Screenwriter Michael Schwartz today revealed that he is making his comic book writing debut with Armored, described as "a spooky, supernatural comic book series about an orphan who stumbles across a mystical suit of armor haunted by the ghost who wore it centuries ago." Created and written by Schwartz, Armored is illustrated by Ismael Hernandez, lettered by Ferran Delgado, and edited by Eisner-winner Chris Stevens. The five-issue comic book series features covers by artists Jae Lee, Nick Pitarra, Chrissie Zullo, Scott Kolins, Matthew Therrien, and Jeff Dickson.
The project is being crowdfunded on Kickstarter by Clover Press. Clover has provided ComicBook.com with an exclusive first look at Lee's cover, as well as some process pieces describing the process of getting there.
"The whole image should be like a Greek statue," Lee told ComicBook.com in a statement. "A heroic boy in armor...The disembodied knight floating behind him crucified...The large demon head with horns formed by the swirly black stuff...The boy's head framed by the guts of the ghost. Like a halo or crown formed by the guts."
Here's a more thorough breakdown of the series, via Clover Press: Meet orphaned teen Andy, whose parents mysteriously vanished years before he was adopted at the outset of our story. When Andy starts at a new school out in the countryside, he accidentally discovers a haunted suit of armor and its ghostly keeper, Sir William. When Andy is attacked by the same mysterious creature that killed his adoptive parents' biological son, Sir William and the suit help Andy defeat the monster — but the monster was conjured by someone, and they'll stop at nothing to gain control of the armor.
Sir William must train Andy to use the armor properly — not just to defeat the other creatures being summoned by the mysterious antagonist, but also to defeat an even more dangerous other-worldly being prophesied to return to Earth and take the suit of armor for its own kind. As he faces off against more and more horrifying monsters, Andy will need to learn to look within himself to find the strength to overcome his own demons in order to save the Earth. But this mystery may be bigger than just Andy and his suit…
"A few years ago, my entire comic book collection was stolen," said Schwartz, who penned the screenplay for Gnome Alone. "After that I started to re-collect and revisit the thousands of books I loved — from silver age classics to modern era epics — and realized the potential comic books offered me for telling this ambitious and personal tale. Working with Clover has been a real pleasure as they truly understood the scope of the story and how Ismael Hernandez and I wanted this narrative to unfold for the reader."
"One of the more exciting aspects of publishing is finding and breaking new talent," said Clover Press Publisher Hank Kanalz. "Michael is an accomplished screenplay writer, and this is his comic book debut. Chris has assembled a talented team of artists to bring this to visual life, and Michael brings all the thrills and chills of a great horror read.You can tell he loves the periodical art form, and this story doesn't disappoint."
You can see the process of making Lee's cover below.