Who is the Green Hornet?

There have been many comic book/television masked heroes introduced to the world such as Batman, Batgirl, Iron Man, Spiderman and the Green Hornet. The Green Hornet was first introduced as a children’s radio program for Detroit station WXYZ in January 1936. While the Green Hornet has been slightly altered since its introduction, in the majority of version its alter ego goes by the name of Britt Reid.

A Look At Green Hornet’s Alter Ego: Britt Reid

Who is Britt Reid? He is a young, wealthy and highly respected Daily Sentinel newspaper publisher. Reid is about public service, which is why at night he wears a mask and becomes the Green Hornet, who is a vigilante crime fighter. The Green Hornet does have a sidekick who goes by the name Kato. He also wears a mask and drives the duo’s technologically advanced vehicle dubbed “Black Beauty”. The Green Hornet battles the criminal element in the city by infiltrating the groups, leaving behind evidence and criminals for police to find and nab.

From Radio To Movies: The Adaptation Of The Green Hornet

Now, the Green Hornet was modified into two movie serials:

- 1940 The Green Hornet
- 1941 The Green Hornet Strikes Again

Now, the first adaptation had 13 chapters while its predecessor had a couple more for a total of 15. In every serial, the pair were linked to one huge criminal syndicate that ended up utterly defeated in the finale. The radio version had several factions that worked entirely independent from one another.

The Introduction Of The Green Hornet Comic Books

Bear in mind that in December 1940, the Green Hornet comic book made newsstands. Fran Striker wrote the series while Helnit Comics published it under the title Green Hornet Comics. It ran for just six issues.

Beginning at issue number seven, Harvey Comics took over and published an additional 41 issues. In issue 34, the title was modified to Green Hornet Fights Crime and, with issue 44, it was changed to Green Hornet, Racket Buster. He was also featured in War Victory Comics in 1942. Here, he assisted in encouraging Americans about the war that wasn’t going well at that time. He also made appearances in All-New Comics issues 13 and 14 in 1946 with a cover shoot on issue 13.

A Move To The Small Screen and Big Screen

The television network ABC created the Green Hornet television series, which aired from 1966 to 1967 and starred Van Williams. Williams played both the publisher and masked hero. Bruce Lee was his sidekick Kato.

With the help of the Green Hornet and his other accomplishments, Lee rose to international stardom and became the United States’ first naturalized citizens from China. Lee not only became an actor; he was also a film producer, film director, screenwriter and philosopher. He also founded the Jeer Kune Do martial arts. During the 1970s, he starred in five movies that kick-started the martial arts film industry.

A little irony about Lee’s success and his Kato role: it’s mostly responsible for the attention the TV series got in later years. In the live action 1960s Batman TV series, both the Green Hornet and Kato made appearances as anti-heroes during episodes Batman’s Satisfaction and A Piece of the Action, which were in the series’ second season. For 14 issues in 1989, the Green Hornet showed up in NOW Comics, with another 40 issues between 1991 and 1995.

Since the 1990s, a film version for the masked hero was thrown about by both Miramax and Universal Pictures. However, it would be Sony Pictures that would release the action-comedy Green Hornet on Jan. 14, 2011. It starred Seth Rogen who co-wrote the film script with the help of Evan Goldberg. The film took Britt Reid’s character a different direction by portraying him as a drunken playboy who takes life more seriously after his father dies. The cast of the movie includes:

Jay Chou – Kato
Cameron Diaz – Lenore Case
Christoph Waltz – Chudnofsky
Edward James Olmos – Mike Axford

It’s true that the Green Hornet doesn’t have the same exposure or following as the other popular crimefighters such as Spiderman and Batman. However, the Hornet’s legend is likely to continue far off into the future.

The Green Hornet is a U.S. comic book, radio and TV hero behind a mask who made his debut on a children’s radio program on January 31, 1936, on WXYZ, the same local Detroit station that originated The Lone Ranger. Although the character has been slightly modified over the years, in the majority of his versions Britt Reid, a young, rich and respected newspaper publisher and owner of the Daily Sentinel was the secret identity of the Green Hornet. He is all about public service so at night he donned a mask and became the Green Hornet, a vigilante crime-figher. He is accompanied by his confidant and sidekick, Kato, who also wears a mask and pilots their futuristic and technological automobile, the “Black Beauty”. In his role as the Green Hornet, Reid poses as a crook in order to penetrate and then fight underworld elements, leaving evil-doers behind for the police along with the evidence necessary to convict them.

The Green Hornet appeared in two serials in movie theaters: The Green Hornet in 1940 and The Green Hornet Strikes Again in 1941! The Green Hornet had a total of 13 installments while The Green Hornet Strikes Again! lasted a bit longer at 15 chapters, with the Green Hornet and Kato foiling a different crime in every chapter. The radio program had presented the duo as fighting numerous different criminal organizations but in each of the film serials they battled just one syndicate until they ultimately defeated it in the final episode.

Green Hornet comic books also appeared on news stands in December of 1940. A series, titled Green Hornet Comics, was published by Helnit Comics, written by Fran Striker and ran for six issues. Harvey Comics took over beginning with issue number seven and published another forty-one issues! The title was changed to Green Hornet Fights Crime as of issue number 34, and Green Hornet, Racket Buster with issue number 44. The Green Hornet was also featured in a public-service issue of War Victory Comics in 1942 where he helped encourage Americans whose war wasn’t going too well. He also appeared in issues thirteen and fourteen of All-New Comics in 1946 and even appeared on the cover of number thirteen!

The Green Hornet also appeared as a U.S. TV show that aired on the ABC TV network. It was broadcast during the 1966–1967 TV season with actor Van Williams starring as both the Britt Reid and the Green Hornet, with Bruce Lee co-starring as his sidekick Kato. Lee became an international icon due to his numerous accomplishments and the fact that he was one of the first naturalized U.S. citizens from China to find fame in America. Lee was a philosopher, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and founder of the Jeet Kune Do martial arts movement. He starred in five movies that brought martial arts films to the U.S. in the 1970s. Ironically, Lee’s sidekick role and later fame on the big screen is most responsible for the attention that the TV series received in later years. The Green Hornet and Kato also appeared as anti-heroes in the second season of the live-action 1960s Batman TV series, in the two part episodes “A Piece of the Action” and “Batman’s Satisfaction”. The Green Hornet also appeared in NOW Comics for fourteen issues in 1989 and another forty between 1991 and 1995.

A movie version of the Green Hornet has been given serious consideration begining in the 1990s, with Miramax and Universal Pictures both wanting to produce a movie. Finally, Sony Pictures, a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures, succeeded in bringing a comedy-action Green Hornet film to the big screen on January 14, 2011, starring Seth Rogen who penned the script along with Evan Goldberg. The movie added a new, never before mentioned concept to the story showing Britt Reid as a drunken playboy who only got serious about life after the death of his father. Jay Chou also starred in the film as Kato along with a megastar cast including Edward James Olmos, Chrisotph Waltz and Cameron Diaz.

While the Green Hornet has not had the attention that fellow crimefighters like Batman and Spiderman, his legend has endured and will most likely continue into the future!

What is Blu-Ray?

Blu-ray is the newest generation of digital media storage. The main advantage of blu-ray discs is that they have a much greater capacity, allowing for high definition movie length feature to be recorded on a single disc.

This greater data density is achieved by using a blue-violet laser which reads and writes data at a much shorter wavelength than the red and infrared lasers used with DVD discs. The blu-ray technology is currently competing with HD-DVD for the consumer market. Blu-ray’s advantage is that it can store more information on a disc while HD-DVD can utilize lower cost red lasers.

The DVD format can store up to 4.7 gigabytes of information on a single layer, HD-DVD more than tripled that to 15 gigabytes, and blu-ray has a single layer capacity of 25 gigabytes. Blu-ray resolution is 1920 pixels wide by 1080 pixels high when connected to a high definition television with an HDMI cable and is also typically capable of upgrading lower resolution material to that resolution.

Blu-ray dual layer discs (50 gigabytes) can hold nine hours of high definition video or 23 hours of standard definition video! A single layer blu-ray disc has the capacity to hold a 2 hour 15 minute movie in high definition and still have enough storage space for about 2 additional hours of bonus material in standard definition without any data compression!

Blu-ray could potentially provide the basis for a further step in storage capacity. TDK announced in August of 2006 that they had successfully tested a blu-ray disc that held 200 gigabytes on a single side by using six layers of data! That was, however, an experimental disc that would not be playable on current blu-ray standard players.

Blu-ray region codes are not the same as DVD codes. Region 1 discs are playable in North America will also be usable in central America, South America, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan. Region 2 discs will play in Africa, Australia, Europe, French territories, Greenland, and New Zealand. Region 3 discs are coded for Central/South Asia, China (mainland), India, Nepal, and Russia.

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