Gun Honey Collision Course #2 Review

 

Writer: Charles Ardai

Artist: Ang Hor Kheng

Colorist: João Rodri

Letterer: David Leach

Cover Artists: Kendrick Lim; Lucio Parrillo; Cosplay; Ang Hor Kheng; Thaddeus Robeck; Claudia Caranfa; Carla Cohen; Celina; David Dias; Ickpot; Miki Okazaki; Ivan Tao; Lucio Parrillo

Publisher: Titan

Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 19, 2024

 

Joanna Tan invaded Big Yoshida’s onsen. She killed two of his men and wounded his brother. But she couldn’t prevent Kyosuke Yamato from spilling his father’s secrets. Tiny Yoshida tortured and killed Kyosuke, then relayed the location of his father’s vault to US Intelligence agent Jeremy Kruger. Joanna offers to help Big Yoshida get Kruger off his back, but the gangster won't work with her now. Has she just secured her and Brook Barrow's deaths? Let's strap on our weapons, leap into Gun Honey Collision Course #2, and find out!

 

Story

Joanna and Brook hid out in Borneo for nearly a year. But they weren't willing to wait until someone came looking for them. So Joanna gave them a target. If anyone came looking for the damaging files stored in Hiroshi's vault, Joanna and Brook would intercept and kill them. Sadly, they arrived in Japan too late, and Kruger forced the Yoshida brothers to kidnap Kyosuke Yamato. Now, the Yoshida brothers are heading for Hiroshi Yamato. They want the keys to his vault. Don't expect them to ask nicely.

 

Joanna's plan was good in theory. She didn't count on Hiroshi also holding Wyatt Gorman's secret files. Gorman’s former colleague Jeremy Kruger wants to reclaim and destroy any damaging secrets they contain. Kruger didn't realize Joanna and Brook had faked their deaths. Now that he knows they're alive, he wants them dead. Again. If he doesn't get them, Big and Tiny Yamato will.

 

In Gun Honey Collision Course #2, Joanna and Brook travel to Mongolia to protect Hiroshi Yamato from US Intelligence Officer Kruger and the Yoshida brothers. They could run and hide again. But Joanna has a history with Hiroshi. Besides, there's still a mole in Hiroshi's organization. How many more people will die unless Joanna and Brook protect him?

 

Art

Everyone disrobes before entering Big Yoshida’s outdoor baths. While the guards wear clothes, and some cover their faces in balaclavas, the nudity reveals the Yakusa’s love of tattooing. Joanna sits with her hands cuffed behind her back in the VW van while her feet rest on three corpses. After Brook's rescue, they show Hiroshi his son's body. Kyosuke Yamato lies in a coffin, adorned in a suit, his remaining hand resting atop his chest. Ang Hor Kheng keeps the camera moving as Joanna and Brook confer with Hiroshi. But they always look small compared with the beleaguered crime boss on the big screen TV.

 

João Rodri lavishes a loaded palette upon Gun Honey Collision Course #2. The greenery of Japan contrasts with the barren desert of Mongolia. Joanna and Brook emerge from the dark labyrinth of Hiroshi Yamato's lair. Amid the grey walls and machinery of the complex, bald and muscular Brook hears voices coming from a metal grill. He calls on memories of Bruce Willis for strength as he squeezes through an airshaft before rejoining Joanna in her black catsuit. Orange and black replace backgrounds as the fugitives combat the men eager to kill them and Hiroshi. Yippie-ki-yay, Yamato hitmen!

 

David Leach fires black uppercase lettering into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes in Gun Honey Collision Course #2. Vibrant sound effects enhance knife and gun battles. Yet the most dramatic sound effects occur early when Joanna's actions turn Big Yoshida against her forever. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Joanna and Brook race to save the man who protects their secrets when their game of international hide-and-seek goes wrong. Success and riches don't necessarily bring champagne wishes and caviar dreams in Gun Honey Collision Course #2.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.