Irene Vincent

Origin

Irene "Rally" Vincent is the owner and proprietor of the Gun Smith Cats gun store in Chicago where she creates custom ordered firearms to the finest details. Favored weapon is the CZ75 ( orignal ver.). Known for shooting the hammers off of peoples guns.

Creation

Gunsmith Cats Vol. 1 (1991)

The character of Irene Vincent is the main protagonist of the manga/anime series Gunsmith Cats that was created by Kenichi Sonoda. It first began publication by Kodansha's Afternoon magazine in February 1991. Rally's roots were based on Sonodo's childhood love of metal pellet and disc guns. Her design was first originated in a sketch of two women with guns that Sonodo made for a friend's fanzine. When he approached his publishers to pitch a new manga series, his editors pointed to this sketch and asked him why he didn't just flesh out that character. He said he chose her home of Chicago because other writers had made series based in New York and the reputation of the Windy City for criminals and tough cops.

Her first appearance was technically in the anime OVA movie Riding Bean (1989), but she was depicted as a Caucasian with blond hair and a partner of Bean Bandit. Her first official appearances was in Gunsmith Cats Volume 1 CH. 1 "Feeding Trouble". Her first official anime appearance was in OVA series Gunsmith Cats - Episode 1 "Neutral Zone". Her character in the Japanese series is voiced by Michiko Neya, and the U.S. dub produced by ADV is done by Amanda Winn Lee.

In the U.S., the Gunsmith Cats manga was published as individual chapters as a regular comic series. This publication by Dark Horse Comic was drastically edited and images were mirrored. Dark Horse would eventually create an official manga distributor and re-release the the Gunsmith Cats - Revised Edition in February 2007. This edition removed much of the alterations.

Character Evolution

Major Story Arcs

Other Media

Films

Riding Bean (1989)

Irene's original first appearance was in the Riding Bean(1989) anime movie, but she was depicted as a Caucasian blond and a partner of Bean Bandit in his driver for hire. She retained still had her skill in fire-arms. She would later appear in her own series with several design changes and her own boss as the owner of a gun store.