Dick Tracy (left) meets Britt Reid in the Dick Tracy comic strip
Britt Reid is a character who appears during the Green Hornet crossover arc in the Dick Tracy comic strip. He appeared in 26 of the arc's 49 daily installments, more than any other character.
Role in the comic strip[]
Britt Reid is the wealthy publisher of Central City's The Daily Sentinel newspaper. He is also secretly the masked vigilante known as the Green Hornet, whom criminals and law-enforcement officers alike believe to be a criminal mastermind. Britt perpetuates this myth to better enable him to infiltrate the criminal underground and combat it from within. His dual identity is only known to a select few individuals, with his crime-fighting partner Kato and his executive assistant Lenore Case the only two individuals who are specifically depicted as knowing it. As the crossover begins, the trio have made the trip to Dick Tracy's City. Ostensibly, they are are so that Britt and Lenore can notify the local media and law enforcement that the Green Hornet and gangster Cyrus Topper have both arrived in the city. In reality, Kato has infiltrated Topper's household posing as his servant, and Britt and Lenore have traveled there so that the Green Hornet can stop Topper's protection racket.
The Green Hornet as he appears in the Dick Tracy comic strip
As the Green Hornet, Britt quickly finds and confronts Topper, but is forced to flee the scene when Dick Tracy and his partner Sam arrive. Britt escapes in the Black Beauty, with Lenore adopting the identity of the Red Wasp and acting as his driver while Kato is away. Britt eventually rejoins Kato and the duo tail Topper to Mazuma National Bank. Tracy again arrives on the scene, and the Hornet and Kato get into a brief physical altercation with Tracy and Sam before gassing both them and Topper's gang. The Major Crimes Unit apprehends Topper and his lackeys and the Hornet and Kato return to Central City. Lenore has preceded their arrival and the Central City Police Department's sightings of the Black Beauty cause Tracy to believe that the Green Hornet and Kato made a speedy retreat, due to a fear of being caught by him. An assumption which Britt admits, has some basis in reality.