The Green Hornet: Radio show, TV series, Comic and Movie Legend

The Green Hornet is well into his ninth decade of being a supporting player in main stream pop culture, despite perhaps never reaching the heights of his more illustrious counterpart, Batman.

The character was created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker for a radio show in the 1930s. He is generally the alter ego of Britt Reid, a wealthy media mogul/newspaper owner and accompanied by Kato, his skilled body guard and driver.

From the Green Hornet radio show, Reid and his Green Hornet alter ego soon moved into all types of main stream media. He featured in Green Hornet comic books, film serials, fiction books, merchandise, movies, and of course the famous, if short lived, 1960s Green Hornet tv show. Most recently, The Green Hornet has been made into a movie starring Seth Rogan.

The Green Hornet originated in 1936 as the Green Hornet radio show on Detroit station WXYZ. It had a 14 year run on various radio stations and returned for a brief run in 1952.

The Green Hornet Radio Show Premise:

With his faithful valet Kato, Britt Reid, daring young publisher, matches wits with the Underworld, risking his life so that criminals and racketeers within the law may feel its weight by the sting of the Green Hornet

Al Hodge, Donovan Faust, Bob Hall and Jack McCarthy were the various actors to play the Green Hornet on the show.

The first Green Hornet comic books were released in 1940, four years after the first Green Hornet radio show. It was produced by Helnit Comics, but versions were also released by Harvey Comics, Dell Comics and Gold Key Comics. In 1989 NOW Comics released 14-comic series that sought to tie in the various version of the Green Hornet over the years.

The Green Hornet by Kevin Smith

In 2010 Dynamite Entertainment released a Green Hornet mini series written by Kevin Smith. It was set in modern times and featured Britt Reid Jr, the spoiled son of the original Green Hornet. When his father was killed by the Black Hornet, Reid Jr takes on the Green Hornet identity to avenge his father. He is helped by Kato, who comes out of retirement to help.

Probably the most famous rendition of the Green Hornet was the short lived Green Hornet television series in 1966–1967. It made a huge impact on popular culture by introducing the Western world to Bruce Lee.

The television show was Inspired by the success of the Batman television series, and the Green Hornet and Kato even guest starred on Batman. However, unlike the campy Batman series, the Green Hornet show was a serious take on the genre.

In the Green Hornet television series Britt Reid (Van Williams) was a playboy and media mogul fights crime as the Green Hornet. He is accompanied by Kato (Bruce Lee), his driver and martial art expert body guard.

Casey Case (Wende Wagner), Reid's secretary, knows his true identity. The Green Hornet is assisted by District Attorney Frank P. Scanlon (Walter Brooke).

As usual, Kato drives 'Black Beauty', which was a 1966 Imperial Crown sedan. The Green Hornet uses the hornet sting, which fired ultrasonic soundwaves and Kato threw green sleeve darts.

While there have been several movie versions of the Green Hornet, its first big budget product is the 2011 Green Hornet movie, 'The Green Hornet'. Seth Rogen co-wrote and stars as Britt Reid. It was directed by Michel Gondry with Evan Goldberg co-writing. Taiwonese pop star Jay Chou also stars as Kato with Cameron Diaz as Casey Case. Christoph Waltz plays Russian gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky. Edward James Olmos, David Harbour and Tom Wilkinson also feature in the film.

The Green Hornet release date in the United States was January 14, 2011 in both 3D and 2D cinemas.

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I am based in New Zealand and enjoy writing about rugby, movies and music and am also interested in property investment and travel. I operate a rugby blog and a site dedicated to Tarantino movies and merchandise and contribute to a Property Investment Tips site.