Green Hornet Chronicles

For those of you who love character of The Green Hornet and long for more adventures, this book is aimed to please. And for the most part, it succeeds. As advertised on the back cover, this is the first anthology featuring all-new, original crime fiction tales of the man who hunters the biggest of all game, public enemies that even the FBI can't reach. Van Williams, television's Green Hornet, provided a nice introduction for the book. Dean Jeffries, who designed the Black Beauty car, wrote an afterward for the book.

There is a plus and a negative. Let us focus, for a moment, on the positives. Almost every author had a love for the character and attempted to bring the character to life without steering away from the original concept. All of the stories are fast-paced. The Green Hornet and Kato are not buffoons. C.J. Henderson did a nice twist on the character and he is becoming one of my favorite modern-day writers. Rich Harvey wrote a story that captures the closest to the character from the radio program.

Greg Cox wrote the amusing "I Had the Green Hornet's Love Child" story, but fear not, it isn't humorous. It's a serious story. Will Murray wrote one that appears to be ripped from an unproduced television script. Gary Owens, the voice actor who appeared in a number of the television episodes, wrote a nice blurb for the back cover.

Now the negative. The book was promoted in advance with having a story from Anthony Tollin retelling the origin of the character. As usual, having met Mr. Tollin personally at the Pulpfest convention and he failed to impress me, there is no such story. Could Moonstone intended to include the story and not included it due to space and time restraints? I doubt it. While I am not yet done reading the Salomonson/Grams History of the Green Hornet book yet (a future book review, stay tuned), I already learned that there is no origin to the character. Another disappointment from Mr. Tollin.

There is a story fragment about The Green Hornet meeting The Phantom, and an essay about why these two characters should never meet up. Who wrote these two pieces? Harlan Ellison. 'Nuff said. He, too, has disappointed me in person with an attitude I hope I never meet again.

Ruben Procopio supplied much of the illustrations in the book, and scenes are bridged with the Hornet logo like the television program. A nice touch. If you are looking for a history of the radio program, this is not the book to buy. But if you are looking for a collection or original short stories for new adventures and sheer enjoyment (skip Mr. Ellison's chapters), this is a book well worth the price and you won't even spent more than $20 bucks!