Few shows in the tiny Tristan Bates studio can boast car chases, frenetic gun battles, toxic mutations and the high-speed pursuit of a rampaging pig monster through the streets of New York City. It’s a budget thing, largely, and it’s a shame, as London theatre is sorely lacking the kind of ‘balls to the wall’ brutal action that comic book stores and multiplexes are replete with. All hail Joe Bone, then, who has brought the first two parts of his on-going Bane trilogy to London. A one-man show (albeit with live musical accompaniment), Bane and its sequel are joyously geeky tributes to pulp graphic novels, film noir and the Hollywood action flick, that are as breathtakingly inventive as they are enthralling.

Each lasting a little under an hour, the plays tell the story of Bruce Bane, a hard-boiled mercenary who ‘takes no prisoners’ and dishes out ultra-violent retribution to rival gang members and gunning super villains with a .44 in his hand and a cigarette clamped in his teeth. Bane always gets the girl, usually gets his man and lays waste to scores of henchmen and more than a few household pets that have the temerity to cross his path.

Both plays are loving parodies of the films and books which Bone so obviously adores, and are filled with references to source material as diverse as Dashiell Hammett and Ghostbusters. Despite the tissue of allusions, the plays avoid any hint of smugness or self-satisfaction in Bone’s whole-hearted immersion in the world he creates; the pace doesn’t falter for a moment, and there’s none of the faux-corpsing or winking to the audience which can be ruinous to a show like this. Bone creates a fantastically colourful and even cohesive world, and the humour is all the stronger for his conviction in maintaining it.

And what a world it is. Bone is now officially the world record holder for the largest number of characters played by one actor in a single show, and moves through a staggering 80 distinct personalities through the course of the evening. Without props, set or even lighting changes, Bone shifts smoothly from hero to villain, from TV anchorman to answering machine. Backed by the talented Ben Roe, who provides a distinctive and appropriate soundtrack to the action, Bone’s array of characters is both inventive and reverential, and it is a real tribute to his skill as a performer that scenes never become unclear, and the narrative engages throughout.

It could be argued that the similarities between the two plays means that watching them back to back removes some of the charm, particularly of Bane 2, which is filled with references to the first instalment; so perhaps the shows are better seen over separate evenings, but rest assured that if you catch the first one, you’ll be back for the sequel. Bane 3 is already in the works, and after the taught cliff-hanger which closes this double-bill, I’ll be making my way down to the Brighton Fringe to catch its premiere, and I suggest you do the same.

Bane and Bane 2 are playing at the Tristan Bates Theatre until the 29th January, tickets and more information on their website.