Though movie buffs have to wait another eight months for their insect-themed vigilante fix (since, last I checked, the GREEN HORNET movie’s opening against TRON LEGACY around Christmastime), we comic fans have been getting ours on a regular basis from Dynamite Entertainment. And the next hit’s coming later this month in the form of KEVIN SMITH’S GREEN HORNET #3, for which we have a preview today.

In the words of Dynamite…

This is the one issue of Kevin Smith's Green Hornet that you will NOT want to miss! The OPENING pages of this issue will have fans talking for the rest of the year... and beyond!  Join writer Kevin Smith, artist Jonathan Lau and a host of talented cover artists (Alex Ross, John Cassaday and Joe Benitez!) as they unveil The Green Hornet's and Kato's GREATEST THREAT, the mysterious Black Hornet! The Black Hornet is the Green Hornet's greatest foe!  But which hero will live?  And which hero will die?  Will the original Green Hornet rise up to fight again for justice? Where has Kato been all this time? Who is the mysterious and beautiful Mulan? Three will live! One will die!  For Good!  Find out all of this and more in this very issue!

The tension has been ratcheted up significantly, as you can tell. The press release for this comic (priced at $3.99 and coming out the week before Free Comic Book Day) that we received today came with four possible covers, each illustrating a possible outcome to the three-out-of-four survival rate proposed above. Somebody’s going to bite and it’s either going to be the old Green Hornet or the old Kato, or one of their successors. The signatures on these covers are too stylized for me to be certain, but at least one of these looks a LOT like Neal Adams’ work. Would any of you care to hazard a guess?

The press release also pulled a choice quote about the series from Comic Vine’s very own G-Man…

"This comic simply works. It makes sense. We see the original Green Hornet at the end of his career. Phil Hester did the breakdowns and Jonathan Lau does the pencils. It's a really nice looking comic. I should also mention that Ivan Nunes colors really complement the art as well. The action scenes are intense. You really get a sense that the Green Hornet and Kato are tough dudes."

Most of you are probably aware that this comic adapts the script Kevin Smith wrote when he was attached to direct THE GREEN HORNET a few years ago. Ultimately, he walked away from the project and made CLERKS 2, while Michel Gondry stepped in to take the project the over. This has joined an interesting sub-genre of comics that includes FRANK MILLER’S ROBOCOP, Darren Aronofsky’s THE FOUNTAIN and, to a lesser extent, FREDY VS. JASON VS. ASH. That is, visualizations of unproduced screenplays that you can compare to what was eventually filmed. I figure by the time December rolls around, you’ll have a nice trade collection of this whole series to contrast with what Seth Rogan pulls off on screen.
 
Anyway, check out the covers yourself...

Gallery

-- Tom Pinchuk is the writer of UNIMAGINABLE for Arcana Comics and HYBRID BASTARDS! for Archaia. Watch out for the HYBRID BASTARDS! hardcover collection this April - - available for pre-order now on Amazon.com.

Not that I want the real Green Hornet or Kato to die. But I hope its them, it would be a waste to introduce a new Hornet and Kato just to have one of them be killed. I am also all about legacy characters.
 
The first two issues have been excellent, not much Green Hornet/Kato action, but I am willing to wait for the action to pick up. I never really got a chance to watch the TV show and since I got my sat radio I have been able to enjoy the old radio programs every now and then. The comic is just totally different and alot more enjoyable.
 
Just a little request to the staff, do you think we can get more reviews for comics like this? Lets give some of these smaller companies and lesser known books some time in the sun. Marvel and DC don't need the hype.

You lost my Office Christmas Special DVD! YOU'RE NEXT!

Those covers were drawn by the great 70's comics' artist, Michael Netzer, also known as Mike Nasser. His style was very reminiscent of Neal Adams' work. I'm most familiar with his work for DC Comics, though his mad illustrating skills can be found at Marvel, as well. I haven't been buying the Green Hornet series, but I'll pick up those issues just for Netzer's cover art. The man is a phenomenal talent that, for some reason, has just never been given his due by comic fandom. Always a treat to see his work.

covers look amazing, i can't wait

Thanks ChalkShark for the gracious intro. To be fair with fandom, I'm largely responsible in that I disappeared from the comics scene for more than 20 years with only minor appearances here and there. When I've been active, fandom's responded wonderfully. This is my first published mainstream work in 15 years and looking forward to sticking around this time.  
 
These covers were drawn by computer as a pencil stage to be inked on a blue-line print. Dynamite darkened the images to give the feel of inked art for this preview, until the art is really inked. The original images are a little less dark and can be seen at my site http://www.michaelnetzer.com