The Green Hornet #1 [Second Printing]
The Green Hornet #1 (November 1989, NOW Comics) — of which the Second Printing is a direct reprint with an alternate cover — launched the most ambitious and narratively cohesive treatment the Green Hornet had ever received in comics form. Writer Ron Fortier treated the character as a multigenerational legacy rather than a simple revival, weaving together the radio-era Hornet, the 1960s TV incarnation, and a present-day successor into a single continuous family saga that set a template other publishers would later follow. The issue's opening story, 'My Last Case,' established for the first time in comics the named character of Ikano Kato — with the loaded detail that Reid had passed his Japanese partner off as Filipino to shield him from WWII internment — giving the franchise a moral and historical dimension it had never previously possessed. Combined with an official in-issue Reid and Kato family-tree feature, this debut essentially created a shared mythology for every subsequent Green Hornet series.
In "My Last Case," the legacy of the Green Hornet continues through the Reid family line, from the original Britt Reid to the latest heir, Paul Reid, as the mantle passes down through generations. Written by Ron Fortier and illustrated by Jeff Butler with inks by Mark A. Nelson, this 1989 second printing explores the weight of that history in a story that feels both personal and urgent. The cover, also by Jeff Butler, captures the intensity of a hero stepping into a role forged by those who came before.
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Writer Ron Fortier, who later asserted his creative authorship of the NOW Comics continuity in correspondence with the Grand Comics Database, conceived the series as a legacy saga rather than a simple reboot, deliberately leaving the 1930s–40s Britt Reid in his original era and building forward through generations to a contemporary Hornet. Interior art was penciled by Jeff Butler with inks by David Mowry and painted colors by Suzanne Dechnick, while Jim Steranko provided the distinctive painted cover for the first printing; the Second Printing carried an alternate cover. The first printing was a double-sized premiere edition priced at $2.95; the issue also contained prose text segments and the inaugural installment of the Reid and Kato family-tree pages that would become a recurring feature throughout the series. The content of the Second Printing is otherwise identical to the first, and the issue was further reprinted in the Green Hornet Special Hard Bound Collector's Edition (NOW, 1990).
Trivia · 7 facts
- Published November 1989 by NOW Comics; the Second Printing (c. 1990) carries an alternate cover while reprinting the same interior content.
- Story title: 'My Last Case,' written by Ron Fortier, penciled by Jeff Butler, inked by David Mowry, with painted colors by Suzanne Dechnick; Steranko's painted cover graces the first printing.
- The issue introduces the name 'Ikano Kato' for the original Golden Age Kato, establishing him as Japanese — and revealing that Britt Reid had concealed that identity by calling him Filipino to prevent internment during World War II.
- The issue contains the first comics appearance of the Reid Family Tree and the Kato Family Tree, a genealogy feature by Ron Fortier that underpins the entire NOW multigenerational continuity.
- The story is set in 1955 as an aging Britt Reid writes his memoirs, recounting events from the 1930s through 1945 — the last night the original Green Hornet operated — thereby retiring the radio-era Hornet in-continuity and clearing the way for successor generations.
- The Reid genealogy traces the family back to John Reid (the Lone Ranger, unnamed due to separate licensing of that property) and his nephew Dan Reid Sr., through Dan Reid Jr. and Britt Reid I.
- NOW Comics' Green Hornet line that this issue launched ultimately ran 54 issues across two main volumes (Vol. 1: #1–14, 1989–1990; Vol. 2: #1–40, 1991–1995), plus multiple miniseries — the most extensive comics run the character had seen outside his original radio career.
Cast · 10 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Reid family tree from The Lone Ranger to Green Hornet I (Britt Reid) to Green Hornet II (Britt II) to Green Hornet III (Alan Reid) to Green Hornet IV (Paul Reid).
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).