Globe-Trotting Espionage And Erotic Take Downs: ‘Gun Honey: Double Down’ #1 Reviewed

From the open pages, writer Charles Ardai and artist Ang Hor Kheng’s Gun Honey: Double Down #1 throw the reader into exotic locales, high-octane action, all executed by the sensual and dangerous espionage agent Joanna Tan, returning once again to rid the world of bad guys. And you don’t get bigger than the fictional dictator of Russia, Dmitri Vulapin, living it up in an excessively grandiose mansion somewhere on the coast of the Black Sea, surrounding himself with scantily clad bikini babes. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how the equal scantily clad Joanna Tan manages to infiltrate this heavily guarded complex. However, the extent to which she plays her role as a voluptuous but willing sexual servant to Vulapain may shock some. Unless you’ve read the previous adventures of Gun Honey. This comic is most definitely for mature readers and goes a lot further than any Bond film.

As first issues go, this is a thrilling rollercoaster of a ride that barely pauses for a breather and acts as a great introduction to this world of espionage, eroticism and assassination. And in a world where the dial seems to being pushed back on sexually explicit imagery, Ardai is doing his “bit to nudge the pendulum back in the other direction”. And why not? We have normalised violence so why can’t we now look to be less prudish about nudity?

And as great as the scripting is, the artwork is just as phenomenal. Kheng’s art is a beautiful blend of influences of some of the greatest there has ever been. The DNA of Frank Frazzetta, Wally Wood and even Robert McGinnis flow through this young artist veins. He is someone to keep a close eye in the future. His creative and dynamic layouts, his handling of the sex, guns and violence; it all brings the characters and the world to life in a very real way because of his attention to detail in even the most minor things like the crease in a person’s clothes or the rocky terrain of the Black Sea. It may not have the same frantic musical score as a big budget blockbuster, but the visuals and the movement suggested by Kheng’s stylistic flurries of the pen certainly present the unfolding narrative in an energetic and believable manner.

Bringing the summer vibe of far off sandy shores and tanned bodies is colourist Asifur Rahman. It all contributes to a fast-paced, beautifully realised world of billionaires and beautiful people. Juts watch which beautiful person you invite to give you a rub down.

Gun Honey: Double Down #1 is out now from Titan Comics/Hard Case Crime.

Catch my insightful interview with Ardai here.