Gun Honey Doubles Down #1 Review
Writer: Charles Ardai
Artist: Ang Hor Kheng
Colorist: Asifur Rahman
Letterer: David Leach
Cover Artists: Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, Adam Hughes, Ang Hor
Kheng & Yasmine
Also Available: Cosplay & Rare Tempter Wraparound Variants
Publisher: Titan Comics
Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 17, 2026
While the world's attention focused on Paris, Joanna Tan
mingled among the athletes. But as they competed in events to earn medals for
their countries, Joanna sought to prevent an assassination. The intended victim
was so grateful that she commissioned Joanna to do the impossible. Now, Alexis
Stern, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, wants Joanna to do it again.
This time, the stakes are higher. Another ten million
doesn't cut it. Still, Joanna must kill a dictator to save her friend. But can
Joanna sneak back into the Kremlin? And even if she succeeds, can she protect
Olga and her father from the repercussions of her actions? Let's leap into Gun
Honey Doubles Down #1 and see!
Story
Dmitri Vulapin may call himself the president of Russia. But
he’s still a repressive dictator who crushes anyone in his way. The US Director
of National Intelligence doesn’t know if his replacement will improve life in
Russia or worsen international relations. Still, Alexis Stern wants him gone.
Unfortunately, Joanna woke the beast when she snuck a gun into an interrogation
room. The person debriefing his former spy wasn’t the hands-on dictator, but
one of his impersonators.
In Gun Honey Doubles Down #1, Joanna returns to finish what
she started. When Vulapin recovers from the shock of Joanna's actions, he will
send his agents after her. Joanna Tan may be used to a life of danger, but Olga
isn't. She greeted Joanna with a gun and was reluctant to let her into her
apartment. Olga may have helped Joanna sneak into the Kremlin the first time
because of what Vulapin did to her brother. But this time, Olga must play a
larger role in the operation to ensure her future and protect her father from
Vulapin’s recriminations.
Charles Ardai’s story shows the lengths to which Joanna Tan
will go to complete her mission. When her reputation is on the line, and her
friends’ lives are in jeopardy, nothing is off the table. As she remembers the
acts and conversations that propelled her on this second mission into the heart
of the Vulapin’s dark operations, Joanna stays focused on the present. Despite
her carefully laid plans, Joanna doesn't lose heart when things don't go to
plan. Instead, she takes inspiration from her surroundings and improvises on
the trot in the action-packed Gun Honey Doubles Down #1.
Art
When Joanna Tan emerges from the crowd of holidaymakers on
the beach, she approaches an armed guard standing before a padlocked gate.
After handing him her phone, Joanna drags his unconscious body into nearby
foliage. Glimpses of her secreted underwater gear appear in flagstone-shaped
panels as Joanna dives off a cliff into the wave-tossed sea.
As Joanna swims across the middle of a page, a trio of
images above her portrays her briefing with Alexis Stern, and the three images
below reveal her revelation to Olga. As she slips inside Vulapin’s home, Ang
Hor Kheng contrasts the fortress rising along the cliffs with Gelendzhik rising
beyond the bay. Yet while tens of thousands of people inhabit the resort town,
the fortress plays home to one man.
As Asifur Rahman lavishes his palette on Gun Honey Doubles
Down #1, red competes with blue, green, and flesh tones for dominance. Alexis’
maroon shirt links her with the outfit Joanna steals inside Vulapin’s fortress.
The furnishings in Vulapin’s living quarters echo those in Olga’s apartment.
And while red hair tumbles around the face of the dictator’s masseuse, Olga’s
short pink hair reminds us she is another victim. Vulapin may not drink his
subjects’ blood. Yet as scenes of intense emotion and violence play out against
red backgrounds, the gray mansion rising from the greenery, surrounded by the
blue sea and sky, suggest the president’s vampiric nature.
While David Leach shares Joanna's thoughts in blue narrative
boxes, he places black uppercase letters in white dialogue balloons. The
letters grow bold for intonation and swell for volume. But as Joanna risks her
life to save Olga's, pounding fists, wailing alarms, thundering gunfire, and
roaring engines accompany her heedless charge into danger. Thanks to Titan
Comics for providing a review copy.
Final Thoughts
Joanna Tan doesn’t fight for God or Country. But she’ll put
her life on the line to save others. When a power-hungry rich man grinds others
beneath his feet so he can stand a little taller, there is no fortress strong
enough, and not enough Human shields to hide behind, to prevent Joanna from
extinguishing his warped and abusive life in Gun Honey Doubles Down #1.
Rating 9.2/10
To look inside see my preview of Gun Honey Doubles Down #1.
For what happened last time, see my review of Gun Honey Doubles Down #0.
For what happened before that, see my review of Gun Honey Collision Course TP.
For more cover options, see my cover preview of Gun Honey Doubles Down #1.
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