Tales of the Green Hornet (1992/01-04 2nd Series) comic books
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Issue #1
$2.50
$2.50
Cover art by Neal Adams. Destiny: The Origin of the Green Hornet, script by James Van Hise, pencils by Dell Barras, inks by John Stangeland; An aging Britt II walks through the family library, stopping to look at a scrapbook, and specifically a preserved Daily Sentinel front page with a headline reading "PROTECTION RACKET MURDERS by Britt Reid." He remembers the story behind it. In 1934, Britt I began working as a crime reporter for the family-owned Daily Sentinel newspaper. A protection racket story leads to his interviewing a grocer about it, when a gun battle between two thug-carrying cars erupts in the street outside. The young man dives for cover, but the businessman freezes, and is killed by wild shots. In the street, Britt finds one of the cars wrecked, its occupants dead. A subsequent discussion with his father, Daniel, leads Britt to the conclusion that the police are incapable of cleaning up the city by themselves, and one man should be able to make a difference. Sometime later, three hoods attempt to kill Britt, who escapes by a combination of daring and luck, which includes their car wrecking and killing them. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95.
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Issue #2
$2.50
$2.50
Cover pencils by Dell Barras. Destiny: The Origin of the Green Hornet, Part Two, script by James Van Hise, pencils by Dell Barras, inks by John Stangeland; Despite the agreed upon compromise, Ikano works for Britt I as a manservant, much to the latter's displeasure. Daniel Reid "retires" and makes his son the Publisher of the Sentinel. One of his first decisions is to set up a sting operation against the protection racket, by having two reporters, under phony names, open a newsstand, and they are indeed soon approached. That very night, Britt and Ikano discuss the special car Kato has designed and built secretly in a warehouse near, but seemingly separate from, their townhouse (both, says Britt, were originally the property of a prohibition-era bootlegger, who had included a concealed passageway directly connecting the two). Going into the warehouse and looking at the car, which Britt says is a beauty, they discuss the possibility of disguising themselves and using the vehicle and its very unusual attributes to fight the gangs. When Britt hears the car's horn, it sounds to him just like a giant green hornet he encountered on a trip into the African jungle, inspiring his choice of disguise/cover name. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95.
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Issue #3
$2.50
$2.50
Painted cover art by James Martin. Gun Metal Green, script by James Van Hise, pencils by James Tucker, inks by John Stangeland; A TV news report of a police vs. street gang-bangers shoot-out reminds an aging Britt of a letter the Daily Sentinel received--but never published-- from Dr. Tracy Loring, describing how her personal encounter with the notorious Green Hornet did not jibe with his reputation, and he then thinks back to that day. Accompanied/guarded by Kato, the Hornet surprises the emergency room staff and patients of a major hospital by carrying in a gunshot victim, an eight year old boy, Johnny Fairbanks. After entrusting him to the medicos, he refuses Kato's advice to leave until he knows the child's prognosis. A flashback shows how an attempt to get Jackson Adams to implicate himself in selling firearms to criminals led to a fight with the Red Hook Gang, and the little boy catching a wild shot. 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95.
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Issue #4
$2.50
$2.50
Painted cover art by Eddy Newell. Targets, script by James Van Hise, pencils by James Tucker, inks by John Stangeland; The Hornet's busting of an alliance of racketeers is not entirely successful, as one criminal appropriately known as Scarface gets away, but the encounter leaves him with a second facial mark, and he vows revenge. A trap is set in the tenement district, and it is only with the assistance of some residents that the masked men escape and leave Scarface and his cash for the police. A Sentinel headline proclaims, "City Uses Mob Money To Clean Up Slums." 36 pgs. $1.95. Cover price $1.95.
