Green Hornet Vol. 2: Wearing O’ the Green (Hardcover)

Scripts by Kevin Smith, Breakdowns by Phil Hester, Art by Jonathan Lau, Colors by Ivan Nunes

Green Hornet Vol 1., Sins of the Father, left off with Brit deciding to take his father’s mantle. It was really only the halfway point for what Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet movie would have been. Wearing O’ the Green takes us to the end of that story. And if anything is clear after reading both volumes, it’s this: it’s a shame Kevin Smith never made his movie. Now, I didn’t mind the Seth Rogen/Michel Gondry collaboration. It certainly didn’t live up to its potential, but it was a fun and distracting film, and sometimes that’s all a film needs to be. But reading Smith’s vision for what Green Hornet could have been, it makes the shortcomings of the film we got just a little more apparent.

The bottom line is that Smith’s story is just better. The stakes are higher, the characters more developed and more interesting, and concept more fulfilling. Both version have Britt as a tabloid favorite Charlie-Sheen-but-younger kind of guy, but Smith’s Britt actually wants to take the mantle of the Green Hornet to continue his father’s work—Rogen’s does it as a way to forsake his father’s legacy (initially). Even the villain was much more appropriate. In a story about father/son legacies, the Rogen’s film lacked a villain to parallel this dynamic. Smith’s does not—the villains chosen are perfect foils to Britt and the Kato family. And speaking of Kato, Smith had a much bigger design. Kato is now much older, taking on the mentor role, while his daughter fulfills the badass chauffeur. Smith even brings in another Kato, who is a half-American stoner kind of guy who designs all of the Green Hornet’s weapons. The Kato of Rogen’s film did all three of these, and it was a bit too much at times. It still wasn’t clear at the end of the film why Kato needed Green Hornet, while without Kato, the Hornet would have been dead in seconds. Rogen’s Hornet never really seems to care about learning how to fight, yet Smith’s Hornet spends much of this second volume becoming the green hornet, learning hand-to-hand combat, and even experimenting with different looks (all of which go hilariously wrong). Gondry’s vision of Green Hornet may have been nice for a January movie (and for a January movie, it’s a goldmine), but reading Smith’s story and seeing what could have been done with Green Hornet? Oh…the missed opportunities.

But it’s also easy to see why Smith might have felt in over his head when he was set to direct the film. This was quite a while ago, and though CGI and special effects were big, they were nowhere near the level they are today. And there is some massive action sequences in Wearing O’ the Green that would make even today’s directors nervous. Stealth jets, a car that erupts into a little helicopter, a dozen or so Kung Fu battles, and at the same time trying not to undercut the emotional beets of the story or cheapen the comedy? Yeah, it’s a lot to juggle. Writing an awesome script is one thing, but when it comes to bringing it to life, it’s important not to get in over your head, and that’s what Smith’s script did to him. It was too good for his own sake. A rather odd problem to be in.

But since it was adapted to a comic series instead, he had others to help him see this story come forth. Phil Hester helped change the screenplay into a comic script—which is a lot harder than it sounds, so he deserves a lot of praise for it, and Jonathan Lau provides art. Scratch that. Jonathan Lau delivers amazing art. I don’t remember the art in Vol. 1 being as good as it is in Vol. 2, but Lau really nails every panel. If only he could team up with Kevin Smith for the eventual sequel to Widening Gyre! Lau’s art plays very well with Smith’s story. Both can be very dynamic and yet very subtle. Sometimes at the same moment. Of course, Ivan Nunes colors don’t hurt either. Neither do the covers by Alex Ross. The cover to the hardcover set alone is fantastic.

Green Hornet Vol 1: Sins of the Father (Hardcover)

Scripts by Kevin Smith; Breakdowns by Phil Hester;  art by Jonathan Lau, colors by Ivan Nunes; and covers by Alex Ross.

Once upon a time, Kevin Smith was going to make a Green Hornet movie. That’s right. The man who brought you Cop Out and Jersey Girl was going to bring new life to a classic character. But that never happened. He wrote the script and, according to his introduction, freaked the frig out and didn’t think he had the chops to direct it. Ages went by and the script hibernated until it became useless and forgotten and Michael Gondry and Seth Rogen went on to make their own Green Hornet that looks like it might be fun, but let’s not get our hopes up. So what was to become of Kevin Smith’s script? Well, here it is. Converted into comics and now being released by Dynamite.

Sins of the Father picks up the Green Hornet 20 years after he’s retired. His son is a tabloid whore and he is one of the most powerful people in century city… Until he gets murdered. Now the son must take up his father’s mantle. Um… Isn’t that what the new movie’s about? Nevermind, that’s another post for another time. It’s a fun story, and Smith’s natural ability to sell a character really shines through. It’s a shame this was never turned into a film because I’m sure the new Kato would have been really hot in the Chauffer outfit.