Ultimo, a new comic-book property created by industry legend Stan Lee and celebrated manga creator Hiroyuki Takei (Shaman King), has made its North American debut in the September 2008 issue of VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump magazine. The edition hit retail outlets nationwide on Tuesday, featuring the prologue chapter of Ultimo.
The Ultimo saga begins in Farmless City, where citizens are stunned by the sudden appearance of two floating figures that may be human boys, monolithic robots or something much more strange. One is named Vice and appears to be evil, and the other is Ultimo, who appears intent on stopping Vice from wreaking more havoc. A battle ensues between them, bringing destruction and devastation to the hapless city as the population struggles to understand who these figures are and where they came from.
Ultimo represents the first manga partnership for Lee, best known for co-creating such iconic superhero properties as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. He sent his initial story idea to Takei, who developed artwork and characters and reworked the plot to fit into the Japanese manga storytelling style.
Takei kicked off his career by winning the coveted Hop Step Award for new manga artists and the Osamu Tezuka Award. After working as an assistant to famed artist Nobuhiro Watsuki (Rurouni Kenshin), he debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 with Butsu Zone, an action series based on Buddhist mythology. Shaman King debuted in Japan in 1998 and has been adapted into a popular animated television series.
‘Wow! This is just what I’ve been waiting for!’ says Lee. ‘For the very first time I’m able to create superheroes in the fantastic Japanese manga style thanks to my lucky partnership with the great Hiroyuki Takei. What a kick it’ll be to join Hiroyuki-san in offering brand new, action packed stories to an army of readers in both the Eastern and Western worlds!’
The Ultimo prologue chapter recently debuted in Japan in a special standalone issue Jump SQ., the sibling publication of Shueisha’s top-selling Weekly Shonen Jump. For more information on Ultimo, Shonen Jump and VIZ Media, go to www.shonenjump.com or www.viz.com.
