The Amory Wars

Tribute art by Kellan Marshall

***The Amory Wars*** is an ongoing series of science fiction comic books and novels created by Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudio Sanchez and published by Evil Ink. The story, which is told across the published works, is also the primary focus of most of the band’s music. Because the mythos isn’t wholly comprehensible through the music and lyrics alone, Sanchez created *The Amory Wars* comics and novels to better depict the story’s events and characters.

## Plot Summary

*The Amory Wars* is set in Heaven’s Fence, a collection of 78 planets and seven stars, held in place by interconnecting beams of energy known as the “Keywork.” Within Heaven's Fence, there are three main races: Humanity, Mages, and a special race called the Prise. The Keywork of Heaven's Fence is divided into 12 Sectors and each sector is ruled by a governing Mage.

### Main Arc

*Year of the Black Rainbow* and *Second Stage Turbine Blade* narrate the struggle of Coheed Kilgannon and Cambria Kilgannon against Wilhelm Ryan, the Supreme Tri-Mage who launches and succeeds in a war campaign with the intended goal to rule over Heaven’s Fence.

The story chapters *In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3* and *Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV* focus on the journey of Claudio Kilgannon, son of Coheed and Cambria, and his journey to assume the mantle of The Crowing, a force of change Heaven’s Fence also known as God's judgement.

Sanchez has said that this Arc focuses very heavily on his adolescence, coming of age, and becoming the leader of the band. He struggled with self-destruction, tearing the whole down, or destroying things. He has said that *No World* allowed him to do that in a cathartic way.

### Prequel Arc

Set long before the events of the previous chapters, *The Afterman* tells the story of Dr. Sirius Amory, a scientist who enters the Keywork in an attempt to understand its mysterious energy.

### Sequel Arc

Collectively known as *Vaxis*, the five-act sequel arc continues the original *Amory Wars* saga, though exactly how it will tie into the original storyline is still unclear. Sanchez has merely said that Vaxis (the character) will be "the axis in which all of the *Amory Wars* revolves."

*Vaxis – Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures* is the first act and follows the story of Creature and Sister Spider, who are incarcerated within the prison planet known as the Dark Sentencer. *Vaxis - Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind* is the second act and follows the couple on the run from the tyrannical forces of HOSS with their mysterious new addition, Vaxis, the titular character of the entire arc, as they attempt to "normalize" him.

### Side Arc

Aside from these directly (more-or-less) connected stories, there is also the side project of The Prize Fighter Inferno called *My Brother's Blood Machine*. Musically a mostly solo-project by Sanchez, it depicts what happens to Inferno, Coheed's "brother," after his demise. The project has some connection to the main story but exactly how hasn't been made entirely clear yet. Sanchez and Echert have both said that it doesn't connect to the main series in the most obvious way.

## Publication History

The publication of the series has a complex history. The concept behind the albums weren't a secret so people would often ask questions and seek additional material. Sanchez had a love of comics and wanted to expand the universe through additional media.

### Early Attempts

In 2004, Sanchez began working on the first graphic series related to The Amory Wars; published in 2005 with Evil Ink’s release of *The Bag.On.Line. Adventures: The Second Stage Turbine Blade*, written by Sanchez and illustrated by Wes Abbott. However, after two issues were published, the project was discontinued due to creative roadblocks including Sanchez’s touring schedule with Coheed and Cambria. These original issues were later included in *The Amory Wars: The Second Stage Turbine Blade Ultimate Edition*.

Evil Ink then released the *Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume I: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness* in 2005 to accompany the release of Coheed and Cambria’s third studio album of the same name. This publication was again written by Sanchez, and illustrated by Christopher Shy. Unlike the previous release for *Second Stage Turbine Blade*, this graphic novel told the entire story of the Good Apollo Volume One album, though many details were still unclear.

During a 2006 interview, Sanchez cited financial constraints and lack of "pull" for the irregular and unfinished release of both stories’ publications, and explained that Evil Ink intended to publish new comics under the title *The Amory Wars* that would retell the concept chronologically.

### Rebooting

In 2006, Evil Ink published a limited run of *The Amory Wars Sketchbook*, also known as "Comic Zero." This was a 16-pg comic issue first released at ComicCon and later sold on their site in a limited capacity. The issue was mostly text; more than half of the pages contained a written outline of the first issue of the new series. Other content were several pages of key characters such as KBI, Claudio, and Ryan, and a writer profile of Sanchez himself.

Throughout 2007, Evil Ink released the first volume of *The Amory Wars: The Second Stage Turbine Blade*, which consisted of five issues written by Sanchez and illustrated by Gus Vasquez (Chapters 1 and 2) and Mike S. Miller (Chapters 3 - 5). The second volume was released over the course of 2008, consisting of five more chapters written by Sanchez with artist Gabriel Guzman providing illustration. On August 15th, 2017, BOOM! Studios released *The Amory Wars: The Second Stage Turbine Blade Ultimate Edition*, which included all 10 issues, as well as both issues of the original, out-of-print *The Bag.On.Line. Adventures*, and a new bonus story, *33*, written by Sanchez and illustrated by Dave Hamann.

On April 13th, 2010, Coheed and Cambria released their fifth studio album *Year of the Black Rainbow*. The deluxe version of the album included a novel co-written by Sanchez and Peter David (a prominent comic book writer), which narrates the album’s story that takes place prior to the events of *The Second Stage Turbine Blade* and acts as a prequel to The Amory Wars saga.

In 2010, Sanchez again enlisted David to co-write the comic adaptation of the band’s second studio album. Evil Ink released the first issue of *The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3* on May 26th, 2010. The story was told across a series of 12 comics released throughout 2010 and 2011, with Chris Burnham illustrating chapters 1-7, and Aaron Kuder illustrating the remaining 8-12. All twelve chapters were later compiled and released as *The Amory Wars: In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 Ultimate Edition* by BOOM! Studios on April 10, 2018.

Coheed and Cambria’s sixth and seventh albums, respectively titled *The Afterman: Ascension* (released October 2012) and *The Afterman: Descension* (released February 2013), each had their story told in a similar manner to *Year of the Black Rainbow*. One month before *Ascension*'s official release, a Special "Amory Award" Edition was released which included a coffee table book that featured the story of each song written by Sanchez with illustrations by Nathan Spoor.

The band announced on January 24th, 2017 that Evil Ink would be releasing *The Amory Wars: Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV* comic to coincide with their anniversary tour for their third studio album. Co-written by Sanchez and his wife Chondra Echert, this new adaptation told the full version of the album’s story than depicted in the 2004 graphic novel. The story was illustrated by Rags Morales, and released across twelve issues that ran from April 5th, 2017 through October 10th, 2018. As with the first two installments of The Amory Wars comics, BOOM! Studios released a hardcover *Ultimate Edition* on October 8th, 2019 which included all twelve issues as well as the original graphic novel.

After taking a break from their mythology on their 2015 album, The Color Before the Sun, Coheed and Cambria released their ninth album, *Vaxis - Act I: The Unheavenly Creatures*, on October 5th, 2018. The album began a new story set after the events of the previous albums' events, and the deluxe box set version of the album included a novella written by Sanchez and Echert with illustrations by artist Chase Stone. It was rereleased in softcover for their 2022 summer tour.

On May 27, 2022, the band released their tenth studio album, *Vaxis - Act II: A Window of the Waking Mind*. In the same vein as Act I, the deluxe box set version of the album included a novella again written by Sanchez and Echert with illustrations by Chase Stone.

While there has yet to be an official release of the story told in the band's fourth studio album, *Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV - Volume Two: No World For Tomorrow*, the band had confirmed in February of 2020 that the comic was set to be released after *Vaxis I*, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March of 2020, the plans for the series were put on hold with no follow up date announced. In many interviews, they had confirmed that due to publication and tour restraints, *Vaxis II* was to be the priority. On July 19, 2022 Sanchez showed the cover of the finished script on his Instagram stories saying they were in the final editing phase.

### Other Works

After Sanchez changed the name to *The Amory Wars*, he also released a sketchbook, illustrated by Gus Vasquez, which plots out the first comic in the reboot. Originally dubbed "Comic Zero," "The Sketchbook" was released at ComicCon in 2006. Later, the Evil Ink website began selling The Sketchbook in a limited release. This 25-page comic explains the very beginning of the Keywork and Heaven's Fence, various events and key figures, and ultimately ends introducing readers to Coheed Kilgannon on his home planet of Hetricus.

Though it has been stated by Sanchez and Echert that The Prize Fighter Inferno story, *My Brother's Blood Machine*, is connected to the main *Amory Wars* saga, it is unknown exactly how at this time. Sanchez did confirm a 6-issue comic was in the works with artist Steve Niles. On July 19, 2022, it was announced an ashcan of *My Brother's Blood Machine* would be available at SDCC later that year.

## Main Characters

> Main article: List of characters in The Amory Wars

### The Kilgannon Family

* Coheed
* Cambria
* Claudio
* Josephine
* Jesse

### Other Characters

* Ambellina
* Mariah Antillarea
* Chase
* Sizer
* Leonard Hohenberger
* Sirius Amory
* Nostrand Crane

### Antagonists

* Wilhelm Ryan
* Mayo Deftinwolf
* The Writer
* Ten Speed
* The Five Houses of the Star Supremacy

## Song to Story Process

Sanchez has stated multiple times that the music always comes first; that that is the format they want to reach people through. Often the lyrics are ambiguous because he pulls from his personal life and experiences for material. There is a big picture kind of outline, but the finer details and events that connect these major events aren't set. So after the music is written, the finer points become a bit clearer and working with Echert or past writers, they have helped to further flesh out the details.

Specifically on working with Echert, Sanchez has stated that she is his "perfect voice" for writing his story. He feels like the concept has been apart of his life for as long as he has lived, and Echert has been "immersed" long enough that he feels she gets it. He has also said that sometimes he'll wake up at four in the morning with an idea that he wants to work out, but with past writers he really couldn't do that. Echert might be half asleep, but she's very accessible. Travis Stever, the dual guitarist for the band, and one of Sanchez's oldest, childhood friends, mentioned in a private interview that he's always kind of amazed when he hears some of the material Sanchez comes up with because more often than not he knows the story(s) that have inspired it.

## Possible Adaptations

### Film Adaptation

On December 2, 2012, Mark Wahlberg announced he would be producing a film adaptation of *The Amory Wars*. He had purchased the rights in July, but no additional news followed. In 2017, the band confirmed that the rights had reverted back to Evil Ink on the podcast "Two Hours with Matt Pinfield." In 2018, during an AMA with Wahlberg, he also confirmed that he'd made no progress with it, but hoped something would happen one day.

### Other Forms / Netflix

In 2019, conversation once again turned to adaptation of *The Amory Wars* when a petition created on the platform Change.org the prior year began to gain traction. Though no official reports from the creators have confirmed a project, support from fans and news reports sparked a campaign displaying interest in a series on Netflix.

In 2020, BOOM! Studios, the studio that produces the Ultimate Editions of the comics, struck a deal with Netflix. Netflix will get a "first-look" on all BOOM!'s properties for live action or animated adaptations. It is unclear if this includes *The Amory Wars*, but Coheed and Cambria's Official Twitter account did reblog the news. The official PR statement did not mention the series by name, so there's currently no telling what will come of the deal.

During the band's 2022 Spring tour, fans who paid for the "Mage" package which included a group meet-and-greet, were able to ask the band questions. One of these that they got frequently was, "What's up with adapting the *Amory Wars*?" to which Sanchez and the band instructed people to Tweet at their favorite streaming platform (such as HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, etc.) that they want it. Sanchez has also confirmed a few time via his Twitch channel that both he and his wife are in talks pitching an adaptation to an unnamed studio.

## Trivia

* The name comes from character Sirius Amory, who's part in the story is described in the Afterman chapter. His name (Amory) is named for the street Sanchez grew up on as a child (Amory Drive).
* Though the characters of Coheed and Cambria were originally based on Sanchez and his significant other at the time, the figures morphed more into that of his parents, which is probably why he and his siblings ended up making an appearance as well.
* The name of the series was originally going to be call "*The Bag.On.Line. Adventures*" and the first two issues of the series was published with this title. Sanchez later changed it. The name is from a shop that he passed by often during his fateful Paris trip. This name was also going to be the first chapter's title, but was dropped for *Year of the Black Rainbow*.
* Sanchez considers the *Good Apollo* volumes to be one, collective chapter. Similarly, he considers Vaxis to collectively be Chapter 5. He has joked that there will probably be 12 chapters.

## References

1. ↑ Sanchez, Claudio. "Chapter 1" *The Second Stage Turbine Blade*, vol. 1, issue 1, Evil Ink, 2007.
2. ↑ Hickie, James. "Interview with Claudio Sanchez" AltPress (Issue #406.1; May 2022), 16 May 2022, pp. 60-67.
3. ↑ https://consequenceofsound.net/2018/10/claudio-sanchez-coheed-and-cambria-interview-2018/
4. ↑ https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/coheed-and-cambria-tease-new-album-vaxis-shoulders-acoustic-premiere
5. ↑ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1542051/20060929/story.jhtml
6. ↑ https://soundcloud.com/allthingscoheedpodcast/chondrainterview
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 https://web.archive.org/web/20061006190030/http://www.cobaltandcalcium.com/index.php?page=interview\_with\_claudio\_sanchez
8. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/TheFence/comments/w2ye80/from\_claudios\_stories/
9. ↑ https://twitter.com/EvilInkComics/status/1549469095527055360
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Hickie, James. "Interview with Claudio Sanchez" AltPress (Issue #406.1; May 2022), 16 May 2022, pp. 60-67.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Echert, Chondra & Claudio Sanchez. “Café Chonnye.” 28 October 2021. S.S. Neverender I, Norwegian Gem Atrium, Deck 7.
12. ↑ Stever, Travis. “Live Q&A with Travis Stever.” Interview by The Liars Club's Discord. YouTube, 12 May 2022, Private URL.
13. ↑ http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/coheed-cambria-amory-wars-mark-wahlberg-396625
14. ↑ https://audioboom.com/posts/5906582-106-coheed-and-cambria-claudio-travis-zach-and-josh-on-touring-good-apollo-i-signing-with-matt-at-columbia-records-and-upcoming-plans-for-new-music?platform=hootsuite
15. ↑ https://popwrapped.com/coheed-fans-want-the-amory-wars-on-netflix/
16. ↑ https://www.cbr.com/coheed-cambria-armory-wars-adaption-petition/
17. ↑ http://www.boom-studios.com/netflix-strikes-first-look-deal/
18. ↑ https://imgur.com/r/TheFence/qUAn2E5
19. ↑ https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/coheed-and-cambrias-claudio-sanchez-talks-comics-kurt-vonnegut-whats-next-amory-wars
20. ↑ https://vimeo.com/681905117