ACF 622: Stan Lee to appear at Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday, July 24th

KARAKURI DOJI ULTIMO © 2008 by Stan Lee–POW! Entertainment/Dream Ranch, Hiroyuki Takei/SHUEISHA Inc.

VIZ MEDIA AND POW! ENTERTAINMENT WELCOME ULTIMO
CO-CREATOR STAN LEE FOR A PERSONAL APPEARANCE
AT 2010 COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL

Legendary Comic Book Creator To Participate In SHONEN JUMP
Panel Discussion And A Special In-Booth Signing Session

VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), and POW! Entertainment (POW!) are proud to welcome comic book legend Stan Lee for a special signing at the VIZ Media booth #2813 on Saturday, July 24th, at Comic-Con International 2010 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA.

Stan Lee will appear at the VIZ Media booth at the nation’s largest comic book convention to help celebrate the release of ULTIMO Volume 2. ULTIMO (rated ‘T’ for Teens) is the historic collaboration between Stan Lee and famed Japanese manga creator Hiroyuki Takei, and has been serialized in SHONEN JUMP Magazine since its debut in 2009. Volume 2 is available in stores now. Starting at 4PM on Thursday, July 22nd, and Friday, July 23rd, the first 60 fans to purchase ULTIMO Volume 2 at the VIZ Media booth each day will receive a ticket to have their copy personally autographed by Mr. Lee on Saturday, July 24th, at 1:15PM.

VIZ Media will also welcome Stan Lee as a special guest at the SHONEN JUMP panel, scheduled for Saturday, July 24th, from 10:30-11:30AM in Room 9.

ULTIMO represents a rare East-meets-West production between comics legend Stan Lee, co-creator of many iconic superheroes including Spider-Man™, the Fantastic Four™, and the X-Men™, and Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of the popular SHAMAN KING manga series, published in Japan by Shueisha and in North America by VIZ Media.

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, who 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? In Volume 2, with girl and money troubles, life is hard enough for high school student Yamato, but then he stumbles upon Ultimo, a peculiar-looking puppet.

Things only get stranger when Ultimo awakens and his archenemy, Vice, shows up. Ultimo and Vice are Karakuri Dôji, the mechanical embodiment of pure good and pure evil, devoid of human emotions that can cloud one’s judgment. Their purpose: to battle to the death to prove once and for all whether good or evil is the most powerful force in the universe.

For over half a century, Stan Lee has been synonymous with superhero comics. In addition to co-creating countless memorable series and characters, including Spider-Man™, the Incredible Hulk™, and Daredevil™, he served as the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics. 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.

“We are extremely honored to have a legend of Stan Lee’s stature as a guest at the VIZ Media booth for a special signing at Comic-Con this year,” says Christopher Boily, SHONEN JUMP Editor-In-Chief. “The groundbreaking collaboration of the ULTIMO manga has been a great success, and we are also extremely excited to welcome Mr. Lee as a guest at this year’s Shonen Jump panel in celebration of the release of Volume 2 of ULTIMO!”

Stan Lee and his producing partner Gill Champion’s 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. Champion, POW!’s COO and President, says, “Fans won't want to miss Ultimo Volume 2 as more of the mysteries surrounding the Karakuri Dôji are finally explained. The characters that Stan and Hiroyuki Takei have created together are both classic and unique at the same time, with many different aspects that both manga and American comic fans will enjoy!"

More information on ULTIMO, SHONEN JUMP and VIZ Media please at ultimo.viz.com or www.shonenjump.com. You can also stay up-to-date on all Shonen Jump happenings by following ShonenJump on Twitter.