Created to tie in with the 1966-1967 TV show, these three “Green Hornet” issues feature Britt Reid and his valet Kato, who pretend to be criminals in order to fight crime.  District Attorney Frank Scanlon and secretary “Casey” Case are in on Britt Reid’s secret.  Mike Axford, a police beat reporter working for Reid’s newspaper, is constantly after the Green Hornet, but he falls into humorous mishaps that prevent any true discovery.  Van Williams and Bruce Lee are featured on the covers, with photos from the show also appearing in the interior covers.   The stories are roughly comparable to the TV show of the time, and are relatively enjoyable, if dated stylistically.

Other comics recently read:

Young X-Men #1-9

Marc Guggenheim and Yanick Paquette create this story of a new team of mutants following the”Messiah Complex” storyline.   With no new mutants being born, Rockslide, Blindfold and Dust believe they are part of the last generation of mutants.  Recruited by Cyclops, they are told that the old New Mutants are the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and they must track down and kill the team.   Not my favorite work by either Guggenheim or Paquette, but it has its moments (particularly in one neat Danger Room sequence). Ben Oliver becomes the artist with issue #6, as the origin of the Young X-Man “Ink” is explained.

Captain Confederacy  (1-12, Steeldragon, 1986; 1-4, Epic, 1991)

Science fiction author Will Shetterly worked with artist Vince Stone on “Captain Confederacy,” an alternate-history comic-book series that looked at a propaganda-type superhero in a world where the South won the Civil War and remained a separate nation from the United States.   Shetterly has posted his “director’s cut” of the material at a blog dedicated to Captain Confederacy.  This is interesting, thought-provoking stuff, that has had its share of controversy.  Even years after the series’ end, a parent who bought a remaindered copy at a dollar store was offended by its contents.  The series definitely isn’t meant for kids, but is intended to look at issues of race relations in the context of a superhero adventure/alternate history story.

- Matt Price
Comics read in 2011: 1,881. Still to go: 130.

Green Hornet Blu-ray

“Green Hornet,” the 2011 film starring Seth Rogen as the masked crimefighter with Jay Chou as his more-capable partner, Kato, comes to DVD and Blu-ray this week.

I’m not sure the film was a complete artistic success – though James Franco was fantastic in a cameo. But with the nearly $100 million made domestically at the box office, I wouldn’t be very surprised to see Rogen and Chou reprise their roles.

I am glad the film came out, though, if for no other reason than I got to check out Britt Reid’s garage at Comic-Con last year.

I sat in the Black Beauty, and met Mandy Dollar, portraying a Green Hornette at the show.   Dollar, originally from Oklahoma City, is now an actress in San Diego.  Check her out – as well as other Comic-Con highlights from 2010 – in the video below:

And the film did spur some new interest in the character, with multiple comic books from Dynamite. One current series, “Aftermath,” is a sequel to the film in comic-book form, written by Jai Nitz.

- Matt Price

After making nearly $100 million at the box office, “Green Hornet,” which stars Seth Rogen and Jay Chou, will come to DVD in May.

Dynamite Entertainment, which provided a comic-book prequel to the film among its “Green Hornet” line of comics, follows up on the storyline of the film with “Green Hornet: Aftermath,” written by Kansas-based writer Jai Nitz.

The series follows the continuing adventures of Green Hornet and Kato as a power struggle for control over drug trafficking in Los Angeles turns violent. The first issue was released earlier this month.

Nitz, 35, interviewed recently at Planet Comicon in Overland Park, Kan., said he got his start at Dynamite through the recommendation of his mentor, Phil Hester.

“When ‘Green Hornet’ came about, they were launching multiple titles … they wanted people they could trust,” he said. Nitz writes “Kato Origins” for the publisher, which spun out from Matt Wagner’s “Green Hornet: Year One.”

“Matt was very supportive in helping me get off the ground with the book (“Kato Origins”), from his “Year One,” doing a spinoff of it and being very much on the same page,” he said.

Nitz also was named the key writer in the movie continuity for Dynamite.

“I was brought on to do the movie-continuity books,” Nitz said. “I got to read the script, and I got to write a prequel to the movie.”

It’s not the first movie-based comic written by Nitz, who also wrote the comic-book story “Tron: Betrayal,” that filled the gap between the original “Tron” and last year’s film “Tron: Legacy.”

The creative team of the “Green Hornet” prequel, called “Parallel Lives,” was Nitz and artist Nigel Raynor. They’ll reunite on “Aftermath.” The first “Aftermath” issue is priced at $1.99, a dollar less than a typical Dynamite title, to try to hook fans of the movie on following the characters’ continuing adventures.

Nitz also will be writing adventures of the Green Hornet in the “Golden Age,” based on the original conception of the character. He’ll follow Wagner, who established the “Green Hornet: Year One” series.

“It’s very inspirational working with Matt (Wagner),” Nitz said. “He’s got three Eisner (Awards); he’s an extraordinarily gifted creator.”

Each Hornet must accurately reflect its time period — the modern era for the movie-based comics, and the 1930s and 1940s for the “Year One” comics — but Nitz enjoys both assignments. He also has more projects at Dynamite that he expects to be announced in the coming months.

“I’m very firmly entrenched in the family of Green Hornet books at Dynamite, but I’m also doing a ton of other stuff at Dynamite,” Nitz said. “It’s a good home to have right now.”

- By Matthew Price
WORD BALLOONS
From Friday’s The Oklahoman

The first 12 issues of NOW Comics’ Green Hornet, which were collected in a hardcover collection by Bonus Books in 1990, followed the Green Hornet from the 1930s to the 1960s to the present.

Writer Ron Fortier, with artist Jeff Butler, took the various incarnations of the Hornet – radio show, serial, 1960s program – and weaved them into a cohesive storyline following the legacy of the Green Hornet from generation to generation.

Butler is good at drawing martial arts action – he also co-created The Badger with Mike Baron – and the storytelling is first-rate throughout.

- Matt Price
Comics read in 2011: 179.  Still to go: 1832.

GREEN HORNET COMES TO THEATERS

Seth Rogen tells George Lang he was allowed to reshape Britt Reid, aka the Green Hornet, in his own image.

“We kind of wanted to subvert notions that are in a lot of these comic book-type movies and that you would find in a lot of early origin stories of comic book characters,” Rogen said during a news conference on a soundstage at the Sony Pictures studio lot in Culver City, Calif.

“In order to play with those ideas, you have to be very aware of what they are in the first place and that they exist and to acknowledge them to some degree. We kind of wanted to dance on the line of being a comic book movie and commenting on a comic book movie.”

Seth Rogen, left, and Jay Chou in "The Green Hornet."

The film made $34 million in its opening weekend, according to the Associated Press.

BEST-SELLING COMICS ANNOUNCED

The hit television show “The Walking Dead” helped spur sales of the graphic novels on which it was based. According to a news release from Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc., “The Walking Dead” Vol. 1 trade paperback was the No. 1-selling graphic novel for 2010.

Diamond Comic Distributors is the world’s largest distributor of comics, graphic novels, and pop-culture merchandise.

DC UNIVERSE ONLINE RELEASED

Sony Online Entertainment LLC recently released the eagerly-awaited online action game DC Universe Online (DCUO) for the PC and the PlayStation 3.

“We’re redefining the genre and blazing a new trail in the gaming industry with the introduction of DC Universe Online,” said John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment. “This is the first true action MMO utilizing twitch-based combat and physics to deliver a completely unique and immersive gameplay experience that is reflective of the creativity, action and strength of the DC Universe.”

REVIEW FILE: Matt and Kyle review Amazing Spider-Man 651, Wonder Girl 1 and John Byrne’s Next Men 2.

GREEN LANTERN, GREEN HORNET GET NEW TRAILERS

The first trailer for Ryan Reynolds’ “Green Lantern” and the latest for Seth Rogen’s “Green Hornet” hit the internet recently.  Which “green” movie are you more excited for?

Ryan Reynolds (AP)

CHRISTIAN BALE SAYS BATMAN 3 IS HIS LAST

At junket for “The Fighter” in Los Angeles, “The Dark Knight Rises” star Christian Bale tells E News Online that he expects the upcoming film will be the last time he portrays the Dark Knight, unless “Chris (Nolan) says different.”

“The Dark Knight Rises” would wrap the planned Bat-trilogy, and Nolan has previously said he plans on stepping aside from the Batman world after the third film.   Bale was deferential to Nolan in multiple interviews for “The Fighter,” saying he only knows what Christopher Nolan has told him.

LOOKING FOR CLARK

Deadline reports Warner Bros. has begun looking for an actor to portray Superman in the “Man of Steel” reboot. The studio isn’t seeking a major star for the role.  The age range, according to Deadline, will be around 28-32. “Watchmen” star Matthew Goode could be on Zack Snyder’s short list. Movienewz reports the 6-2 Goode is a candidate to play Clark Kent.  Goode played Ozymandias, aka Adrian Veidt, the smartest man in the world, in Snyder’s “Watchmen” adaptation.   Anne Hathaway, star of “Love and Other Drugs” has been kicked around as a possible Lois Lane.

REVIEW FILE
Kyle and Matt review The Traveler, Uncanny X-Force #2, Teen Titans #89 and Amazing Spider-Man  #649.

Shot by Annette Price, edited by Kyle Roberts, the above video includes highlights from Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego. See Stan Lee at the Boom! press conference announcing his new series, the Green Hornet’s car and Green Hornette Mandy Dollar, costumes from the show floor, Scott Pilgrim displays and much more!

- Matt Price

Seth Rogen poses with the Black Beauty car at Comic-Con International 2010.

Michel Gondry

According to IESB, Sony execs aren’t pleased with the “Green Hornet” film directed by Michel Gondry, which has already wrapped principal photography.   The site reports execs aren’t pleased with the campy tone or the physical look of star Seth Rogen.

While I don’t think now is the time for campy superheroes (since superheroes done straight/dark is selling so many tickets), you wonder why it took everyone until principal photography was wrapped to see this was an issue.  Can this be fixed with some reshoots?  Or will Sony have to digitally replace Seth Rogen with Ben Affleck?   The film is currently set to release Dec. 22.

And on the other side of the issue, Collider reported that producer Neal Moritz said he was “thrilled” with the film, and that the studio has seen the first hour of “Green Hornet” and is considering converting it to 3-D.  So at this point we may have to wait and see what develops.

- Matt Price

Columbia Pictures has its Kato for the Michel Gondry-directed “Green Hornet,” starring Seth Rogen. Release follows:

CULVER CITY, Calif., August 7, 2009 – After a worldwide search, Jay Chou, the multi-hyphenate singer-actor and a star throughout Asia, has joined the cast of Michel Gondry’s The Green Hornet in the iconic role of Kato, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures.

Michel Gondry, the film’s director, added, “Jay is incredibly unique and charming and fights like a wild dog! When I filmed him next to Seth, they had such great chemistry, and I knew the movie will be great.”

Chou said, “It’s an overwhelming experience to take on a role made famous by Bruce Lee. I won’t try to be Bruce Lee’s Kato – I will try to bring my own interpretation to the part. Of course, it’s a dream role, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

A classic character of film, television, radio, and comic books returns to the big screen in Columbia Pictures’ feature film The Green Hornet, starring Seth Rogen as the vigilante crime-fighter. The film will be directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) from a screenplay written by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express), based upon “The Green Hornet” radio series created by George W. Trendle, and produced by Neal H. Moritz (The Fast and the Furious). The film is slated for release summer 2010.

A pop-star phenomenon throughout Asia, JAY CHOU brings unexpected gravity and depth to his acting roles. Born Chou Chieh-Lun in Taiwan, 1979, Chou began playing the piano at age four. His mother supported his musical gifts and he went on to master piano and cello. Music, songwriting, and basketball dominated his high school days, and he was first noticed in 1998 when a friend sang one of his pop compositions on a TV talent contest, accompanied by Jay on piano. Alfa Music launched Jay’s career, first as a tunesmith and then as a singer. In 2000, his debut album “Jay” quickly propelled him to stardom with numerous hits. His unique musical style is a fresh-sounding fusion of eastern and western traditions featuring strong lyrics and a personal style of storytelling.

With his soulful voice and infectious tunes, his second album, “Fantasy,” and seven subsequent albums, have continued to win legions of fans young and old throughout Asia. He has been the best-selling Mandarin artist in the world for the past nine years, with a busy performance schedule touring Asia and North America and numerous music industry awards.

Apart from many music videos, Jay began film acting in a starring role in Initial D (2005), a comedy-action hit in China. In 2006, he starred opposite Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li in Zhang Yimou’s The Curse of the Golden Flower. Since then, he starred in Kung Fu Dunk, and made his directorial debut and starred in Secret. He will next be seen in the Chinese film Ci Ling and in Yuen Woo-Ping’s True Legend.

According to Entertainment Weekly’s Popwatch column, director Kevin Smith will write a “Green Hornet” tale for comic-book publisher Dynamite Entertainment.  The Green Hornet series will be based on Smith’s 2004 screenplay for the property, EW reports.

Smith is also working on an upcoming Batman miniseries called “The Widening Gyre,” which will introduce a new hero to the DC Comics universe.

– Matt Price