Kevin Smith's Green Hornet #2: "Happily Ever After"

I've started to read Moonstone's first Green Hornet anthology and will report on that a little later, but in the meantime we'll move forward a bit with the modern-day Dynamite comics version of the character.

The cover below is by Joe Benitez. The three variants will appear at the end of the post. 

The Green Hornet is back, and Dynamite is the new home for the avenging hero and his faithful sidekick, Kato (and, their ride, Black Beauty, 'natch!)! Issue #2 continues the incredible opening blast from Dynamite and Kevin Smith: the original Green Hornet struggles with forces put in motion against him while his son unwittingly becomes a pawn in a world not of his making! Never before seen, this comic adaptation of the unproduced Kevin Smith screenplay is THE comic book event of 2010 (and beyond!)

We pick up right where the first issue ended, with a Sentinel newspaper editorial meeting, run by top man Britt Reid senior. They move on from discussing paparazzi pictures of Britt junior's bare ass to a variety of other topics, including former district attorney Frank Scanlon's bid for re-election as mayor.  

What else is going on in the city? Why, a visit from Hirohito Juuma. 

The elder Juuma's criminal activities, of course, were stopped by Reid senior in a flashback shown in issue one. There's a whole theme here about not judging the son by the father, and perhaps vice versa, obviously mirroring the Reid dynamic. 

Continuing a busy morning, Reid heads home to oversee planning for a fundraising party for Scanlon. The two old friends discuss what appears to be, at this point anyway, a failing campaign for re-election.

But a man's got to eat so Reid runs off to meet with his son for lunch. There is some reluctance there, however, as the two don't always get along great. And sure enough, even on the anniversary of senior's wife's/junior's mum's passing, it takes little time for the verbal barbs to be unleashed. 

And yet...junior ends up feeling some guilt over the blow up, and plans to attend the party for Scanlon. 

Another attendee at said party is the afore-mentioned Hirohito Juuma, by invitation from the senior Reid. 

A mysterious young woman also joins the party, though she appears she might be crashing. 

Junior tries to charm this newcomer, but his attempt goes over like a turd in a punch bowl.

Not that the party is total bore, however. Things pick up considerably when ninjas suddenly crash through every window.

It's not a party until the ninjas show up. 

Both Reids start to fight them off but struggle against the sheer numbers, until the mysterious lady visitor from earlier gets involved. 

She and young Reid show very sound combat chemistry, wouldn't you know. 

But when the hornet darts come out, the elder Reid finally clues in. 

Maybe! 

An issue that was mostly conversational and stage-setting had a great finish. It's not like we didn't know who she was as she appeared at the Reids' front door; it had been revealed well before the issue's release that Kato would be a young woman this time around. Hell, she was on the previous issue's covers!

But they still gave her an impactful entrance. Well done. That is a scene I would have loved to have seen played out on the big screen. 

On to the variants. 

John Cassaday

Alex Ross

Stephen Segovia

1942, June: The Case of The Museum Mummy

This was the second of two stories featured in Harvey Comics' first issue Green Hornet Comics, in 1942.  The first, entitled The Case of The Murdering Clown, was reviewed at the end of March.

The museum's exhibit of Tutankiem's tomb is a huge deal in town and therefore worthy of coverage by the Sentinel newspaper. Britt Reid, owner and publisher of said newspaper, smells a good story and decides to take in the event with his bodyguard and general fixer, Michael Axford. They dismiss the legend of a curse on the tomb as superstitious silliness. And yet...

Bet you feel like quite the jackass now, Sneed!

When the body is searched, a small needle is found. It is speculated, then, than Sneed was...murdered! 

This is a mystery better investigated by the Green Hornet, and so Reid returns to the museum as that alter ego later that night. 

That gentleman is named Barat and he is one of the museum officials. He begins to explain that he has seen the mummy of Tutankiem wander the halls of the museum, but then collapses similarly to how Sneed did. Another poisoned dart! 

After such clever deduction, the Green Hornet takes the next logical step, and beats a confession out of Corbin.  

Fair question, which the Green Hornet answers by jumping out of the nearest window. Kato, who had earlier been instructed to wait in the car nearby, races off with the Hornet. 

And that's about it. There's really nothing all that noteworthy about this one; the story is little more than filler which, no doubt, is why it was the second one featured in the book. It could have been written with just about any character and you wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Harmless fun.

Radio: Trouble Hits The Trolley (1936)

I've begun tracking down the Green Hornet radio shows that began in 1936.

Between YouTube, Spotify, etc., there is no lack of resources, but most will only provide minimal detail about the episodes that they features. Ideally, I'd like to get the shows in some sort of coherent order.

According to Tangent Online, the episode below was the seventh one produced, and it aired in late February 1936.

Nikola Tesla Wireless Radio is our "provider" this time, and if you enjoy radio episodes from that era, I would encourage you to review NTWR's catalogue. Its accumulation of playlists is impressive and, if this episode is a good one to judge by, the sound quality is quite good.

But for now, enjoy Trouble Hits The Trolley!  

The Green Hornet was voiced by Albert Hodge, seen below in a promotional image from ABC Photo Archives.

Dec. 1989: Now Comics' The Green Hornet, Volume 1, Issue #2 (part 2)

This continues our look into the second issue of Now Comics first volume of Green Hornet comics.

At about the halfway point of this issue, upon returning with Kato in the Black Beauty from breaking up a purchase of illegal guns, the Green Hornet thinks back to where it all began for this version of the character, in 1968.

There is a rather jarring change in the art department here. 

Nice touch here. The moment that the elder Britt refers to was described in diary entry in the previous issue. 

So the system works. Let's back pocket that for a few more pages as we travel to Japan to see how one Hayashi Kato is doing. 

An impressed father (named Ikano) approaches Hayashi as Hayashi concludes a sparring session with his brothers.

Hayashi is greeted warmly at the Reid estate where, inevitably, the conversation turns toward the possibility of restoring the Green Hornet / Kato duo. But the younger Britt remains opposed to the idea. 

Throughout this portion of the issue, we are shown young Britt as a television anchorman delivering some harsh news of the day, involving war in Vietnam and the murder of a civil rights activist in Alabama. But his faith in the system is finally broken following an incident closer to home.  

Shocked and bloodied, Britt returns home where Hayashi has been putting the engineering work towards refurbishing an old car with the elder Britt. He delivers the news of the assassination of his former roomie. 

And so rose the second generation of NOW's Green Hornet, clearly a labour of love from writer Ron Fortier.

Dec. 1989: Now Comics' The Green Hornet, Volume 1, Issue #2 (part 1)

I've been eager to get back into the Now Comics series from 1989 so we'll do that now, but we're going to split the issue into two posts for a couple of reasons which we'll get into later.  

The story begins in early November of that year. The Reid Country Estate looks like it's taken substantial fire damage. A masked man enters the house and begins looking through personal documents belonging to Britt Reid. 

We cut to the younger of the survivors. Paul has invited a young lady named Heather to the Reid Tower to help study for a history exam and to meet his uncle Britt. Writer Ron Fortier uses this occasion to walk us through the Reid family's current living arrangements and, nudge nudge wink wink, the Green Hornet's operations. 

Speaking of Hayashi Kato...

Britt makes an appearance and introductions and evening plans are hatched. For Britt and Kato, that means an after-supper excursion in the Black Beauty.

The Hornet boldly interrupts a money-for-guns exchange between a balding fat ass named Wilson and a clown in a sleeveless shirt who is referred to a Captain Larsen.

Larsen makes reference to the guns being delivered "as promised" to someone named Garrick, who would then be this Wilson's employer. I have to assume that name will appear in future issues. 

That's the cue to throw down. Larsen gets the gas gun treatment from GH and Kato makes short work of the goons. 

As the various thugs scramble to run out of the barn in which the meeting takes place, the Hornet produces a remote control device with which he ensures that the Beauty gets in on the action. 

The police will be called in to pick up the various ruffians, and that ends the night's festivities. But on the way home, Britt is feeling nostalgic. He reminisces about their start in 1968 and...that's where we'll veer off. 

From here on in, it might as well be a whole other issue. The artist changes, as do the focus and setting. It'll get its own little spotlight a little bit down the road.