The Green Hornet Chronicles (Moonstone, 2010)

Moonstone's first Green Hornet anthology has drawn the "cottage reading" assignment. So since I tend to pick it up only on weekends, it's taking awhile to get through, but it's been quite enjoyable so far.

The cover alone is among my favourite images of the crime-fighting duo. It is the work of Glenn Orbik. 

Rubén Procopio contributes some spectacular interior art to launch every story. I have the digital version of the book, and do not know how it compares to the physical copy, but am left wishing the images were larger, like a cover for every individual story.

The anthology was very much meant to feature the television series version of the character. The two paragraphs below are copied from the solicitation text. 

It’s the mid 1960’s, the political climate is shaky, there’s civil unrest, freedom and equality issues erupt everywhere from film to music to out in the streets.

On police records, the Green Hornet is actually a wanted criminal, a master manipulator, a crime boss who has his fingers in every pie. In reality, The Green Hornet is actually Britt Reid, owner-publisher of the Daily Sentinel. His goal is to destroy crime from within by posing as a criminal himself.

The TV-version focus is further accentuated in an introduction by the man who portrayed the Green Hornet in that series, Van Williams! The book also includes an afterword by Black Beauty designer and builder Dean Jeffries.

Will Murray's story, The Night Car, was a excellent choice to kick off the book. A race against time as attempts are made to track the Green Hornet's hideout through the Black Beauty's movements, all the personalities and gadgets that make the Hornet stories fun are included. 

Unfortunately, Moonstone's books often suffer from poor editing, I'm sorry to say. The gaffes will not ruin the overall clarity of story, but it does draw you out of it for a moment. The errors range from missing quotation marks...

...spelling mistakes...

...or incorrect paragraph breaks. 

If you're bothered by that sort of thing, you may need to approach this book mentally prepared for a fair amount of it. Otherwise, so far, I think the book works well for those who remember the television series fondly, and those who are curious about the character and would like a simple introduction.