COMICS PORTAL: More Green Hornet, Please!

The Green Hornet is a long-lived mystery hero who has been stopping crime since the 1930s, at least!

Let’s start this discussion with what the Hornet is up to right now!

He’s in the middle of a mini-series featuring a team-up with another hero of the 1940s, Miss Fury. She’s a fictional superheroine from that Golden Age of Comics. She first appeared as The Black Fury on April 6, 1941, a Sunday comic strip distributed by the Bell Syndicate, and created by artist June Tarpé Mills (writing as Tarpé Mills). The strip was retitled Miss Fury in November 1941. This strip ran until 1952.

Here’s the description of the current books:

“When Marla Drake and Britt Reid meet, sparks fly – and it’s not just because of the bullets ricocheting around them! As their alter egos Miss Fury and The Green Hornet, the two vigilantes have very different styles of crimefighting. But when they both turn up to investigate the murder of beloved professor Javier Mercado, they soon discover that they have more in common than they realized: Mercado was a mentor to both of them at different times, back when he too led a double life as the Silver Shrike. With each having a personal stake in finding Mercado’s killer, Drake and Reid must learn how to work together to solve the case if they don’t want to end up sabotaging each other’s efforts. But there’s another, even more compelling reason to join forces: Whoever killed the Silver Shrike is going after other heroes, past and present – and at the top of that list are Miss Fury and the Green Hornet! Award-winning author ALEX SEGURA (Star Wars, Secret Identity) and rising star artist FEDERICO SORRESSA kick off the action in the finest noir tradition in The Green Hornet/Miss Fury #1 – featuring hard-boiled covers from FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA, JAE LEE & JUNE CHUNG, JONATHAN CASE, and JACOB EDGAR!”

This current five-issue run is expected to conclude on May 14 with the fifth and final issue. That book is described this way: “Cornered and defeated, the Green Hornet, Kato, and Miss Fury must put their differences aside and join forces once again when the true villain pulling the strings behind the scenes is finally revealed! But can they overcome their own fears and shared past to save the city from a fate worse than death? Find out as the pulp hero team-up of the century concludes in The Green Hornet/Miss Fury #5,”

I’ve read the first two books of this story, and it is fun in a mystery-man, pulp, noir kind of way. I enjoy that kind of storytelling, so it works for me!

Okay, we’ve delved some into Miss Fury. Let’s explore the Green Hornet!

The Green Hornet is described as a superhero created in 1936 by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker, with input from radio director James Jewell.

Since his 1930s radio debut, the character has appeared in numerous serialized dramas in a wide variety of media. The Green Hornet appeared in film serials in the 1940s, The Green Hornet television series in the 1960s, (which costarred Bruce Lee in his first adult role), multiple comic book series from the 1940s onwards, and a film in 2011.

The Green Hornet is the alter ego of Britt Reid, the wealthy young publisher of the Daily Sentinel newspaper. By night, wearing a long green overcoat, gloves, green fedora hat, and green mask, Reid fights crime as the mysterious vigilante known as The Green Hornet. He is helped by his loyal and similarly masked partner and confidant, Kato, who drives their technologically advanced car, the Black Beauty (which I am a huge fan of). Though both the police and the general public believe the Hornet to be a wanted criminal, Reid uses that perception to help him infiltrate the underworld, leaving behind for the police the criminals and any incriminating evidence he has found.

What I have always found interesting is that, in the original radio incarnation, Britt Reid is the son of Dan Reid, Jr., the nephew of the Lone Ranger (whose first name is never given, making the Green Hornet the great-nephew of the Ranger. The relationship is alluded to at least once in the radio shows, when Dan Reid visits his son to question him about why Britt has never captured the Hornet. On learning the truth behind his son’s dual identity, Dan Reid recalls his days riding with his uncle.

Sadly, the less said about the 2011 Seth Rogen film featuring the character, the better, in my opinion. I get that the comedian lost a ton of weight to play the Hornet, but the movie just didn’t live up to the character’s reputation, at least in my opinion.

Since then, the comics, which have been released first by NOW Comics and currently Dynamite Entertainment, have been the main source of new Hornet stories. Thus, the present Green Hornet/Miss Fury mini-series!

One of the main elements of the Green Hornet’s adventures has been his fighting partner, Kato, played by Bruce Lee in the 1960s TV show. Interestingly enough, many fans feel Lee “stole the show” since he used his stellar martial arts skills there. It was the first time Asian martial arts fighting was seen on American TV, and he remains a favorite even today.

I’ve read stories that indicated Lee, when Kato confronted Robin in their appearance on the Batman TV show on ABC, was supposed to be defeated by him. Lee strenuously objected to this, so the producers at least agreed it should end up being a draw between the two.

A lot of the popularity of martial arts over the years is credited to Lee’s appearances there and in other shows and movies. That was quite the groundbreaking role for Asian actors and performers, so it was ahead of its time!

Many of the recent Green Hornet stories struggle with the character and the facts of his existence. Sometimes, the Hornet is a descendant of Britt Reid; others use the original character. His costume is often the original one envisioned back in the 1940s, while many of the adventures show him wearing the outfit actor Van Williams wore in the 1960s one-season program. He either wears a lot of green, or is hiding behind an outfit of mostly black or darker colors.

Also, given the fact that newspapers are not the main source of news as they were in past years, the Daily Sentinel, the paper Reid owned, may need to be converted into some type of electronic media organization of which the Sentinel is part.

Then, too, in some stories, Kato has aged out of his ability to aid the Hornet, so his daughter, Mulan Kato, has taken his place. I never warmed up to this development because that inevitably led to the trope of the two engaging in a romantic relationship. That kind of thing just never appealed to me. In my opinion, not every relationship is a sexual one, least of all a fighting team.

I’ve recently been rewatching the 1960s ABC show, and it was so much better than I remember!

I’m hoping that the Green Hornet/Miss Fury mini-series will indicate that there remains a lot of interest in the Hornet and his exploits. My fondest wish is that the Hornet will get an ongoing series, perhaps with Segura and the other creators taking him and Kato on even more adventures! So, be sure to buy the book when it comes out in individual issues or perhaps a trade collection so there will be more Hornet stories coming our way soon!

What do you think? Is the Green Hornet popular enough to sell more comics on a regular basis? Is there one version you would prefer to read if that happens? Should the Reid family be in charge of a more modern communications conglomerate, for instance? Feel free to share your opinions below!

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