The Green Hornet was the alter ego of Britt Reid. Britt Reid was a tall, handsome man with thick black hair.
Reid was the owner and publisher of the Daily Sentinel newspaper in Central City. As the Green Hornet, he fought the city's organized crime. Through the Daily Sentinel, Reid cultivated the public perception that the Green Hornet was an underworld kingpin. This enabled him to disrupt criminal activity under the ruse that he was seeking to eliminate competition and gain more spoils for himself, as well as developing a reputation for being ruthless and dangerous.
Encountering Dick Tracy[]
In 2018, the mobster Cyrus Topper traveled to Dick Tracy'scity to secure funding from the Apparatus in order to launch a new protection racket in Central City. Britt Reid, accompanied by his assistant Lenore Case, pursued Topper. The ostensible purpose of their visit was to inform the local police and the media that the Green Hornet and Topper were in the area. This was a cover to explain the presence of the Green Hornet so Reid could stop Topper himself. Meanwhile, the Green Hornet's crime-fighting partner Kato infiltrated Topper's household and posed as his new servant "Skiyaki".
In Kato's absence, Case adopted a costume similar to his and acted as the Green Hornet's new driver, the "Red Wasp." Kato eventually informed the Hornet and Wasp of Topper's activities. After a number of tense stand-offs with Tracy and Sam Catchem, Topper and his gang were rendered unconscious by the Hornet's sleep gas. The Hornet and Kato used the opportunity to flee the scene and return to Central City.
Notes[]
The Green Hornet uses a gadget-laden car known as the Black Beauty, with Kato traditionally serving as his driver.
Britt Reid in his civilian identity.
It has been established that Britt Reid is a distant relative of John Reid, the Lone Ranger. Both properties were originally produced by the Detroit radio station, WXYZ. The exact relationship varies from one source to another (a situation that further complicated by the copyrights for each property now being owned by separate companies), but the Green Hornet's presence would seem to indicate that the Lone Ranger was a real person in the world of Dick Tracy.
Comic books featuring the Green Hornet have been published by both several companies including Harvey Comics, Dell Comics, Gold Key Comics, and NOW! Comics, the latter of which sometimes featured artwork by later Dick Tracy artist Jim Brozman. The comic book rights to the character are currently held by Dynamite Entertainment.
The Green Hornet property originally became popular through a radio series which ran from 1936 to 1953 and spanned over 1,000 episodes. The character was also popularized through a pair of 1940s film serials and a 1960s TV series produced by William Dozier (who specifically selected the character immediately after his 1967 Dick Tracy pilot was rejected). The TV series starred Van William as Britt Reid/The Green Hornet and martial arts luminary Bruce Lee in his first major American role as Kato. The Green Hornet was also adapted into 2011 feature film starring Seth Rogen.
The characters' appearances and demeanor when they appeared in Dick Tracy generally resembled the versions from the TV series.
Kato's undercover identity of "Skiyaki" in the Dick Tracy comic strip is apparently a reference to the Green Hornet radio series, where it was the name of a minor supporting character who acted as an informant to Kato.
