Jump to content

Green Hornet

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 198.74.38.59 (talk) at 16:59, 20 September 2010 (→Dynamite Entertainment). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Green Hornet (disambiguation).
The Green Hornet
Publication information
First appearanceThe Green Hornet radio program (January 31, 1936)
Created byGeorge W. Trendle
and Fran Striker
In-story information
Alter egoBritt Reid
PartnershipsKato
AbilitiesGenius-level intelligence
Master detective
Martial arts master

The Green Hornet is a masked superhero, created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker for an American radio program in the 1930s. The character also has appeared in film serials in the 1940s, a network television program in the 1960s, and multiple comic book series from the 1940s to the present (2010). Though various incarnations sometimes change details, in most incarnations the Green Hornet is Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher by day who goes out in his masked "Green Hornet" identity at night to fight crime as a vigilante, accompanied by his similarly masked Asian Wheelman Kato -- who drives their car, equipped with advanced technology, called "Black Beauty". The Green Hornet is often presented as possessing fair to above average hand-to-hand combat skills and is often armed with a gun that sprays knock-out gas (a sonic blast weapon called the "Hornet's Sting" was added to his arsenal for the television series).

Originally, the radio program was to be called The Hornet, but the name was changed to The Green Hornet so that it could be more easily trademarked. One relatively minor aspect of the character that tends to be given limited exposure in the actual productions is his blood relationship to The Lone Ranger, another character created by Striker. The Lone Ranger's nephew was Dan Reid. In the Green Hornet radio shows, the Hornet's father was likewise named Dan Reid, making Britt Reid the Lone Ranger's great-nephew.

The Lone Ranger property was sold to another company in the 1950s, which resulted in a legal complication that precluded The Lone Ranger being directly associated with the Green Hornet (though a comic book from NOW Comics depicted the Britt Reid's living room furnished with a painting of a man dressed very similarly to the Lone Ranger, and the radio series had expressly indicated the presence of just such a portrait hanging there).

During World War II, the radio show's title was used as a codename for SIGSALY, secret encryption equipment used in the war. "The Green Hornet" also became a popular nickname for Lieutenant-General George S. Patton, due to the unique and attention-getting uniform that he proposed for tank crews, which featured a gold-painted football helmet. Supposedly, while Patton was testing it after development (which he funded out of his own pocket), one Army trooper said "Look! It's the Green Hornet!" and the name followed Patton for years[citation needed].

Radio series

The character premiered in The Green Hornet, an American radio program that ran on WXYZ (the same local Detroit station which originated The Lone Ranger), the Mutual Broadcasting System and the network known through its succession of various owners as NBC Blue, the Blue Network and the ABC Network from January 31, 1936 to December 5, 1952.

The series detailed the adventures of Britt Reid, debonair newspaper publisher by day, crime-fighting masked hero at night:

With his faithful valet Kato, Britt Reid, daring young publisher, matches wits with the Underworld, risking his life so that criminal and racketeers within the law may feel its weight by the sting of the Green Hornet!
During World War II, this was changed to:
... matches wits with racketeers and saboteurs, risking his life so that criminals and enemy spies will feel the weight of the law by the sting of the Green Hornet!

After the revving of the Black Beauty motor, the announcer would then say:

Ride with Britt Reid in the thrilling adventure [title of episode inserted]! The Green Hornet strikes again!

When the series first began in 1936, this was originally:

Ride with Britt Reid as he races toward another thrilling adventure! The Green Hornet strikes again!

and after the thrumming of the hornet sound, Britt Reid would then call out:

"Hurry, Kato! Here's where we smash a [type of criminal operation featured in the episode inserted] racket!"

The opening sequence of the radio show originally began with the announcer proclaiming that the Green Hornet "hunts the biggest of all game ... public enemies that even the G-Men cannot reach," referring to FBI agents. Bureau chief J. Edgar Hoover objected to the line's implication that some crime fighting was beyond the abilities of the FBI, and it was changed to "public enemies who try to destroy our America."[1]

The vigilante nature of his operation quickly resulted in his being declared an outlaw himself, and Britt Reid decided to play to it. The Green Hornet became thought of as one of his city's biggest criminals, allowing him to walk into suspected racketeers' offices and ply them for information, or even demand a cut of their profits. In doing so, the Green Hornet usually provoking them to attack him to remove this competitor, giving him license to defeat and leave them for the police without raising suspicion as to his true motives.

He would be accompanied by his similarly masked but unnamed chauffeur/bodyguard/enforcer, who was also Reid's valet, Kato, initially described as Japanese, and eventually as Filipino. A widely held but mistaken belief is that the show's writers switched from one nationality to the other immediately after the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by the Empire of Japan; in fact this happened well before direct U.S. involvement in the war.

Specifically, in and up to 1939, in the series' opening narration, Kato was called Britt Reid's "Japanese valet" and from 1940 to '45 he was Reid's "faithful valet." However, in June of 1941, in the episode "Walkout for Profit," about 14 minutes into the episode, Reid specifically noted Kato having a Philippine origin and thus he became Reid's "Filipino valet" as of that point.[2] When the characters were used in the first of a pair of movie serials, the politically perceptive producers of 1939 had Kato's nationality given as Korean.

Music

The radio show used Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" as its theme music, blended with a hornet buzz created on a theremin, and "The Infernal Dance of King Koshchei" from Igor Stravinsky's The Firebird, usually used after this announced part:

Stepping through a secret panel in the rear of the closet in his bedroom, Britt Reid and Kato went along a narrow passageway built within the walls of the apartment itself. This passage led to an adjoining building which fronted on a dark side street. Though supposedly abandoned, this building served as the hiding place for the sleek, super-powered "Black Beauty," streamlined car of The Green Hornet. [Sound of Reid and Kato getting into car] Britt Reid pressed a button. [Sound of car starting] The great car roared into life. [Sound of revving engine] A section of the wall in front raised automatically, then closed as the gleaming "Black Beauty" sped into the darkness. [Sound of engine roaring and car driving away]

Other famous classical works used as incidental music for the series included Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Symphony, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, Ludwig van Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony, Paul Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice, Antonin Dvorak's New World Symphony. Modest Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain and the Overture to Richard Wagner's The Flying Dutchman.

Relationship to The Lone Ranger

Britt Reid is a blood relative of The Lone Ranger. The character of Dan Reid, who appeared on the Lone Ranger program as the Masked Man's nephew, was also featured on the Green Hornet as Britt Reid's father, making the Green Hornet the great-nephew of the Lone Ranger.

Confirming this was the November 11, 1947, radio show episode "Too Hot to Handle": After his secret identity was uncovered in a previous episode, "Exposed" (broadcast October 28, 1947), by Linda Travers, a novice reporter secretly hired by Britt's father to check up on him, Britt told his father Dan that he was the masked Green Hornet. After his initial shock and anger, Dan Reid referred to a "pioneer ancestor" of Britt's that he himself had ridden alongside with in Texas, a man who rode a horse and acted as a vigilante, and expressed his pride in and love for his son. As he explained this, the Lone Ranger theme briefly played in the background.[3]

Actors

The Green Hornet was played by:

The role of Kato was originated by Raymond Hayashi but handled through most of the run by Roland Parker, who also voiced "The Newsboy" at the conclusion of each episode who hawked the "Extra" edition of The Sentinel that carried the story of the weekly racket or spy ring being smashed, concluding with:

"Read all about it! Green Hornet still at large! Sentinel Ex-tree, paper!"

Mickey Tolan was the radio series' final Kato. Bruce Lee was the 66-67 television series Kato. Jim Jewell directed the series until 1938.

Various WXYZ staff announcers served as narrator of The Green Hornet, most notably Mike Wallace.

Other characters

Other major characters in the radio series included:

Friends

  • Britt Reid's secretary Lenore Case, known as "Casey" and formerly secretary to Britt's father before Britt took over as publisher of The Daily Sentinel, was played by Jim Jewell's sister, Lee Allman (Lenore Jewell Allman), the only actress to play Lenore Case during the entire run of the series. Lee wanted to play a part in a radio series at WXYZ so Jim had her written into The Green Hornet. Miss Case made no secret of her admiration of the Green Hornet, was loyal to Britt but sometimes exasperated by his "playboy" ways and was the only one who could verbally put down Mike Axford. Beginning December 9, 1947 with Britt Reid's approval, Miss Case herself sometimes joined either Lowery or Axford on assignments. She became aware of her boss' double life only in the later years of the run (specifically in the episode "Miss Case Keeps a Secret", February 17, 1948).
  • Mike Axford (originated by and played by Jim Irwin until his death in July of 1938, then played for most of the series by Gil Shea), a bombastic former policeman who originally had been hired by Britt Reid's father as a bodyguard for Britt, but who drifted into becoming a reporter for The Daily Sentinel by virtue of his contacts at Police Headquarters (especially his best friend Sergeant Burke, known usually as "Sarge"). He was the most dedicated pursuer of the Green Hornet (while expressing his admiration for the Hornet's ability to both smash criminals and elude the authorities). He was known for his pet phrases "Holy Crow!" and "Sufferin' Snakes!" and his usual parting phrase "See ya later. So long!"
When Irwin fell ill in mid-December 1936, Mike Axford was written out of the series for a few weeks by being shot and wounded in the line of duty until Irwin returned in mid-January 1937. Irwin suffered a stroke in January 1938 and was forced to leave the series, causing the Axford character to be written out with the explanation that Axford had been ordered by Dan Reid to return to the West Coast. The character's "space" was filled by Michael Axford's brother Timothy in October 1938 but was dropped in April 1939 with no explanation, and Mike Axford officially returned (played by Gil Shea) in the July 4, 1939 episode "Put It On Ice".
  • Gunnigan, the irascible city editor of The Daily Sentinel (whose temper invariably got worse in the presence of Axford or even when Axford was talking to him on the phone).
  • Ed Lowery (played by Jack Petruzzi), one of The Sentinel's best reporters, who also admired the Hornet.
  • Marjorie "Clicker" Binney, a photographer for The Sentinel who usually teamed up with Lowery on news assignments and filled in as Britt Reid's secretary on those occasions when Lenore Case was away (usually only known as and referred to as "Clicker", her first name was revealed in the June 29, 1939 episode "Pavement Condemned"). After "Clicker"'s character was written out of the series, a letter received from "Clicker" in the February 28, 1943 episode "The Corpse That Wasn't There" states that she has become a Second Officer in the WACS stationed in North Africa.
  • "Clicker"'s place on The Sentinel was filled on May 2, 1942 by Gale Manning, whose southern drawl and "dumb southern belle" manner (which didn't fool Britt Reid but totally irritated both Lowery and Axford, especially when she managed to get information or stories that neither man could) hid both her intelligence and her ability as a top-notch reporter.
  • Linda Travis was formerly Dan Reid's secretary who dreamed of a newspaper career. She was introduced in the episode "High Pressure" (October 14, 1947) when Dan Reid decided to send her East to get a job on The Daily Sentinel in order to keep a watchful eye on how Britt Reid conducted himself as the Sentinel's publisher. She arrived on October 21, 1947 ("Marked Money") and was hired by Britt on merit. In the next week's episode "Exposed!" (October 28, 1957), she discovered the Green Hornet's true identity, but chose to become an ally of the Hornet and was present on November 11, 1947 ("Too Hot to Handle") when Britt revealed his secret identity to his father. However, her feelings for Britt Reid became too strong and she decided to leave The Sentinel and go back West ("Girl in Peril", December 9, 1947). When Britt Reid traveled West to visit his father ("Tickets to the Rosebowl", December 30, 1947), she assisted in his bringing down Oliver Perry. In the May 18, 1948 episode "The Travis Case", Linda was kidnapped by gunmen on the orders of Oliver Perry and a Los Angeles racketeer because they suspected that she had a connection with the Green Hornet and planned to force her to reveal the Hornet's identity. Linda refused to talk and was killed by her captors in a hit-and-run when she attempted to escape.
  • Another confidant, Police Commissioner James Higgins, did not come into existence until near the end of the series; he was introduced in the November 11, 1947 episode "Too Hot to Handle" as an old friend of Dan Reid's who was being blackmailed and who was rescued by the Green Hornet. The following week, Britt and Dan Reid confided the Hornet's secret identity to Higgins in the episode "The Man on Top" (November 18, 1947).

Enemies

Three major foes for The Green Hornet included the mysterious "Mr. Big", a criminal mastermind introduced in the episode "Death Takes Two For One" (broadcast August 19, 1940) who became part of a storyline pitting the Hornet against him in an ongoing battle.which took place in the following episodes:

  • "Add Up To Zero" (August 21, 1940)
  • "Acid Makes The Test" (August 26, 1940)
  • "Prescription Refilled" (August 28, 1940)
  • "Murder and Mystery" (September 2, 1940) which concluded the arc with the unmasking of Mr. Big in a confrontation between himself and Britt Reid.

The next major villain was "Mr. X", who first appeared in "Walkout for Profit" (broadcast June 21, 1941) and battled the Hornet in:

  • "Murder for Mr. X" (June 28, 1941)
  • "Money for Mr. X" (July 5, 1941)
  • "Murder Across The Boards" (July 12, 1941)
  • "Mr. X Marks the Spot" (July 19, 1941)

The final major opponent for the Hornet was Oliver Perry (1944-49), a famous but unscrupulous private detective who repeatedly returned to try and unmask The Green Hornet. Perry suspected Britt Reid of being the Hornet but was never able to prove it, and episodes featuring him always ended with the Hornet either outwitting him or humiliating him, if not both, to the point where he was forced to leave town. He first appeared in the episode "The Great Detective" (December 26, 1944) and continued to plague the Hornet in:

  • "The Return of Oliver Perry" (August 2, 1945)
  • "Unexpected Meeting" (August 23, 1945)
  • "The Last of Oliver Perry" (February 23, 1946), the first episode in which Perry resorts to illegal means to prove the identity of the Hornet
  • "Grand Larcenty on Wheels" (April 20, 1946)
  • "Oliver Perry Tries Again" (September 7, 1946)
  • "The Woman and Oliver Perry" (January 12, 1947)
  • "Tickets to the Rosebowl" (December 30, 1947); it is revealed that Perry has lost his license as a detective and turned to crime. The episode concludes with a vicious fist-fight between Perry and the Green Hornet ending in Reid's defeating Perry.
  • "The Travis Case" (May 18, 1948); in this episode, Linda Travis is kidnapped on Perry's orders but escapes and is killed in a hit-and-run by a gangster working for Perry.
  • "Oliver Perry - Escaped Convict" (November 1, 1949)

In other media

Film serials

Main article: The Green Hornet (serial)
Main article: The Green Hornet Strikes Again!

The Green Hornet was adapted into two movie serials. Disliking the treatment Republic gave The Lone Ranger in two serials, George W. Trendle took his Number 2 property to Universal Pictures, and he was much happier with the results. The first serial, titled simply The Green Hornet and released in 1940, starred Gordon Jones in the title role, albeit dubbed by original radio Hornet Al Hodge whenever the hero's mask was in place, while The Green Hornet Strikes Again! of 1941 starred Warren Hull. Keye Luke, the famous #1 son of the Charlie Chan films, played Kato in both; also starring in both serials were Anne Nagel as "Lenore Case" and Wade Boteler as "Mike Axford". Even though America wasn't in the war yet, Kato's nationality is changed to Korean. Ford Beebe directed both serials, partnered by Ray Taylor on The Green Hornet and John Rawlins on The Green Hornet Strikes Again, with George H. Plympton and Basil Dickey contributing to the screenplays for both serials. The Green Hornet ran for 13 chapters while The Green Hornet Strikes Again had 15 installments, and in both serials the plotlines followed the radio series style, with the Hornet and Kato smashing a different racket in each chapter. In each serial, they were all linked to a single major crime syndicate which was itself put out of business in the finale, while the radio program had the various rackets completely independent of each other.

Television

Main article: The Green Hornet (TV series)

The Green Hornet was a television series shown on the ABC US television network. It aired for the 1966-1967 television season and starred Van Williams as the Green Hornet/Britt Reid, and Bruce Lee as Kato.[4] In

Comic books

Early comics

Green Hornet comic books began in December 1940. The series, titled Green Hornet Comics, were published by Helnit Comics (sometimes called Holyoke), with the writing attributed to Fran Striker. This series ended after six issues.

Several months later, Harvey Comics launched their own version, beginning with issue #7. This series ended in 1949, having run to issue #47. (The title was changed to Green Hornet Fights Crime as of issue #34 and Green Hornet, Racket Buster with issue #44). Harvey additionally used the character in the public-service one-shot War Victory Comics in 1942,[5] and gave him one adventure in each of two issues of All-New Comics, #13 (where he was also featured on the cover[6]) and #14[7] in 1946.

Dell Comics published a one-shot with the character (officially entitled Four Color #496) in 1953, inexplicably several months after the radio series ceased production.[8] Both stories therein share titles with late-era radio episodes ("The Freightyard Robberies," June 23, 1949, and "[The] Proof of Treason," October 17, 1952) and might be adaptations.

In 1967 Gold Key Comics produced a series based on the TV show, which reflected that program's short life with a brief three-issue run.[9]

NOW Comics

Beginning in 1989, NOW Comics produced a line of Green Hornet comics, initially written by Ron Fortier and illustrated by Jeff Butler. Inspired by the aforementioned Lone Ranger connection of radio days, they attempted to reconcile the different versions of the character into a multi-generational epic. There was even a portrait of the Ranger in the Reid family's mansion, though due to the legal separation of the two properties, his mask covered his entire face (as in the Republic serials) and he could not be called by name.[10] In this interpretation, the Britt of the radio series had fought crime as the Hornet in the 1930s and 1940s before retiring. In NOW's first story in the line, back-dated to 1945 (in Vol. 1, #1, November 1989), the original Kato (named in the comic series Ikano Kato)'s nationality is revealed to be Japanese, but that because of the political/popular feeling of that time against the Japanese and through Britt Reid's efforts, this had been hidden and Kato was officially "Filipino", thus preventing him from being sent to an American internment camp. A shocking twist to the comic series' modern-day storyline is that Britt Reid is murdered in Vol. 1, #5, March 1990, on the orders of mob-heiress Angela DeVane and at that very moment back in Japan, Ikano Kato suddenly awakens from a deep sleep, telling his wife sorrowfully, "My friend is dead."

The television character was revealed to be the namesake nephew of the original Britt Reid, referred to as "Britt Reid II" in the genealogy, who took up his uncle's mantle after his friend, an up-and-coming political reformer, is assassinated. In the comic, his nephew, Paul Reid, a concert pianist, takes on the role of the Hornet after his older brother Alan is killed on his very first mission and is assisted by a new, female Kato trained by Ikano Kato.

The addition of the female character, Mishi Kato (the much younger half-sister of the 60s version), caused problems between the publishers and the property's owners, who withdrew approval of that character and mandated the return of "the Bruce Lee Kato",[11] named in the comic series Hayashi Kato (Fortier took this from the surname of the first actor to play the role on radio[12]) and revealed to be Ikano Kato's son. Hayashi Kato had become a famous star in ninja movies after Britt Reid II's Green Hornet retired due to a heart attack, and returned to become "Kato" to Britt II's nephew Alan when he became the Green Hornet. When the neophyte vigilante was killed in an explosion on his very first mission, Hayashi blamed himself and fell into a period of alcoholism from which he finally emerged to see Paul Reid and Mishi don the masks. After Mishi's departure he again became "Kato" to Paul's Green Hornet in Vol. 1, #11, September 1991.

Mishi Kato's sudden departure in Vol. 1, #10, August 1991, was explained as orders from her father to travel to Zurich, Switzerland, to replace an injured automobile designer at a facility of the Kato family corporation, Nippon Today. However, Mishi Kato returned in the second series (begun in September 1991) as "The Crimson Wasp" on a mission of bloody vengeance against the criminal leader calling himself Johnny Dollar, who had had her fiancé (a Swiss police officer) and his daughter (from a previous marriage) murdered, an attack which also caused the unknowingly pregnant Mishi to miscarry. Her resultant vendetta brought her into conflict with Paul Reid's Green Hornet who tried to prevent her from committing murder but seemingly failed to stop her killing Johnny Dollar in Vol. 2, #14, October 1992 (however, Johnny Dollar was revealed to have survived in Vol. 2, #29, January 1994). Mishi did return to her "Kato" persona one more time alongside Paul and Hayashi in Vol. 2, #34, June 1994, when the Hornet attended a gangland meeting with both Katos flanking him as guards/enforcers—the rules stated that each "boss" was allowed two "boys." In NOW's final two issues (Vol. 2, #39 & 40), a fourth Kato, Kono Kato (the grandson of Ikano Kato and nephew to Hayashi and Mishi) took over as Paul's fellow masked vigilante.

Another major character was Diana Reid, the original Britt Reid's daughter, who had become District Attorney some time after the TV series' Frank Scanlon had retired, and used her position to provide information and assistance to the Green Hornet exactly as Scanlon had (Ron Fortier's original intent was for her to be police commissioner, as Higgins had been in the radio series[13]). As the comic series progressed, a romantic relationship formed between Diana and Hayashi (at one point Diana thought she was pregnant with Hayashi's child, and in the very last issue is discussing wedding plans with his sister) and a possible bond between Mishi and Paul was hinted at.

There were two main Green Hornet series from NOW, as well as various annuals, mini-series, and spin-offs. The first series, referred to as Volume One, began in 1989 and had reached 14 issues when the company suspended operations for several months. Volume Two began in 1991 and lasted 40 issues, ending in 1995 because the publishers went out of business. Like Tonto before him, Kato (specifically, the Bruce Lee-based one) got his spin-off solo adventures: a four-issue miniseries in 1991, and a two-issue follow-up in 1992, both written by Mike Baron. He also wrote a third, first announced as a two-issue mini, then as a graphic novel, but it was never released due to the company's collapse. Tales of the Green Hornet, consisting of nine issues spread out over three volumes (two, four, and three issues, respectively), presented stories of the two previous Hornets, with Volume One having a plotline, starring Green Hornet II, provided by Van Williams, the actor who played that character's basis on TV. The follow-ups, beginning with the most detailed version of the Green Hornet's origin in any professional medium, were written by James Van Hise. Other mini-series included The Green Hornet: Solitary Sentinel (a three-issue story retroactively set between Volumes 1 and 2, with a major role for Britt II) and Sting of the Green Hornet (a four-issue series starring the original Green Hornet and set during World War II, involving Nazi espionage and in which the Hornet and Kato encounter unnamed versions of The Shadow and the future Captain America. They also barely miss running into reporters who look like Clark Kent and Lois Lane).

Another three-issue series (June – August, 1993), entitled Dark Tomorrow, focused on a Green Hornet in the future of 2080 who had actually turned into the criminal he was pretending to be and who was fought by the Kato of that era in an effort to set him back on the right path. This series featured a hallucinatory episode in which the future Green Hornet was attacked and beaten by each of his Green Hornet ancestors (in attacking order: Britt Reid I using his gas gun, Britt Reid II with his Hornet's Sting, Paul Reid with his fists and the future Hornet's own father) and the unnamed Lone Ranger as well. An interesting twist is that the Green Hornet of Dark Tomorrow has dark hair and Asian features beneath his hologram mask, while the future Kato has blond hair and Caucasian features. This Kato even said that they were blood related. Furthermore, the art indicated that the Dark Tomorrow Hornet was the grandson of Paul Reid and Mishi Kato. The main Hornet of this comic is named Clayton "Clay" Reid, and a family tree feature in The Green Hornet, Vol. 2, #26, October 1993, gives his father the first name Gordon and the only depicted future Kato the given name Luke (these are references to actors Clayton Moore {the Lone Ranger}, Gordon Jones {the Hornet in the first Saturday matinee serial} and Keye Luke {Kato in both serials}).[14]

Discounting depictions of the cars utilized by the 1940s and 1960s Hornets, there were two different versions of the Black Beauty used in the NOW comic series. The first was based on the Pontiac Banshee.[15] Painted black and green, as a sports/exotic car, it was a big change from the two Black Beauty limousines used by previous Green Hornets. With the realization that such a distinctive vehicle was inappropriate to the nature of the Hornet operation, the series writers created a storyline in which the Black Beauty was destroyed and replaced by a 4 door sedan, this time based on the 91-96 Oldsmobile 98 Touring Sedan.

Dynamite Entertainment

In March 2009 Dynamite Entertainment announced that they have acquired the license to produce Green Hornet comic books.[16] Their first release has been announced to be a miniseries written by Kevin Smith, adapting his Green Hornet script, from a film project abandoned in 2004.[17] Revamped in 2010 as an ongoing series, the new Green Hornet is set in modern times, and deals with a new cast of heroes and villains. The new Green Hornet, Britt Reid Jr., is the rebellious and spoiled son of Britt Reid Sr., now a retired industrial and family man. When Britt Reid Sr. is slain by the Black Hornet, a yakuza mobster whose family was shamed by the original Green Hornet, the aging (but still physically fit) Kato returns, along with his deadly daughter, Mulan Kato, who has taken over the costumed identity of her father, to destroy the physical evidence of Reid's secret identity and bring Britt Reid Jr. to China, for training and safekeeping. Upon knowing that Mulan Kato has left to prowl the mob alone, Reid Jr. refuses Kato's help and decides to take over his family heirloom to rush in her aid. [18]. This incarnation of the Green Hornet, despite being physically in his prime, is still shown as unexperienced, brash and untrained, marking a starker contrast with the collected, silent, serious and deadly Mulan Kato: despite Katos being, historically, the sidekicks or the equals of the Green Hornets, in this incarnation Reid Jr. acts somewhat as Mulan's sidekick, following her orders and unable to be taken seriously by her [19]

Writer Jai Nitz is also set to begin writing Green Hornet: Parallel Lives, a limited series which serves as a prequel for the upcoming Green Hornet feature film. The series will focus on the early lives and backstories of the film's versions of Britt Reid and Kato.[20]

Prose fiction

Western Publishing subsidiary Whitman Books released four works of text fiction based on the character, targeting younger readers. There were three entries in the children's line of profusely illustrated Big Little Books, The Green Hornet Strikes!, The Green Hornet Returns, and The Green Hornet Cracks Down, in 1940, 1941 and 1942, respectively, all attributed to Fran Striker. In 1966, their line for older juveniles included Green Hornet: Case of the Disappearing Doctor, by Brandon Keith, a tie-in to the television series. At about the same time, Dell Publishing released a mass-market paperback, The Green Hornet in The Infernal Light by Ed Friend, not only derived from the small-screen production as well, but, "allegedly based on one of the TV episodes".[21]

In 2009, Moonstone Books gained the prose license and plans to release at least two Green Hornet anthologies as part of their Chronicles line, which already features other characters such as The Phantom, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, The Spider and Zorro. Green Hornet is set to appear alongside The Phantom in The Phantom Chronicles 2, in a story written by Harlan Ellison. [22]

Parodies

  • The Green Hornet was parodied by Bill Cosby in his c. 1970 syndicated five-minutes-a-day radio program, "The Brown Hornet", which he revived in the late 1970s for his Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids cartoon show. As Cosby described the radio parody on The Tonight Show to Johnny Carson, the Brown Hornet rode in the White Beauty, a 1957 2-door Plymouth, driven by his aide Leroy, and lived in a 5-story walk-up apartment. The Fat Albert version shared only the name, instead being a space-based superhero in a futuristic setting.
  • The 1960s cartoon series Batfink was a parody of both Batman and The Green Hornet. Batfink rode in a pink vehicle called the Battilac, which was driven by his assistant Karate who was a martial artist.

Feature films

Main article: The Green Hornet (2011 film)

One feature-length movie was edited from the last six chapters of the first serial and bore the same title, compiled by Film Shows, Inc. for VHS release by GoodTimes Home Video in 1990. Two others were cut from the television series, to cash in on the subsequent popularity of Bruce Lee. The first, carrying the program's name, was seen in US theaters and in the mid 1990s briefly released on the Video Treasures label in VHS. The other, Fury of the Dragon has been available in America only via the bootleg recording market. Finally, there was an unauthorized feature made in Hong Kong in 1994.[23] Titled Qing feng xia, it starred Kar Lok Chin as a masked hero called Green Hornet (in English subtitles), but dressed like Kato, as seen in the 1960s television version. In fact, one scene had this man being reminded of those who had come before him, and he was shown a standee of Bruce Lee in his Kato costume and mask as one predecessor.

Recent developments

A film version of the character has been in the works for decades. In the 1990s, the magazine Comics Scene reported that George Clooney and Jason Scott Lee were lined up to play the leads. Late in the 90s, music video director Michel Gondry worked with RoboCop screenwriter Edward Neumeier on a possible Green Hornet adaptation.[24] Subsequently, screenwriter John Fusco created a screenplay for the film around 2002.[citation needed]

As of the summer of 2004, Kevin Smith was writing a screenplay for him to direct a new rendition of The Green Hornet which was originally scheduled for release in 2005. It was rumored that Jet Li would portray Kato and Jake Gyllenhaal would play the Green Hornet. In 2004 Kevin Smith put the film on the back burner. After a long downtime in which his status with the project was unknown, Smith announced at the 2006 Wondercon that he officially no longer has anything to do with The Green Hornet.[25]

File:The Green Hornet- 2010 film.jpg
The logo for the 2011 feature film of The Green Hornet.

On June 4, 2008 Sony Pictures announced that, through their subsidiary Columbia Pictures, they are going ahead with plans for a feature film of the superhero to be released on December 22, 2010.[26] The film stars Seth Rogen who, along with Evan Goldberg, also took on writing duties.[27] Sony Pictures announced that the Hong Kong action/comedy star Stephen Chow would direct the film as well as play the role of Kato,[28] however, Chow would later leave the project due to creative differences.[29][30] Michel Gondry was tapped to direct the film instead[31] and Taiwanese actor/singer Jay Chou was recast as Kato.[32] Cameron Diaz appears in the film as a love-interest/reporter. Nicolas Cage was cast as Chudnofsky, the Green Hornet's nemesis,[33] but was replaced by Christoph Waltz.[34][35]

On August 1, 2009, OTR Publishing announced that it had gained a license to publish a new book, The Green Hornet: A History of Radio, Motion-Pictures, Comics and Television. Authored by Martin Grams, Jr. and Terry Salomonson, the 816 page book will document the entire history of The Green Hornet. The book was published March 1, 2010.

Sources

  • Commercial audio releases of many radio series episodes (various labels).
  • Commercial home video releases of both serials (VCI Home Video, and Video Treasures/Anchor Bay, respectively).
  • Home video releases of all television episodes (bootleg market).
  • All three Gold Key Comics comic books.
  • Eighty-one NOW Comics comic books (some letter columns give information about other areas of Green Hornet development).

and

___,___, Radio Mystery and Adventure and Its Appearances in Film, Television and Other Media, McFarland & Company, Inc., 1992.
___,___, "Van Williams After the Mask," Starlog, #135, October 1988, O'Quinn Studios Inc.
___,___, "Where Hornets Swarm," Comics Scene, #9, [October] 1989, Starlog Communications International, Inc.
___,___, "The Grey Hornet," Comics Scene, #15, October 1990, Starlog Communications International, Inc.
  • Osgood, Dick, WYXIE Wonderland, Bowling Green University Press, 1981, (ISBN 0-87972-187-1).
  • Pollard, Maxwell, "is [sic] The Green Hornet's version of Gung-Fu Genuine?," The Best of Bruce Lee, 1974, Rainbow Publications (reprinted from Black Belt, Vol. V, No. 10, October 1967, Rainbow Publications).
___,___, "In Kato's Gung-Fu Action Is Instant," The Best of Bruce Lee, 1974, Rainbow Publications (reprinted from Black Belt, Vol. V, No. 11, November 1967, Rainbow Publications).

References

  1. ^ Harmon, Jim, The Great Radio Heroes, Doubleday and Co., 1967, p. 224.
  2. ^ radio episode "Walkout for Profit", The Green Hornet Collection, Volume 2, Tape 1, Side B, Wireless, 1995 (original airdate: 21 June 1941, Blue Network).
  3. ^ radio episode "Too Hot to Handle," The Green Hornet, November 11, 1947, ABC radio network.
  4. ^ "Getting 'The Green Hornet' off the ground". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-09-13.
  5. ^ War Victory Comics at Grand Comics Database.
  6. ^ All-New Comics #13 at Grand Comics Database.
  7. ^ All-New Comics #14 at Grand Comics Database.
  8. ^ Four Color #496 at Grand Comics Database.
  9. ^ The Green Hornet at Grand Comics Database
  10. ^ Murray, Will, "Where Hornets Swarm," Comics Scene #9, (October) 1989, Starlog Communications International, Inc., p. 41.
  11. ^ Piron, Diane, "The Buzz Word" (letter column), The Green Hornet, Vol. 1, #13, November 1990, NOW Comics.
  12. ^ Murray, Will, "Where Hornets Swarm," Comics Scene #9, (October) 1989, Starlog Communications International, Inc., p. 42.
  13. ^ Murray, Will, "Where Hornets Swarm," Comics Scene #9, (October) 1989, Starlog Communications International, Inc., p. 42.
  14. ^ Dark Tomorrow at Grand Comics Database.
  15. ^ Weis, Joan, "The Buzz Word" (letter column), The Green Hornet Vol. 2, #9, May 1992, NOW Comics.
  16. ^ Dynamite Lands Green Hornet Comic Book License, Newsarama, March 31, 2009.
  17. ^ EW Exclusive: Kevin Smith takes on Batman and the Green Hornet, May 13, 2009.
  18. ^ Green Hornet 1-4 (2010)
  19. ^ Green Hornet #5 (2010)
  20. ^ http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=26322
  21. ^ Weis, Joan, "Buzz Word" (letter column) The Green Hornet, Vol. 2, #36, August 1994, NOW Comics, (letter from Timothy E. Jones).
  22. ^ The Phantom Chronicles 2 from Moonstone Books.
  23. ^ Qing feng xia at IMDb.
  24. ^ The Guardian Interview with Michel Gondry.
  25. ^ News Askew: Talk Back!
  26. ^ Sony Pictures Official Website for The Green Hornet.
  27. ^ Seth Rogen's The Green Hornet gets a green light.
  28. ^ The Green Hornet-Press Release.
  29. ^ Chow no longer to direct Hornet.
  30. ^ "Chow Will No Longer Direct Green Hornet", ComingSoon.net.
  31. ^ Michel Gondry to Direct Green Hornet.
  32. ^ Jay Chou new Kato.
  33. ^ "Nicolas Cage in talks to play Green Hornet villain," Sci Fi Wire, 7/21/2009.
  34. ^ "Nicolas Cage is off Green Hornet" Empire Online 09 September 2009.
  35. ^ First Showing: Christoph Waltz is Villainous Again in The Green Hornet 14 September, 2009.

Radio

Movies

Television

Other

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Green_Hornet&oldid=385939540"