4 out of 5

As more Gun Honey and Gun Honey-related series stack up, and now with a second Heat Seeker sidestory for comparison, it does seem like writer Charles Ardai is using the main book more as pulp erotica, and ‘Heat Seeker’ – the adventures of magician / fixer Dahlia Racers – as a way to mine the same themes, but tip the balance the other way: erotic pulp. Those are just words and nonsense genres, but it’s about the modifier: Gun Honey is erotica that is pulpy; Heat Seeker is pulp that can be erotic, i.e. the story takes a bit more precedence.

What’s an especial ante up with Combustion is that the story is page-turning gangbusters. Alongside Racers’ Mission Impossible-esque costuming, using her magic and makeup skills to constantly disguise herself and sneak in and out of target locations – which Combustion pushes to an amusing extreme, swapping wigs and outfits every few pages – the series ticks along with What Next? precision, putting our heroine (and the girl she’s charged with protecting) in constantly escalating danger, which Racers responds to without hesitation. And there are still totally a lot of boobs on display, but it feels slightly “cuter” in Heat Seeker over Gun Honey, though perhaps that’s due to Ardai keeping things a little tamer since this arc has a teenage girl in the mix, or artist Ace Continuado just isn’t the same type of perv as Gun Honey artist Ang Hor Kheng. I mean, no judgment on pervs, I guess I just prefer the balance of storytelling and T&A as offered by Ace over Ang Hor.

In terms of the art’s quality, the first issue of this series had me a bit worried with some inconsistent details and rushed action, but Continuado (and colorist Asifur Rahman and inker Juan Castro) very quickly find their pace, giving us a Yeowell-y looseness that delivers spacious, but well-defined sets, and a strong central cast. As to the story, it’s a bit unnecessarily complicated with flip-flopping allegiances, even if that’s a nod to the general ridiculousness of some adventure pulps; there’s a way to present the over-plotting with a smile, and the book doesn’t quite make it there. But you definitely get the broad strokes, and the dynamic between characters that emerges – with opportunity for another spin-off! – is really satisfying.

…Which all makes me excited for Ardai to continue both Gun Honey worlds. The main series may be a bit too booby for me, but if running both titles allows / encourages the kind of superfun cheesecake as in Combustion, I’m all for it.