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Charles Ardai and Ang Hor Kheng breathe new life into the pulp crime genre with the new Titan Comics series Gun Honey
If there’s one subsection within the crime genre that continues to lend itself well to comic books, it’s the globe-trotting intrigue that flirts with espionage yarns and political thrillers, while leaning into their international possibilities. From the classic British comic strip Modesty Blaise to Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting’s Cold War epic Velvet, this sub-genre has led to some stellar stories published in the medium, and Titan Comics’ new series Gun Honey is shaping up to be the next great addition. Created by Charles Ardai and Ang Hor Kheng, the new comic book takes familiar genre elements and confidently restages and reimagines them with enough self-assured swagger to demonstrate there is plenty of life in the familiar genre.
In a world where the powerful prey on anyone they deem beneath them, a weapons smuggler named Joanna Tan is the person who can provide the right firearm for the right occasion. Nicknamed Gun Honey after earning quite a reputation in the international crime scene, Joanna finds herself faced with an offer she can’t refuse from the American government: help them track down a nefarious figure from her past and terminate him with extreme prejudice. While Gun Honey may bristle at taking assignments from Uncle Sam, without little choice, the opportunity to tie up this particular loose end may be too irresistible to pass up, no matter who is calling the shots.
With an extensive, award-winning career as a crime writer and editor, Ardai dives headfirst into the possibilities of the comic book medium with his new series. Joanna Tan may be a protagonist in the vein of the femme fatales that have preceded her, but she feels like the wholly original character she is in her own right, using these established narrative tropes to her benefit. For a writer primarily known for his work in the prose medium, Ardai successfully evades a common pitfall that ensnares many authors that have made that transition by not bogging down the proceedings with exposition and dialogue; working within the comic book medium, Ardai knows exactly when to show and not tell.
With an art team as good as Ang Hor Kheng on pencils and inks and Asifur Rahman on colors, there is plenty for this comic book series to show off. From scenic, sun-drenched beaches to cold, sterile government interrogation rooms, there is a sumptuous variety in visuals that heightens the pulp-fueled atmosphere. Kheng’s character work is effective in selling the overall grittiness of the story and its stakes, with Gun Honey herself blending the series’ deep sense of self-confidence with a bit of espionage glamor thrown in for good measure. While the first issue is relatively light on action, this is quickly remedied by the sophomore installment, after the creative team has set the scene and scope.
Set to run for four issues, Gun Honey has already been optioned for television and is poised to potentially propel Joanna Tan’s adventures to millions worldwide. For readers looking to get in on Joanna’s story early and see just what makes her such a badass, Gun Honey is off to a solid start, as it quickly becomes clear that the eponymous protagonist is much more lethal than the guns she smuggles around the globe. For those looking for a timeless bit of pulp crime fiction, Gun Honey more than delivers the goods.
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