The 10th issue of Green Hornet Comics was a comic book published by Harvey Comics. It was released on Octber 6, 1942 with a December 1942 cover date. It was the fourth Green Hornet comic book published by Harvey Comics, who had succeeded Helnit Publishing in publishing the series, and kept the numbering from the previous publisher.
The issue contained two Green Hornet stories: the twelve page "The Return of the Clown", which was the longest story to appear in an issue of Green Hornet Comics up to that point, and the eight page "The Green Hornet Smashes the Career of Farmer Filcher." It was the first issue of the Harvey Comics run to omit the "Green Hornet Buzzers" section, which had first appeared in Green Hornet Comics #7.
The Return of the Clown[]
Appearances[]
Characters[]
- Tommy Wallace (one-off character)
- Jane Cooper (one-off character)
- Roger Bradford (one-off character)
- Walker Cooper (Jane's father, one-off character)
- Unnamed police officer (one-off character)
- Britt Reid, the Green Hornet
- Michael Axford
- Lenore Case
- The Clown
- Prison guards
- Kato
- Asiatic Museum's night watchman (one-off character)
Locations[]
- The City
- Law offices of Cooper and Bradford
- Walker Cooper residence (one-off location)
- The Daily Sentinel offices
- Asiatic museum (one-off location)
- India (mentioned)
Misc.[]
- The Daily Sentinel
- The Clown's trick ring
- The Clown's stolen motorcycle
- The Black Beauty
- One-eyed monkey statue
- Hornet Gun
- Jane's money bank
Synopsis[]
At the law offices of Bradford and Cooper, baseball player Tommy Wallace is upset that the father of his girlfriend, Jane Cooper, won't give his approval for them to be married. Cooper complains about Wallace coming around to the office and calls him a loafer. An insulted Tommy storms off. That night he and Mr. Cooper argue inside the latter's home. An unnamed police officer hears the commotion and a subsequent gunshot. He enters the building, discovering Cooper dead, and charges Tommy with the crime. However, Tommy proclaims his innocence insisting that the lights momentarily went out and a third party fired the shot. He also claims that Cooper's dying words mentioned a "one-eyed monkey" that will expose his true killer.
Newspaper publisher Britt Reid assigns Daily Sentinel reporter Michael Axford to interview Tommy, who is now cellmates with the convicted killer known as the Clown. When prison guards arrive to escort the Clown to his execution, he uses a trick ring to gas them and steal a motorcycle, once more escaping justice. Meanwhile, Jane and Roger Bradford, her father's law firm partner, try to decipher the clue about the one-eyed monkey. Jane believes her father was referring to an Indian statue that he had donated to the city's Asiatic museum. Having initially heard about the one-eyed monkey from Tommy, and believing that it might be valuable, the Clown has eavesdropped on Jane and Bradford's conversation. He holds the pair at gunpoint and is soon confronted by the Green Hornet, but ultimately escapes.
At the museum, the Clown is discovered by a night watchman and kills the guard with the sword from a nearby exhibit. He then once more battles the Green Hornet, pinning the hero beneath a statue and making off with the one-eyed monkey. Bradford tackles the villain and the one-eyed monkey shatters as it, too, hits the ground. The object proves to not contain any message and Jane and Bradford realize that the item's appearance must have been a fantastic coincidence, as Cooper had been describing another object.
The Green Hornet and his crime-fighting partner Kato speed back to the Cooper residence and the Clown clings, undetected, to their vehicle's exterior. As Britt searches Cooper's desk, the Clown ambushes him with a knife, but this time the masked hero easily wards him out and knocks him out with the gas from his Hornet Gun.The Green Hornet and Bradford question Jane and she realizes that the one-eyed monkey that her father described is actually the money bank he gave her as a child. She fetches it from a trunk and, when Bradford insists on holding on to it for safekeeping, the Green Hornet realizes he must be the killer and snatches the object from him. Sure enough, the money bank contains a note describing Bradford's repeated embezzlement and threats toward Cooper. Bradford produces a handgun and is about to shoot himself when the revived Clown tries to steal the weapon. Kato appears and kills the lights and the Green Hornet gasses Bradford, but the Clown escapes.
Back in Britt's office at the Daily Sentinel, a week has passed. While the Clown remains at large, Tommy's name has been cleared and Michael Axford prepares to cover their wedding. In a macabre twist, the nuptials are scheduled for the same day Tommy was previously scheduled to be executed for Cooper's murder.
The Green Hornet Smashes the Career of Farmer Filcher[]
Appearances[]
Characters[]
City,
- Jewelry store proprietor (one-off character)
- Britt Reid, the Green Hornet
- Kato
- Farmer Filcher (one-off character)
- Rocky (one-off character)
- Police department
- Michael Axford
- District Attorney (mentioned)
- Lenore Case
- Captain Hart (mentioned, one-off character]]
Locations[]
- The City
- Jewelry store
- Police headquarters
- Daily Sentinel offices
- Waterfront
- Captain Hart's shack
Misc.[]
- Farmer Filcher's car
- Smoke grenade
- Hornet Gun
- Green Hornet's note
- Captain Hart's fishing boat (mentioned)
- Captain Hart's clock
- Green Hornet's calling card
Synopsis[]
Newspaper publisher Britt Reid, alias the Green Hornet, examines clocks at a jewelry store when Farmer Filcher, whom Britt describes as "the country gangster chief," enters the store with his entourage. Filcher trades insults with Britt and calls off one of his men who nearly attacks the newspaperman. That night, Filcher and his men rob the jewelry store owner and murder his police escort. Britt happens to be driving by with his valet and crime-fighting partner, Kato, and witnesses the scene. The pair quickly don their masked hero guides and use the Hornet Gun to apprehend Rocky, one of Filcher's men.
The crime-fighters drop Rocky off in front of police headquarters, and he's discovered by reporter Michael Axford and an officer friend. Rocky ultimately rats out his fellow gang members when an officer threatens to pin four murders on him. The Green Hornet and Kato later tail the police as they transport Rocky to the district attorney's office. The police are ambushed by a gas grenade from Filcher's men and Rocky is killed by a gunman in the ensuing chaos. The Green Hornet and Kato pursue the mobsters in their enhanced car, Black Beauty, but ultimately lose them.
The next day, Britt's secretary, Lenore Case, informs him that Captain Hart, the skipper of a boat that he fishes on, has been found dead. The official coroner's report states that Hart died from blood loss after getting his right hand trapped in a fly wheel, however, the an enraged Britt suspects that the skipper was murdered by Filcher.
That night, the Green Hornet and Kato track Filcher's gang to the waterfront, commandeer a motorboat and discover the gang holed up in Hart's shack. Filcher is stunned as one the Green Hornet's calling cards drifts from the ceiling, and the crime-fighters burst in upon the gang, easily incapacitating Filcher's lackeys. While the Green Hornet is unable to conclusively tie Filcher to Hart's murder, he is able to connect him to the theft of Hart's clock. Filcher throws a hidden knife at the vigilante, but his aim goes amiss when the gangster is struck from behind by Kato. The crime-fighters leave Filcher's gang for the police to discover. On their way home, the Green Hornet reveals that he knew Hart's death must have involved foul play, as the skipper's right hand was paralyzed making it impossible to have reached the flywheel with that hand.