New release: VCI Entertainment plans to release a Blu-ray edition of the classic Green Hornet cliffhanger serial in April! The promotional description is pretty lackluster, but here's the gist: "VCI Entertainment is preparing a two-disc set of Ford Beebe and Ray Taylor's The Green Hornet (1940), starring Gordon Jones, Wade Boteler, Keye Luke, Anne Nagel, and Cy Kendall. The Green Hornet is a fictional masked crime fighter, originally created by George W. Trendle for an American radio program in the 1930s. The character appeared in two Universal serials. In the first 13-episode serial, the city is faced with rising crime and increased racketeering activity. Intrepid newspaper editor, Britt Reid (Gordon Jones) becomes the Green Hornet to take on the bad guys. As far as the police are concerned, the Hornet himself is the criminal. This misunderstanding enables Reid to operate "outside the law" to battle evil and injustice. Working alongside the Hornet is the brilliant inventor/sidekick Kato (Keye Luke), the only person who knows the true identity of the Hornet. Watch as our heroes fight an infamous racket and put an end to the menace infecting their city. ALL 13 episodes, two radio episodes, 'I AM…THE GREEN HORNET' audio piece by Clifford Weimer, liner notes by author Martin Grams Jr." Street date is April 11. More info at Blu-ray. Pre-order on Amazon. I sure hope the classic 1960s TV series with Bruce Lee makes it to Blu-ray someday! Are there other serials you would like to see remastered for wider release? Spy Vibers, don't miss our last post about the Emma Peel Lotus car auction.
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The Green Hornet made it's television debut on this day in 1966! The ABC network had struck gold with Batman and they hoped to continue their success with a comic-style property. Just one day after Star Trek aired (on NBC), viewers tuned in to see the adventures of the Green Hornet (played by Van Williams) and his sidekick, Kato (played by the amazing Bruce Lee!). The stories were presented in a straightforward fashion, in contrast to the camp of Batman. Although the Hornet wasn't played for laughs, the show's colorful tone and fun gadgets made it a cult fave among Spy Vibers. And the Hornet and Kato even made a special appearance as anti-heroes in a two-part episode of Batman. But where fans finally got an official Batman release on DVD recently, the Hornet's 26 episodes remain unreleased. The characters originated as a radio drama in January 1936 and went on to great popularity in the comics and cliffhanger serials. Readers might enjoy seeing how the 1960s TV show inspired a manga series in Japan! Continues below.
A number of Mystery/Adventure and Pulp properties were licensed in Japan in the 1960s to be adapted into manga. Saito's pre-Golgo 13 work on James Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is legendary (and remains untranslated), and Kuwata's Batman has had a resurgence due to the loving efforts of designer Chip Kidd (the complete collection was finally released last year). Adventures of The Green Hornet and his Karate-master chauffeur, Kato, were released in Japanese by Toru Yamazaki in 1967 (a contemporary creator named "Toru Yamazaki" published Octopus Girl). Few images of the Hornet manga have surfaced outside of the collector's market, but here are some samples that might spark your interest. The Green Hornet has also appeared in the pages of Harvey, Gold Key, Now, DC, and Dynamite Comics. Kevin Smith, Ralph Garman, and Ty Templeton published a series through DC that continued the Batman/Green Hornet TV crossover from March, 1967. You can read my interview with the creative team here. Related posts: Interview with Green Hornet writer Win Scott Eckert, Solo by Saito, UNCLE and Batman manga. Learn more about the history of The Green Hornet. Happy weekend, Spy Vibers!
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