Hard Case Crime/Titan Comics 2021
Written by Charles Ardai
Illustrated by Ang Hor Kheng
Coloured by Asifur Rahman
Lettered by David Leach
The weapon you need, when you need it!
When a gun smuggled into a high-security prison leads to the escape of a brutal criminal, Joanna Tan is enlisted by the U.S. government to find the man she set loose!
The deeper we go down the rabbit hole the more impressed I become with this book. The last page's shocking cliffhanger ending certainly took me by surprise and it’s things like this that really keep the reader coming back for more. The premise is fantastic and Joanna’s backstory lends credence to her doing what she does so it’s really the full complete package and if she lives through this adventure and stays out of jail then there’s a world of possibilities open for future stories to be told. Also I like the way that the reader is engaged in the story here. We see Joanna talking to the Government folks and it is crystal clear she doesn’t trust them no matter how much they try to pigeon hole all this on her and her attitude is phenomenal. She’ll get to the bottom of the mystery. These folks be damned and I love every moment of what I see through her eyes.
I’m a huge fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really does wonders showing their ever changing & evolving personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story we’re caught up in this dust devil of information and action.
I’m very much appreciative of how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I also like how we see the layers open up new avenues to be explored, and if this ending isn’t a great example of that I dunno what is. The way they add all this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story is extremely nice to see. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward are impeccably handled.
The interiors here are really nice. The linework is strong, clean and crisp and along with the varying weights and techniques we see being utilised to create this level of detail within the work is exceptionally well rendered. When we see backgrounds being utilised they really enhance and expand the moments so I really wish we’d see more of them throughout. How they work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is extremely well handled. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a remarkable eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows a great understanding of how colour works.
Joanna has a no nonsense, straightforward way about her that is effective and allows her to do what she needs to do and get the answers she needs. She’s a strong capable woman and she let’s very little stand in her way and that’s something to admire about her. This has strong, interesting writing and sharp, intriguing characterisation wrapped up in these dynamic interiors making Gun Honey a new favourite obsession.