Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet #4
Written by Kevin Smith
Breakdowns by Phil Hester
Art by Jonathan Lau
Covers by Joe Benitez, John Cassaday, Alex Ross, Stephen Segovia
Dynamite Entertainment
Price: $3.99
Released date: May 26, 2010

Continuing in Dynamite’s tradition of pleasing me with their revamped Green Hornet line, Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet #4 brings a swift roundhouse kick to the reader’s face by really bringing in the meat of the story.

When we last left the series, Britt Reed, Jr had been dealing with his father’s recent demise when he met Kato, his father’s assistant in fighting crime who literally opened the doors to his father’s past. We pick up directly where we left off as Kato sheds light on Britt, Sr’s motivations to lead a double life as the crime fighting “mob boss,” The Green Hornet.

While opening Britt, Jr’s eyes to this world, Kato also expresses the Hornet’s wishes to have his son and all evidence of the Hornet shipped to China while Kato and his daughter rid the streets of the Hornet’s assassin. Britt concedes, and we directly go into the legacy Kato confronting the mob, and just when things are looking there most grim, a new Green Hornet bursts on to the scene.

Sounds exciting, right? Well, this is one comic that lives up to its description. The series has, in the past, felt a little too slow paced, but considering that the comic was based off of Kevin Smith’s screenplay, it is definitely understandable, and you can certainly tell the movie style and pacing what with the basic origins of the character, but it works. Obviously, there are some things that may rub people the wrong way with Kevin Smith’s dialogue, but overall, this is the tamest thing I have seen from him, which again still works. Smith’s signature style is definitely present within the comic, and I would definitely recommend this to people that like super hero movies or Kevin Smith as a writer.

Issue #4 takes you deep into the second act, and we really get to see the plot and action take off. Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet is becoming the action movie that we all believed that Kevin Smith is capable of. I mean, can anything get better than masks, super heroes, ninjas, and the mafia? I think not.