The Green Hornet (NOW Comics)

The Green Hornet is a masked crime fighter. Originally created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker for an American radio program in the 1930s, the character has appeared in other media as well, including film serials in the 1940s, a network television program in the 1960s, and multiple comic book series from the 1940s to the 1990s. Though various incarnations sometimes change details, in most incarnations the Green Hornet is Britt Reid, a newspaper publisher by day who by night goes out in his masked "Green Hornet" identity to fight crime as a vigilante, accompanied by his similarly masked Asian manservant Kato and driving a car, equipped with advanced technology, called "Black Beauty".
One relatively minor aspect of the character which 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 the hero the Ranger's grand-nephew.


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 Lone Ranger connection of radio shows that ran from 1936 to 1952, 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. In this interpretation, the Britt of the radio series had fought crime as the Hornet in the 1930s and 1940s before retiring.

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.

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.


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