Listen to a Lost Hero on National Radio Day

August 20th is National Radio Day, celebrating, among other aspects...

old-time dramatic radio, which presented an astonishing number of action heroes including those created for radio...

Green Hornet

Captain Midnight

  Lone Ranger

Mysterious Traveler

Mr District Attorney

Big Town
and those adapted from other media...

Blue Beetle

Green Lama

plus
classic one-time presentations like

War of the Worlds
 Enter the "Theater of the Imagination!

Check out the
Atomic Kommie Comics™
storefronts featuring
Big Town
Captain Midnight
Blue Beetle
Green Hornet
Green Lama
Mr District Attorney
Mysterious Traveler
War of the Worlds
Kool Kollectibles!

The Final Tale of the Silver Age Green Hornet...

It's "Hi-Ho Hornet, AWAYYY! as Britt Reid takes a page from his grand-uncle's Hero Handbook in the final tale of the Silver Age Green Hornet, currently running over at Hero and Heroine Histories™.

YouTube Wednesday: THE GREEN HORNET STRIKES AGAIN "Flaming Havoc!"

Continuing our weekly feature "YouTube Wednesday"...

After the events of the first serial, Britt Reid and Kato head to Hawaii for a well-deserved vacation.

Unfortunately, Crime never takes a holiday.

In Reid's absence, a racketeer has managed to place one of his men as Managing Editor, killing any attempt by The Daily Sentinel to publish racket-busting exposés!

Lenore Case sees what's going on, but is powerless to stop it, since she's "only a secretary".

She telegraphs Reid, but the gangsters discover the publisher's on the way back and intercept him...

The Green Hornet serial did so well that Universal rushed a sequel into production within six months.

(It usually took a little longer than that, even for popular chapterplays. There were two-year gaps between each of the Flash Gordon serials.)

Warren Hull, who had recently played both Mandrake the Magician and The Spider in other serials replaced Gordon Jones as Britt Reid / The Green Hornet. In addition, the use of the voice of radio Green Hornet Al Hodge, when Reid was masked, was dropped.

Most of the first serial's cast returned, including Keye Luke as Kato, Anne Nagel as Lenore Case, and Wade Boteler as Mike Axford. However, Managing Editor Gunnigan is said to be incapacitated by a broken leg.

Following the same format as the first serial, The Hornet and Kato chip away at various rackets run by Crogan, played by Pierre Watkin (Perry White in the Superman serials), until the climactic confrontation in the final episode.

Want to see what happens next?

YouTube provider MedigoCobra 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

Reading Room: THE MEAN HORNET!

Since it's 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 (either comic or magazine incarnation) 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!

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

Click on the pix to enlarge

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...

 Next week in the Reading Room: More interplanetary warfare with the Space Busters!

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet
Comic Collectibles Store

YouTube Wednesday: THE GREEN HORNET "Tunnel of Terror"

Continuing our weekly feature "YouTube Wednesday"...

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

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

Click on the pages to enlarge!

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 Thursday's exciting conclusion!

(Tomorrow's YouTube Wednesday...with MORE Green Hornet action!)

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet
Comic Collectibles Store

Reading Room: THE GREEN HORNET in "Threat of the Red Dragons" Part 1

Click on the pages to enlarge

We're taking a break from interstellar battle for a slightly more down-to-earth tale featuring everyone's favorite insect-based superhero!
It's the Silver-Age Green Hornet (and Kato) from #2 of the short-lived Gold Key book based on the tv series!

We'll find out where the light is coming from...tomorrow!

And don't forget to check out...

The Classic Green Hornet
Comic Collectibles Store