Milestone Comics' Hardware may be a mechanical wizard and a genius who created innovative, high-tech armor, but he's his own person, says co-creator Denys Cowan -- not a copy of Marvel's Iron Man.

"Curtis Metcalf is a whole different dude who should just be seen for who he is. He was a child prodigy, brought up in a corporate environment. He's a super-smart, young, Black radical who was lied to his entire life about his true potential," Cowan told ComicBook.com.

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Cowan continued, "He'll never work for the government. He's just not that kind of character. He's very much the opposite of anything Iron Man is. The only thing they have in common is that they both have armor... And I would argue that Hardware's armor is superior. It would be great to see these guys go toe-to-toe one day."

Cowan co-created Hardware with the late Dwayne McDuffie for the DC imprint Milestone Comics in 1993. Key titles from the 1990s-era Milestone launch -- Hardware, Static and Icon and Rocket -- will be revived in the Milestone Returns event this summer.

The first issue of Hardware: Season One retells Metcalf's origin as a protégé of tech billionaire Curtis Alva, who dismisses him as a mere functionary despite his inventive mind and profit-making creations. In the retelling, Alva throws blame on Metcalf for the outcome of the Big Bang, in which experimental chemicals created by Alva's company are used to quell a protest against police brutality. Metcalf is chased by the authorities, with only the self-developed Hardware armor and his wits to protect him.

Hardware: Season One is written by Brandon Thomas and illustrated by Denys Cowan and Bill Sienkiewicz.

KEEP READING: Milestone's Denys Cowan & Brandon Thomas Discuss Hardware's Future

Source: ComicBook.com