Dynamite Entertainment 2018
Written by Amy Chu
Illustrated by German Erramouspe
Coloured by Brittany Pezzillo
Lettered by Tom Napolitano
Britt Reid Jr., the scion of the Daily Sentinel publishing empire, vanishes during a wild party on his friend’s yacht. Meanwhile, crime spikes in the streets of Century City with the mysterious criminal/secret vigilante the Green Hornet absent. It’s only a matter of time before SOMEONE puts two and two together, and it’s up to Kato, former partner of Britt’s father, and his daughter Mulan to protect the city AND the Green Hornet legacy, while finding out what happened to Britt.
Not going to lie when I saw that the Green Hornet was gender swapped I was little unsure I even wanted to read this. No offense to anyone but after a while the whole gender/race whatnot switches lose their effect and appeal. Still I like Amy’s writing and German’s art and I think that Dynamite knows what they are doing so I gave it a go. Lo and behold this is why you don’t judge a book by it’s cover and if you do then you should read it before making any snap judgements. I was very pleasantly surprised with the premise what is going on here and Amy once again shows us why she’s a rising star.
I like the way the book is structured. From the opening to the last page I think there’s a real nice smooth flow to how everything progresses to the point where Kato must rise up and claim the mantle for herself. That Britt is gone is just a mitigating factor in what we see here it’s really how that absence of one man can make a difference to his city. Now why Britt is gone and where he is and what he’s doing is something I would like to see sure but I won’t cry if we don’t get it. I am really more into what we see happening in Century City.
What does happen when the city’s biggest villain/hero disappears? Why has no one put the fact that Britt and the Green Hornet are both MIA and yet no one thinks one and the same? For a city with many reporters and criminals it’s really fascinating that the connection isn’t made by someone. Well people have noticed the absence of the Green Hornet and are trying to take advantage of that fact and it doesn’t bode well.
German does some really nice work on the interiors and the first few pages are really spectacular and eye catching moments. The use of page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows his eye for storytelling which is nicely seasoned and a pleasure to see. While I would like to see more definition in the characters, especially the faces, his style here makes what we see as interesting as it is. There is some nice use of backgrounds but I would like to see more after they’ve been established to suddenly disappear in the next panel is a little disappointing.
I like the approach Amy is taking in this story. There is a great amount of tension in the pages with them worrying about Britt but not being out there actively looking for him. I get Kato’s reasoning and as he’s acting in Britt’s stead in all capacity with the Sentinel so it’s not like he can leave too. While there is something troubling with the whole idea of waiting to see if/when he comes back things have to be done in his absence so pull up the big girl panties and get to it.
A strong well written opening to a new arc that looks at life in Central City and what the Green Hornet really means.