GREEN HORNET #1 FCBD 2010 EDITION

Creative Team: (W) Kevin Smith (A) Jonathan Lau, Ariel Padilla, Aaron Campbell (C) Alex Ross

Publisher: D.E./DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

Dynamite Entertainment proudly presents the return of the Green Hornet! In 2010, Dynamite will unveil three brand-new Green Hornet series, starting with the worldwide debut of Kevin Smith’s vision for the masked crusader (based on his unproduced screenplay)! Get a first look with this special edition featuring not only Smith’s version, but the award-winning work of creators Matt Wagner and Brett Matthews as well! All in one Free Comic Book Day comic event!

32pgs, FC – FREE!

Are ya a little behind and want to know more about the series and all the excitemement about “Green Hornet”? Bleeding Cool has a detailed article/interview with Kevin on the new book (which takes that Comic Shop Insider piece we mentioned last week and turns it into print for). Here’s some snips:

“…”When you’re writing a comic book script, you don’t have to do that. We never sit there and go, ‘I can’t write this because nobody can draw this.’ The limits of film aren’t here. There’s always somebody out there that can draw what you have in your head; the only frustration at that point, since I can’t draw myself, is trying to translate that image from my head to the page. No matter how good the technology of the motion picture medium gets, it will never match the imagination of a comic book writer and a comic book artist because for them the sky’s the limit. There’s no budgetary constriction–it’s just a dude with a keyboard and a dude with a pencil.”

Is Smith’s Green Hornet a classic tale revisited, or a contemporary reinterpretation? “It has a foot in both pools,”?Smith said. “Our story is set one foot in the Silver Age and one foot in the modern era. The tone is a balance between the two. We don’t go as campy as the Batman TV series but I’d be lying to say it’s not influenced by my being a longtime fan of that show. It’s not as dark as Dark Knight, naturally, but it’s not as goofy and feather-light and homoerotic as Batman and Robin.”

…

While Smith is committed only to the first story arc adapting his script, he’s not ruling out more Green Hornet tales further down the line. “I’d be surprised if, at the end of the run, I’m not going to want to stick with the book,” Smith said. “At the end of my film, script, I just start getting deeper into the Brit Reed/Kato relationship in a way that is the most interesting to me. I can write six issues of those two involved with one another. So I could see myself at the end of the series wanting to stick around; I like the couple and I’d like to see where it eventually goes.”

…

“…While Smith’s story is based on his film script, Barrucci pointed out that this will be the first time that script has been seen. “It’s absolutely amazing that Kevin’s script hasn’t shown up on the internet or for sale anywhere, as most scripts end up getting bootlegged. I mean, think about it. He entrusted us with his baby! This is something that he put his heart and soul in to, and never allowed it to be seen just to be seen. He only allowed it to be put in our comic. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again–I’m honored and blessed. Especially considering the writing is so reverent and it’s compelling. And I think fans will agree.”

Kevin Smith’s ten-part story not only launches the Green Hornet series, it launches an entire Green Hornet franchise, with two other books in the works, with Matt Wagner and Brett Matthews writing the other two books. “The others start before and after Kevin’s book,”?Barrucci said. “In many ways, Kevin’s Green Hornet is the linchpin, if for no other reason than he’s first and he’s Kevin Smith, and his involvement will build awareness for all the other series.”

The Green Hornet #1, a $3.99 comic by Kevin Smith & Jonathan Lau with covers by Alex Ross, John Cassaday, J. Scott Campbell, and Stephen Segovia, is slated for March release. And don’t forget, free copies will be distributed for all on May 10th, too (this will be a different edition than the March release, so you’ll want to grab both).