Publication History
In the late 1980s, Kenichi Sonoda wrote the anime cartoon Riding Bean. Set in the U.S., it told about Bean Bandit, a muscle-bound driver who transported dodgy goods on behalf of the mob, and his business partner, the blond-haired Irene "Rally" Vincent.
The anime was cancelled after just one episode, and Sonoda later created the manga comic Gunsmith Cats, featuring a now dark-haired "Rally" Vincent of Asian Indian descent, gun shop owner and bounty hunter, and her pint-sized friend and associate, ex-prostitute and explosives expert "Minnie" May Hopkins. Bean Bandit was also a regular supporting character, Sonoda stating that he is a "guy I can identify with much more personally" as compared to the female heroines.
Gunsmith Cats was originally published in the Japanese Afternoon magazine between February 1991 and June 1997, and published in English by Dark Horse Comics in a left-to-right Western orientation. A three-episode anime was released in 1995, featuring an original adventure not based on the comics.
In 2004, after completing Cannon God Exaxxion, Sonoda created a sequel entitled Gunsmith Cats Burst, which again centered on the exploits of Rally, May and their friends and foes. The final chapter was published in Japan in 2008. Burst was picked up by Dark Horse Comics for North American distribution, who also re-released the original Gunsmith Cats in its original right-to-left Japanese orientation. As of April 2010, the distribution of the entire Gunsmith Cats series has been completed in the USA.
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