By April MacIntyre Jul 18, 2009, 21:12 GMT
At the 2009 Comic Con in San Diego, comic book and manga legends Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei are taking time out to meet fans on Friday, July 24th from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Room 10.
Stan Lee - At the 2009 Comic Con in San Diego, comic book and manga legends Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei are taking time out to meet fans on Friday, July 24th from 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Room 10. © Lee Roth / RothStock / PR Photos
Comic Con runs July 23-26 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA.
Lee and Takei are booked to celebrate their historic creative collaboration for the ULTIMO manga series (KARAKURIDŌJI ULTIMO), which debuted in the July 2009 issue of VIZ Media’s Shonen Jump magazine. They will also appear together in VIZ Media’s Booth #2813 on the main show floor for an exclusive autograph session on Friday July 24th from 2:15-3:15 p.m.
The first 40 fans to purchase the July issue of Shonen Jump magazine featuring ULTIMO from the VIZ Media retail area each day from Wednesday through Friday will receive a ticket to have their issue personally autographed by Lee and Takei.
Stan Lee is the co-creator of many iconic superheroes including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Daredevil and the X-Men. For over half a century, Mr. Lee has been synonymous with superhero comics. Mr. Lee remains a hugely respected and dynamic figure in the entertainment industry and continues to develop a variety of film, television and video game properties.
Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of the popular Shaman King manga series, published in Japan by Shueisha and in North America by VIZ Media, began 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, Takei debuted in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1997 with Butsu Zone, an action series based on Buddhist mythology. His multicultural adventure manga series Shaman King debuted in Japan in 1998 and has been adapted into a popular animated television series.
From Viz:
The ULTIMO back-story: High above Farmless City, citizens are stunned by the sudden appearance of two floating figures. Are they human boys, monolithic robots, or something much more strange? As the battle ensues between them, destruction and devastation falls on the hapless city. One figure is Vice, and seems to be as evil as his name implies. The other is Ultimo, intent on trying to stop Vice from wreaking more havoc. But who are Vice and Ultimo really? Where did they come from? Find out in the first chapter of ULTIMO!
“We are extremely honored to host two creative luminaries as huge as Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei to Comic-Con this year,” says Grant Lowery, SHONEN JUMP Editor-In-Chief. “Their groundbreaking new collaboration, ULTIMO, is an exciting, action-packed story that blends the best attributes of the Western and Eastern comic book and manga traditions. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and we look forward to welcoming visitors to this year’s Comic-Con which promises to be the most exciting one yet!”
Lee’s own company, POW! Entertainment (Pinksheets: POWN.PK), worked with VIZ Media parent company Shueisha, and with JEA and Dream Ranch to facilitate the development of ULTIMO.
For more information on ULTIMO, SHONEN JUMP and VIZ Media please visit here or here and on TWITTER: VIZ-Media.
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