Subject Matter
Genres:
crime, martial arts
Feature(s):
Kato of the Green Hornet
Character(s):
Hayashi Kato; Paul Reid; Sandy Sragow (introduction); Faye Ripien (introduction); Ned Karthage (introduction); Rex (introduction); The Spitting Cobras gang (villains)
Synopsis:
Rock star Sandy Sragow (professionally known simply as Sragow) is almost murdered on stage during a Boston concert, and his tour's next stop is The City. Due to his connection to Reid Communications and his having played in some sessions produced by the involved record label's president, concert pianist Paul Reid (a.k.a. Green Hornet IV) is asked by the mayor what he might be able to offer in security arrangements. As the would-be killer used Asian martial arts weaponry and the star is a buff, Paul asks Hayashi Kato to help. The obvious suspects are the Spitting Cobras, a street gang Sragow anatgonized by firing two of its members from his entourage, and Ned Karthage, the ex-business partner and former lover of his label's president, Faye Ripien. At the City's airport, Kato meets the rocker, who recognizes him from his kung fu movies and demotes his regular bodyguard, Rex, to driver. Sragow's profanity, drug abuse, promiscuity and arrogance do not sit well with Hayashi. Five Cobras accost the two while working out at a dojo, but are easily handled. However, while Sragow later entertains two playmates in his high rise hotel suite, an arrow smashes through the window and kills one of the women. During his concert, a man in the shadows lets loose an arrow from a compound bow....Concluded next issue.
Reprinting
Reprint Notes:
Miscellaneous
Pages:
24
Notes:
Chronological placement of these events within the regular Green Hornet series is unclear; when Kato meets Sragow at the airport, he wears (except for mask and gloves) his "Green Hornet's associate" disguise/chauffeur's uniform(!) and continues to do so in many subsequent scenes, including in the next issue; "Spitting Cobras" is also the name of a gang that accosted Kato and his companion while they travelled across Mainland China to his Shaolin temple in Kato of the Green Hornet (1991 series) #1, but there is no acknowledgement of that in this story.