Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Black Beauty, Dynamite Entertainment, green hornet, kato, mark waid, ming-na wen, Nancy Collins

Mark Waid Talks The Green Hornet, Black Beauty And His Obsession With Heroic Newspapermen

Published Wed, 06 Nov 2013 19:00:53 -0600

by Dan Wickline

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Mark Waid has written Captain America, Daredevil, The Flash and Superman. Nancy Collins asked the prolific writer about approaching a character with no powers like the Green Hornet and what about the character drew him in.

NANCY COLLINS: Were you a fan of the Green Hornet before you took on the title?

MARK WAID: You bet. I first encountered the Hornet on the Batman TV show when I was four and watched his ABC-TV series faithfully. I also have fond memories of listening to a few of the radio shows in the '70s when I was a kid, and I was always fascinated by the generational aspect of the character–that, as the grand-nephew of the Lone Ranger, he had a heritage. And a cool car. Also, as a gargantuan fan of the film Citizen Kane and as someone whose original ambition was to be a newspaper reporter, I'm a sucker for heroic-newspaperman stories….

NC: Do you envision the Green Hornet as a 'superhero' or more along the lines of an ' outlaw crime fighter'?

MW: More the latter, but even moreso I see it as a straight crime book. The Hornet doesn't save kittens or thwart bank robberies–not that he wouldn't if pressed to do so, but I'd rather see him in gangster-crime scenarios. That he wears a mask doesn't, to me, make him a "superhero"–he's a (fake) gangster with a gimmick.

NC: Can the gearheads out there look forward to some sweet Black Beauty action?

MW: Oh, man, yes. Issues 10 and 11 are very, very heavy on the Black Beauty, and I've been doing my research about what would have been feasible in that era for a rolling tank like that to have–what sort of special features and gimmicks might make sense. And does Kato ever know how to drive…! He and that car are almost as one!

NC: How does writing for a a 'powerless' hero like the Green Hornet differ from writing for, say, the Flash?

MW: I'm not sure it does. I always approach these characters from the inside out–getting in their heads, deciding what their goals are and their thought processes tend to be, and their powers or abilities are just tools I then use to help them achieve whatever they've set out to achieve, if that makes any sense. In other words, whether it's Superman or the Hornet, first I decide the dilemma, then I look to see what they can do or what they have that might help them out.

NC: Do you have anything on deck for 2014 that you want to share with your fans?

MW: Yeah: "Be careful what you wish for" are the new watchwords for the Hornet. You want to be taken seriously as an FBI-level threat? Well, congrats. Guess what kind of fresh hell THAT buys you….

NC: One last question: Jay Chou or Bruce Lee?

MW: In a perfect world? Ming Na-Wen.

Click here for more infomation on Green Hornet #8.

Nancy A. Collins is the author of numerous novels, short stories, and comic books, including DC Comics' Swamp Thing. A recipient of the Horror Writers Association's Bram Stoker Award, The British Fantasy Society's Icarus Award, as well as a nominee for the International Horror Guild, John W. Campbell, James Tiptree, Eisner & World Fantasy Awards, her works include Sunglasses After Dark, Lynch: A Gothik Western, and Knuckles And Tales. Legends of Red Sonja #1 marks her return to comics, and her newest novel is Magic And Loss, the 3^rd book in the Golgotham series, scheduled to be released November 5^th .