Book Review: Green Hornet Year One, Volume 2

Green Hornet: Year One Vol 2: the Biggest of All Game by Matt Wagner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The second half of the Green Horhnet Year One series is much better that the previous installment. The flashbacks are shorter and the main story has some forward momentum at last. What we do see in Flashbacks is actually interesting as we begin to understand the origins of the Green Hornet's headquarters, car, and arsenal. And in Issue #11 the brief flashback was very relevant and timely to the story.

The art wasn't great, but also seemed to not be as bad in places. With the style occasionally being atmospheric rather than merely disorienting. There were some nice character moments, particularly when the Green Hornet forgot himself when talking to a judge who was being blackmailed by the heavy of the story Skid Carusuo. There's also some solid action sequences. The covers remain excellent except perhaps for Issue #12.

The negatives of the book is that the artwork wasn't bad but in some cases it was underwhelming, I'm thinking mainly of the introduction Black Beauty which with a good artist would have been an awesome reveal.

Also the Scourge, a sadistic torturer who Caruso hired to capture and torture the Green Hornet seemed out of place. The character looks great as a menacing sadist and the parts when building up to him and the Hornet are superb. The character was included in the book but because its rated for teens so they can't go too far. Instead of implying he was doing horrible things but using shadow not to show us (a subtle and powerful way to tastefully tell a story), the artist shows him doing things that to be honest, look a little silly.

Also, Skid Caruso is supposed to be the main villain and threat of the story, but by all appearances, he's just a typical crime boss like any number that were in Chicago at the time. We never get a sense of why this guy was worth the Green Hornet fighting across a 12-issue mini-series.

Again, this isn't bad, but it's a problematic story that doesn't really live up to the idea of a year one story.



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