A five-year love letter to Joanna Tan arrives in the Gun Honey 5th Anniversary Oversized Special #1.
Charles Ardai and Adam Hughes reunite for an oversized anniversary celebration that treats readers to a massive prison-break story, a gallery of stunning covers, and a rare conversation with the writer behind the series. Joanna Tan is back, and this special is the perfect entry point for the five-year run.
There's a special kind of joy in finding a book that celebrates a love affair between a creator and their characters, and the Gun Honey 5th Anniversary Oversized Special is exactly that. Charles Ardai has crafted a story that feels like a gift to the readers who've stuck with Joanna Tan since day one, while the oversized format gives you more room to breathe, admire the art, and just soak in the world of this standout series. It's a milestone, sure, but it's also a standalone treat that anyone can dive into.
The story kicks off with a disaster that only happens when the wrong person gets access to the wrong hardware. A firearm makes it past the walls of a maximum-security facility, and the fallout is catastrophic—dozens are dead, and a truly brutal criminal walks out the door. Suddenly, the U.S. government needs someone who understands the underworld's plumbing, and who better than Joanna Tan? The notorious smuggler finds herself on the hook to track down the man she inadvertently let loose, turning a professional obligation into a personal hunt.
What makes this issue sing is how it balances that high-stakes action with a celebration of the series' history. You get Ang Hor Kheng's pencils driving the narrative forward, but the real delight is the accompanying material. The special features a gorgeous display of covers that chart the visual evolution of the book, plus a candid look back with Charles Ardai about how Gun Honey resonated with readers over five years. It's the kind of book you want to flip through slowly, savoring the retrospective moments just as much as the action.
If you're grabbing this, keep an eye on the Adam Hughes variant; with a cover that iconic, it tends to vanish from the bins faster than the rest of the print run. And if you find yourself hooked by Joanna Tan's brand of chaotic competence, the main Gun Honey run is waiting for you to jump in whenever you're ready. This special is the perfect doorway, but the journey doesn't have to end there.