December 12, 2005, Runnemede, NJ - Just a few short days after Dynamite Entertainment announced the launch of their new Lone Ranger comic book series, the company has attached two high-profile creators to the project, writer Brett Matthews and artist John Cassaday.

"We've been working on this for quite a while, because we have to get this just right," explained Dynamite Spokesperson J. Allen. "After all, The Lone Ranger is THE archetype of the modern superhero, he is THE definition of 'Americana,' a crusader for truth, justice and the American way. With all that in mind, our series has to be both faithful to the true essence of the character while creating exciting new situations for him, and we've found two guys to do just that."

Brett Matthews (Firefly) will serve as series writer, while John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men) will be providing the yet-to-be-finalized series artist with art direction, and oversee the art on The Lone Ranger's world as well as the ONLY cover artist.

Brett Matthews states: "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. 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."

Cassaday continues and says that, "The Lone Ranger is an icon close to my heart, I'm looking forward to seeing the legend return in style. The knee-jerk reaction from the general populace is that of a masked boy scout, but a second look reveals an unrelenting enigma. What is widely known about the Lone Ranger's past would fit inside a thimble. Locked away and hidden, his story is one of our most mysterious and misunderstood. We're cracking open the dusty book of battle scar secrets, revenge and an empty grave."

Since the debut of his pioneering radio show on WXYZ Detroit in 1933, The Lone Ranger has captured the hearts and imaginations of generations of loyal fans. With his faithful companion Tonto, his silver bullets and his unwavering code of honor, this American icon has become an international symbol of truth and justice.

The successful radio series, created by George W. Trendle and writer Fran Striker, ran for an amazing 2,956 episodes and inspired numerous comic books, two movie serials, books, a live action TV series (1949 - 1957) starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels, as well as a Saturday morning animated series. The masked hero is set to ride onto the silver screen once again in 2007 with an all-new live action theatrical film.

THE LONE RANGER and associated character names, images and other indicia are trademarks of and copyrighted by Classic Media, Inc. All rights reserved.

ABOUT BRETT MATTHEWS

A member of "Mutant Enemy" -- the production company set up by Joss Whedon to produce the television shows he makes: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, and Firefly -- Matthews wrote the Firefly episode 'Heart of Gold' and was a co-writer with Joss on the Serenity comic book mini-series among his numerous creative credits.

TELEVISION
2002: Firefly: "Heart of Gold"; Twentieth Century Fox,

DVD
2004: The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury; Universal Home Video,

2004 Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows; Miramax, 2005

FEATURE
2004: Bionicle: The Feature; Miramax,

2005: Invasion; Universal

COMICS
2001: Angel: "Long Nights Journey"; with Joss Whedon, Dark Horse Comics,

2002: Spider-Man/Daredevil: "Neighbors"; Marvel Knights

2002: Star Wars Tales: "Free Memory"; Dark Horse Comics

2002: Star Wars Tales: "A Day in the Life"; Dark Horse Comics

2002: Spider-Man/Wolverine: "Stuff of Legends"; Marvel Knights

2003: Tales of the Vampire: "Dames"; Dark Horse Comics

2003: Tales of the Vampire: "Jack"; Dark Horse Comics

2004: Tales of the Vampire: "Numb"; Dark Horse Comics

2005: Serenity: "Those Left Behind"; with Joss Whedon, Dark Horse Comics

ABOUT JOHN CASSADAY

Throughout his career, John Cassaday has worked on such critically acclaimed series as Planetary (with Warren Ellis) and X-Men world with the #1 selling comic - Astonishing X-Men.

At the beginning, a few convention trips to San Diego and New York led to a series of Ghost (1996-1997) covers and a penciling job on Ghost #27 for Dark Horse and the 1997's Teen Titans Annual #1 for DC.

His first high profile work was the 1997's Ka-Zar: Sibling Rivalry #-1 for Marvel. Writer Mark Waid who helped him secure this assignment, also showed samples of Cassaday's pencils to Homage, which resulted in doing the Desperadoes (1997-1998) mini-series.

After that, Cassaday penciled and co-wrote the two-issue X-Men/Alpha Flight (1998) mini-series and the three-issue Union Jack (1998-1999) mini-series with writer Ben Raab for Marvel.

At the moment Cassaday is the artist on the highly acclaimed Planetary (1998-now) series with writer Warren Ellis for DC/Wildstorm.

In 2002, John Cassaday, together with writer John Ney Rieber, was responsible for the relaunch of the Captain America series, under the Marvel Knights imprint.

In 2004, Cassaday's popularity exploded when he, together with Buffy: The Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon, collaborated on the new Astonishing X-Men series for Marvel.

Astonishing X-Men was the #1 book almost every month it was released, with only 2 exceptions, which is unprecedented in this market.

The only accomplishment more "astonishing" is John's winning the prestigious Eisner Award for best artist two years in a row.

ABOUT CLASSIC MEDIA
Classic Media manages some of the world's most recognizable family properties across all media including feature film, television, home video, and consumer products. The company's extensive library features a diverse collection of popular animated and live-action characters such as: Casper the Friendly Ghost, Hot Stuff, Mr. Magoo, Richie Rich, Peter Cottontail, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, The Lone Ranger, Lassie, Underdog, Little Lulu, pat the bunny, Lamb Chop and Rocky & Bullwinkle. For more information on Classic Media, visit us online at www.classicmedia.tv.

ABOUT DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
Dynamite is home to some of the most exciting and best-selling comics and properties in comics. Current titles feature the Army of Darkness, Red Sonja and the soon-to-be-released Battlestar Galactica, Re-Animator, Painkiller Jane and Highlander. For updated information on Dynamite entertainment and their titles, please visit the Dynamite website at www.dynamiteentertainment.com.