Review by Frank Plowright

Joanna Tan has plenty of experience finding her own path in the world, and along the way has learned pretty well all there is to know about conventional weapons and how to smuggle them into unconventional places, while there’s not a jail cell or pair of handcuffs that can hold her. When needs must, she’s also an unstoppable assassin.

With all that going for her, it’s possibly no surprise that she’s also drop dead gorgeous, but then so is pretty well anything drawn by Ang Hor Kheng, who’s one hell of a find for Hard Case. He has an interesting way with hatching and shading that makes his art distinctive, and there’s a lot of effort put into every page, from thought about the design to background detail. There’s sometimes a little stiffness to the poses, but generally the action flows from panel to panel. However, Charles Ardai’s plot includes exploitative elements, and Kheng has no qualms about bringing these out.

When not conceiving tits out for the lads scenes, Ardai runs through a tight and twisting crime plot. Being haunted by her past gives Joanna a moral ambivalence, distancing herself from the atrocities she’s connected with via claiming she just supplies the weapons, yet government agencies recognise her talent and want her on board. Realising money isn’t incentive enough, a campaign of pricking her conscience begins.

Ignore the exploitation and this is an excellent, fast-paced thriller, captivating from start to finish with the assorted plot threads weaved together so proficiently. The serialised issues were so well received that Blood for Blood was commissioned before this graphic novel was released.