Firefly television writer and Serenity comic book co-writer Brett Mathews and cover artist John Cassaday (Planetary, Astonishing X-Men) have been announced by Dynamite Entertainment as the first two members of the creative team for the company's new series, The Lone Ranger. Cassaday will also serve as art director for the yet-to-be-announced series artist, the company said.

“What interests me is that people tend to know elements of The Lone Ranger -- the mask, the white horse, the silver bullets, the faithful Indian companion -- but not where those elements came from,” Mathews said in a press release. “I want to see these things happen, and within the bounds of a turbulent and very specific period in American history. The Lone Ranger is first and foremost a Western, and I want to get back to that and explore what that means. I want to remind fathers why their boyhood hero was the Lone Ranger, and show their kids why that's cool.”

Following their approach with Red Sonja, Painkiller Jane and Army of Darkness, it came as something of a surprise when the company announced that Cassaday would be the only cover artist and that they planned no variant covers.

“We're doing this old school,” a company insider told Scoop. “Let's see how it goes!”