanced copy of this graphic novel thriller.

Cherchez la femme. Look for the woman. The French have the best expressions. No wonder they took to hard boiled crime novels and authors so avidly, even giving film noir it's name. In noir it always pays to keep an eye on the femme fatale. Especially if her name is Gun Honey. Written by Hard Case Crime founder Charles Ardai, illustrated by Ang Hor Kheng, colored by Asifur Rahman and lettered by David Leach, Gun Honey is violent tale of redemption, bullets, revenge and love, with again a lot of violence.

Joanna Tan is Gun Honey, a person who can pierce any security, find the hole in any secure wall and leave behind a weapon that someone can use to do good or bad things with. What happens does not bother Tan, as long as the money is good. Gun Honey's luck runs out when a weapon she left in a maximum security prison is used to murder a lot of innocent people. All ready under observation from a secretive government group, Gun Honey is given an option, find this mysterious prisoner who is killing his way around the state, or take his place in prison, or the morgue.

The story is a violent little crime story with a few twists and turns that veteran readers won't be surprised by, but still is a fun story. Joanna Tan is an interesting character with an intriguing backstory and enough mystery to fill a few adventures, which I saw there will be more. She's amoral and yet has a code of ethics that she might have a hard time explaining, but the reader can see. A very well developed character, both story wise and in the art. There is a lot of cheesecake art, and nudity, so combined with the violence it's a hard R of a story. The art is really good. Characters are both beautiful and ugly and completely distinctive. The backgrounds are crisp, the cars look great and so does the architecture. There is a sort of realistic dreaminess to the art I can't describe, like watching a modern direct- to- video movie filmed on an Iphone, but filtered through a 1960's European Spy movie filter. I really can't wait to see more art by Ang Jor Kheng.

Recommended for fans of crime novels, especially the Richard Stark novels about Parker. Gun Honey and Parker would have gotten on along well. Both professionals trying to make it. Also for fans of Ed Brubaker and David Laphem's Stray Bullets.