Reading Room Annex: THE MEAN HORNET

Since it's just after April Fools Day, it's only appropriate we present a kool spoof/satire.
And since we've been on a Green Hornet binge, why not run the only spoof done (until the 2011 movie) of The Green Hornet and Kato?

Even though Mad (both comic and magazine incarnations) ran numerous parodies of everything from Superman (comic and movies) to Batman (comic, tv show, and movies) to Blackhawk, they never did any of the various incarnations of The Green Hornet!
(If Cracked or Sick did tales, I never saw them.)
There's only this never-reprinted six-pager from Marvel's Not Brand Echh! #9, 1968.
Written by Roy Thomas, Illustrated by Tom Sutton.

Here's a bonus: the original art to page 1!

Video Fridays: THE GREEN HORNET "Tunnel of Terror"

Continuing our weekly feature "Video Fridays"...

It's time to take a look at the ORIGINAL film Green Hornet in his origin episode from the 1940 Universal Studios serial starring Gordon Jones as Britt Reid/Green Hornet and Key Luke as Kato!

While his full-face disguise looked different from the radio and comic version's surgeon-style mask, the characterization and plots were based on the radio show.
And, when masked, the movie Hornet sounded like the hero of the airwaves...because radio Hornet Al Hodge's distinctive voice was dubbed whenever newspaper publisher Britt Reid was masked!
All the supporting characters from the radio show made it to the movie version.
(Serials usually "trimmed" existing characters to keep the plots fast-paced.)
In fact, Kato received more time on screen than he usually got on the radio, as his scientific genius and other talents (including karate) were emphasized.
Oddly, in this incarnation, Kato was now Korean, not Fillipino or Japanese!
Enjoy "Chapter One: Tunnel of Terror"

Want to see what happens next?

YouTube provider LuridPlanet has posted the entire serial HERE.
Or you can download it in a variety of formats HERE.

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet Store

Double-Retro Movie Captain America!

Since this month is the 70th Anniversary of Captain America's debut and the new big-budget Captain America movie is filming, we thought it time to take a look at the original 1940s movie Cap.
And, to make it even more fun, we'd look at it from a Silver Age perspective, when Cap had just been resurrected in The Avengers...
Specifically, an article from the HTF 1960s magazine On the Scene Presents: Super-Heroes!

PLUS: Here's the (reissue) trailer for the serial itself...

Reading Room Annex: THE GREEN HORNET in "Threat of the Red Dragons" Conclusion

When last we left our heroes...

The Green Hornet had confronted the Red Dragons, suggesting they blackmail Kato, thereby enabling the duo to track the tong to their base of operations, and their leader...

 Story by Paul Newman.
Art by Dan Spiegle.
Upcoming in the Reading Room Annex: More interplanetary warfare with the Space Busters!

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet
Comic Collectibles Store

Reading Room Annex: THE GREEN HORNET in "Threat of the Red Dragons" Part 2

When last we left our heroes...

A new Chinatown tong, The Red Dragons, is threatening honest citizens, including friends of Kato (never a good idea).

Tracking a clue to the shop of Mao-Tse, who is involved with the tong, The Green Hornet and Kato discover...

We'll see who bites...and how hard, in tomorrow's exciting conclusion!

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet
Comic Collectibles Store