Created by underground artist Vince "The Duke" Marchetti, the series debuted in 1997 as a black-and-white ashcan comic sold out of the back of a van at motorcycle rallies and comic conventions. The premise is deliberately absurd: A gang of genetically enhanced, buxom "Honeys" drive a heavily modified 1969 Dodge Charger (the "Duke Wagon") across a post-apocalyptic version of the American Southwest, fighting zombie bikers, crooked sheriffs, and sentient dust storms.

More directly, underground artists like Travis "Chop-Fu" LeMasters cite as the reason they picked up a pen. "I saw Issue #3 at a flea market when I was fifteen," LeMasters said in a 2022 interview. "I didn't know you were allowed to draw like that. It broke my brain in the best way." Conclusion: The Last Great Underground Comic In an era of corporate synergy, cinematic universes, and algorithm-driven storytelling, Dukes Hardcore Honeys Comics represents a lost world: the world of the angry, grease-stained, lone-wolf creator. It is ugly, offensive, poorly plotted, and drawn with more spite than skill. And yet, it is utterly, undeniably alive.

After that, Diamond Comic Distributors dropped the title. Issue #12 was printed in a run of only 500 copies, making it the most valuable issue in the collection.

Marchetti himself disappeared from the public eye. He reportedly moved to the Arizona desert, where he now restores classic cars and sells custom airbrushed T-shirts at swap meets. He has refused all interview requests since 2008. For collectors, finding Dukes Hardcore Honeys Comics is the equivalent of a treasure hunt. Because the print runs were small (averaging 1,500 to 3,000 copies per issue) and because the paper quality was low, many copies literally fell apart.