The Green Hornet #1
The Green Hornet #1 (NOW Comics, November 1989) marks the first time a major comics publisher treated the Green Hornet as a genuine multigenerational saga rather than a simple revival, establishing a shared continuity that wove together the 1930s–40s radio-serial Britt Reid, the 1960s TV-series incarnation, and an all-new present-day Hornet into a single, internally consistent universe. Writer Ron Fortier's decision to anchor the debut story in 1945—leaving the original Britt Reid exactly where history placed him—was a bold structural choice that prioritized authenticity over convenience, setting a template later borrowed by Dynamite Entertainment when they relaunched the franchise in 2009. The issue also introduced Ikano Kato as a fully named, fleshed-out character whose Japanese heritage and wartime identity crisis (Reid publicly claiming Kato was Filipino to shield him from internment) gave the property a socially grounded subtext it had never carried before. Together with the Reid and Kato family trees printed in the same issue, this debut laid every genealogical brick the entire NOW 'Hornetverse' would build on across more than fifty subsequent issues and numerous miniseries.
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NOW Comics—a Chicago-based independent publisher best known for Speed Racer—acquired the Green Hornet license in the late 1980s and tapped Ron Fortier to script the series; Fortier later asserted to the Grand Comics Database that he personally created the book's continuity and generational framework. Interior art was handled by penciller Jeff Butler and inker David Mowry, with painted colors by Suzanne Dechnik, giving the book a cinematic, photo-realistic look that suited Fortier's grounded crime-story tone. The cover—a striking painted image of the Hornet, Kato, and Ruth—was contributed by industry veteran Jim Steranko, whose participation lent the premiere issue significant marquee appeal; NOW later released that painting as a standalone lithograph. Editor Tony Caputo oversaw the release, which shipped as a double-sized, 52-page 'Premier Collector's Edition' and sold through enough copies to warrant a second printing with an alternate cover.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published by NOW Comics, cover-dated November 1989; a 52-page double-sized premiere edition edited by Tony Caputo.
- Written by Ron Fortier with pencils by Jeff Butler, inks by David Mowry, and a painted cover by Jim Steranko—who also contributed interior painted colors via Suzanne Dechnik.
- The single story, 'My Last Case,' is structured as a memoir written by the original Britt Reid in 1955, recounting his final case as the Green Hornet in December 1945 against crime boss Gatland Tobias.
- First comic-book appearance and formal naming of Ikano Kato as the original Kato—depicted as Japanese, with the in-story revelation that Britt Reid publicly identified him as Filipino during WWII to prevent him from being sent to an American internment camp.
- The issue includes the Reid Family Tree and the Kato Family Tree bonus features by Fortier, establishing the full multigenerational continuity that would drive the entire NOW series.
- The story establishes Britt Reid's ancestor John Reid (the Lone Ranger, unnamed due to legal separation of the two properties) as the inspiration for the Green Hornet identity, and closes with young Britt II expressing his desire to one day carry the mantle.
- The issue received a second printing with an alternate cover, and the story was also reprinted in The Green Hornet Special Hard Bound Collector's Edition (NOW, 1990).
- Steranko's cover painting was subsequently released by NOW as a limited lithograph, as announced in a later issue of the series.
Cast · 7 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
In his twilight years, Britt Reid I sits in his study and writes his memoirs. He describes his grandfather's ill-fated career as a Texas Ranger, his father's education in journalism and the founding of the Daily Sentinel newspaper. Then Britt himself enters the narrative, and he describes a trip to the Far East during which he met and saved the life of Ikano Kato. The increasing criminal activity found upon their return to The City ultimately leads Britt and Ikano to become the Green Hornet and his associate in 1936. In the autumn of 1945 (the September 1, 1945 surrender of Japan has already formally ended World War II, while Sequence 2 indicates that an event subsequent to this story occurs on December 8, 1945) the Hornet turns the willing-to-testify accountant of mob boss Gatland Tobias over to Police Commissioner Higgins, and privately informs the head cop of his own decision to "retire." However, Tobias has learned that he is dying, and intends to take Britt Reid with him. Done being the Hornet, Reid begins making plans to marry his secretary, Ruth Hopkins, while Kato wishes to return to Japan and help his homeland, now freed from Tojo, recover from the war (it is explained to Ruth at this time that Ikano, with documents arranged by influential friends of the Reids, has been posing as a Filipino to avoid being placed in an internment camp). A few evenings later, Tobias' men attack City Hall. Word reaches the publisher, and he and Ikano hurry to the Sentinel offices, only to find a similar assault has occurred there, with Gunnigan, the editor, killed and Ruth kidnapped in the bargain. A message has been left with Britt's ex-cop bodyguard-turned-reporter Mike Sullivan that Reid had to come to Tobias if he wants to ever see Ruth again, but as their apartment is only a few blocks away, he and Kato decide to send someone else. The Green Hornet and his man invade the building and reach Tobias' penthouse. In the final, hand-to-hand encounter, Gatland rips the mask off the Hornet's face, his surprise at the face he sees allowing Reid to flip him over the edge of the balcony. The career of the first Green Hornet is over.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).