Saturday, January 28, 2023

Comics Review: "GREEN HORNET: One Night in Bangkok" Pulls No Punches

GREEN HORNET ONE NIGHT IN BANGKOK, ONE SHOT
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Shannon Eric Denton
ART: Jethro Morales
COLORS: Jorge Sutil
LETTERS: Taylor Esposito
EDITOR: Dynamite Editorial
COVER: Dan Panosian
32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (January 2023)

Rated Teen+

The Green Hornet is a superhero character created in 1936 by radio and television producer, George W. Trendle, and radio and comic book writer, Fran Striker.  The character debuted in “The Green Hornet,” a radio program that premiered on January 31, 1936, on Detroit station, WXYZ.  The Green Hornet is the alter ego of Britt Reid, the wealthy young publisher of “The Daily Sentinel” newspaper.  Clad in a long green overcoat, gloves, green fedora hat, and green mask, The Green Hornet is a crime-fighting vigilante, but the police and public believe that he is a wanted criminal and crime lord.

Over the years, the Green Hornet has appeared in various mediums, including comic books.  Dynamite Entertainment has had the license to produce Green Hornet comic books since 2009.  The latest is the one-shot comic book, Green Hornet One Night in Bangkok, One Shot.  It is written by Shannon Eric Denton; drawn by Jethro Morales; colored by Jorge Sutil; and lettered by Taylor Esposito.  The story finds Green Hornet facing a wily assassin seeking revenge against the Hornet.

Green Hornet: One Night in Bangkok opens in Bangkok where the world's foremost assassin who goes by the name, “Snake,” fights a tune-up match.  When the Hornet ruled Chicago, he sent Snake's crime boss father to state prison, where he would later die.  Two weeks later, Snake is in the Hornet's new stomping grounds, Century City, and he wants revenge.

Descending on Century City, Snake sets out on a bloody campaign to decimate the criminal population, all the while declaring to those he has let live that he is doing this for the Green Hornet.  Now, the Hornet must leap into action in order to salvage his reputation and to confront Snake before more lives are lost.  To do so, Britt Reid will have to lose his softness and regain the edge of the Green Hornet.

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Green Hornet One Night in Bangkok, One Shot, the very first Green Hornet comic book that I have read.

Green Hornet One Night in Bangkok reminds me of the 1980s Daredevil comic books written by the late Dennis O'Neil for Marvel Comics.  They were not quite up to the stuff of Frank Miller's run on Daredevil, but they were edgy, and O'Neil would always match Daredevil against formidable foes that could hurt him.

Writer Shannon Denton pits the Green Hornet against that Snake, a brutal sociopath who kills and maims as if it were nothing more than an ordinary chore for him.  Snake is rather … charming, and I wouldn't mind seeing him in his own comic book.  Because of him, I enjoyed read Green Hornet One Night in Bangkok, One Shot, and Denton certainly leaves me wanting more.

Here, Jethro Morales, a stylish artist with a straight-ahead storytelling method, recalls the spirit of artist Klaus Janson's Daredevil and The Punisher comic books for Marvel in the 1980s.  The more Morales draws comic books the better he will get.  In fact, Jorge Sutil's coloring for this issue is quite good, but Morales' storytelling would still be strong in black and white.

Letterer Taylor Esposito deftly handles what can be, at times, a dialogue heavy issue, and he is the final piece a really good creative team.  I'd like to see them tackle more Green Hornet.  In the meantime, dear readers, you can enjoy Green Hornet One Night in Bangkok, One Shot.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Dynamite's Green Hornet comic books will want to read Green Hornet One Night in Bangkok, One Shot.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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