GUN HONEY: DOUBLES DOWN #1 / Written by CHARLES ARDAI / Art by ANG HOR KHENG / Colors by ASIFUR RAHMAN / Letters by DAVID LEACH / Published by TITAN COMICS

Joanna Tan (aka Gun Honey) is not your average mercenary. A weapons expert and smuggler, her specialty is getting the right weapon to the right people under difficult circumstances. Het latest mission, however, is something different.

An assassination attempt on the Russian President has gone awry. Reports place him fleeing Moscow in three different directions. For the sake of another $10 million payday, Joanna has agreed to find the real President amid the doubles. However, she also needs to cover her own tracks, having delivered the gun used in the failed assassination attempt.

I’ve enjoyed the previous Gun Honey adventures and expected more of the same from Double Down. I was not disappointed. This is unsurprising, given it has the exact same creative team as the first Gun Honey series.

Charles Ardai is a master at telling this sort of action/adventure tale. Again, I find myself amazed that he only became a comic writer relatively recently. Despite being a novelist, he has a gift for economy of language and does not go overboard in his descriptions or dialogue. And Joanna continues to be a unique and memorable protagonist.

The artwork remains as impressive as the scripting. Ang Hor Kheng is one of the finest true-grit artists this side of Mike Grell. The colors by Asifur Rahman are well-chosen and there’s an amazing contrast in the small-panels and the larger splashes that highlight the detailing of the pencils.

Those like myself who enjoyed the previous Gun Honey comics will love Double Down. It features the same solid artwork and spirited storytelling that have defined the series to date. And to those action fans who have yet to give the series I try, I strongly suggest you do so.