Rob Reviews Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series #1…
Charles Ardai is back in the high octane world of Joanna Tan as he teams up with Ace Continuado to bring a spin-off to the Gun Honey series.
Centring on new character Dahlia Races, Ardai now has the scope to expand his world away from Joanna Tan in quite an interesting way. While Tan is now marked by the US Intelligence Agency, Races has a penchant to make wanted people simply disappear. It’s both sides of this coin that fuel this action-packed opening issue, as Dahlia Races gets dragged into the murky world that follows Joanna Tan.
Ardai kicks this opening issue off to a flying start. From the opening page, we’re thrown into Dahlia Races’ world. It’s one full of distractions and subterfuge as we follow her on her latest job. From seemingly eliminating her target, it soon turns out that rather than being a cold blooded assassin, Dahlia would rather her targets were still breathing. With the job done, it’s back to New York where we catch up with Joanna Tan and Brook Barrows. Straight from the happenings of Gun Honey: Blood for Blood, Joanna and Brook are being hunted by Brook’s former colleagues. With not many people left to trust, the two finds themselves in New York needing the services of Dahlia Races. Being a old friend of Joanna, she’s certainly someone who can be trusted.
However, things don’t go to plan as old skeletons rise from the surface. Not wanting to let the duo escape from their past, events are set in motion. And it’s one that’ll drag Dahlia Races into the espionage world of Tan and Barrows.
Straight from the go, Ardai and Continuado throw you into the action that doesn’t let up until you close that final page. While there’s a mass of action, Ardai manages to bring plenty of exposure to Races world. We get a great degree of insight into her risky profession, and plenty of characterisation to the newcomer. While Tan and Barrows do feature within this opening chapter, Ardai makes it clear that they’re just the passengers within this story.
Even though we’re introduced to the pawns that have taken their places on the giant Gun Honey chess board, the most intriguing piece is the assassin that’s hot on Tan’s trail. Much like Races, Ardai brings plenty to the character and her personality that’s shown through her profession. However, unlike Races, this player is a stone cold professional who seems to have a lot of umpth when it comes to getting her target.
Moving on and art comes courtesy of Ace Continuado, who gives everything a gritty and murky feel. Across each page we’re treated to ever changing layouts with scenes bursting from their boarders. Action sequences also flow incredibly well with Continuado drawing us in tight on the characters, rather than packing everything with eye distracting backgrounds. It all comes together in blistering style that adds so much weight to the set pieces - and that ending panel…well that’s the real shocker!
All in all, Heat Seaker: A Gun Honey Series jumps straight out of the starting block in spectacular fashion. Charles Ardai doesn’t pull any punches as he introduces us to Dahlia Races in explosive fashion. It’s a story line that already setting itself up to have plenty of twists and turns, and is one that’s jumped straight to the top of my pull list.
Rating: 10/10
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