From DC Comics and Dynamite Entertainment.
A digital-first biweekly series beginning May 21, and in comic shops on June 4. Written by filmmaker and Bat fan Kevin Smith and Comedian Ralph Garman with art by Ty Templeton. The 12 part maxi-series will be playing off the backstory hinted at in the Batman T.V. series 2-parter “A Piece of the Action” and “Batman’s Satisfaction” which originally aired on March 1, 1967 and March 2, 1967 respectively. In the episode Britt Reid tells Kato that he and Bruce Wayne knew each other when they were young and attended the same school, where they were rivals.
Smith wants to treat this as a “lost episode” to the 1966 T.V. series and a potential animated feature.
From the T.V. series:
The Green Hornet and Kato are in Gotham City to bust a counterfeiting stamp ring. Believed to be arch-criminals by nearly everyone, their midnight visit to Colonel Gumm at the Pink Chip Stamps Factory stirs alarm. Even Batman and Robin believe they are out for a piece of the action. Figuring the Green Hornet’s goal must be the Gotham Gothic, a rare and valuable stamp, they trail him and Kato to the Pink Chip Stamps Factory. Colonel Gumm moves out of the Pink Chip Stamps Factory, taking its owner Pinky Pinkston along as a hostage. A message hidden by Miss Pinkston in a bowl of alphabet soup directs Batman and Robin to the International Stamp Exhibition. Though the Green Hornet and Kato will be attending to try to expose Colonel Gumm, Batman and Robin believe they are out for personal profit. The misunderstanding has the two sets of crime fighters fighting each other while the real criminal nearly makes off with the exhibition’s rare and valuable stamps .
Kato, Green Hornet, Batman and Robin
From left to right: Kato (Bruce Lee), Green Hornet (Van Williams), Batman (Adam West) and Robin (Burt Ward)
Kevin Smith wrote the limited series Batman: Cacophony, Batman: The Widening Gyre and upcoming sequel Batman: Bellicosity, due in 2014. In 1999 Smith welcomed his daughter Harley Quinn Smith into the world, named after Batman character Harley Quinn. Smith also hosts a Smodcast show ” Fatman on Batman” and Producer of AMC’s “Comic Book Men” which is filmed in his comic shop “Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash”.
Also in 2010 Smith published a Green Hornet story for Dynamite Entertainment, which was based on an unused script he wrote for a Green Hornet film project that never came to fruition.
Ralph Garman is an actor, comedian, and radio host best known for his voice work in Family Guy, and as the entertainment reporter and impressionist for the Kevin and Bean morning show on Los Angeles radio station KROQ-FM. He also hosts the Hollywood Babble-On podcast with Kevin Smith on SModcast.com.
Notable impressions include: Cesar Romero (as The Joker), Adam West (as Batman), Christian Bale ( as Batman) and Burt Ward (as Robin).
Ty Templeton a Canadian comic book artist best known for his work on Batman Adventures for DC Comics and Bigg Time published by Vertigo.
Source: USA Today
