Comic-Con '08: Stan Lee Jumps Into Shonen Jump Manga Panel

Even as one of the first panels at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, there was still a room full of Shonen Jump manga fans who came to out to see what Executive Editor Marc Weidenbaum, Bleach editor Pancha Diaz and "head marketing ninja" Mark Chang had to share about new shonen manga releases for 2009.

There was much talk about the Shonen Jump 5th Anniversary contest to send a lucky fan to Jump Festa in Japan in December, and the luxe hardcover collectors' edition to commemorate the occasion. But the big news were the new series that will be introduced in the pages of Shonen Jump magazine:

Ultimo by Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei - September 2009 issue preview
Announced with great fanfare at the New York Comic-Con in April, Chapter 0 of Ultimo will make its stateside debut in the September issue, complete with all the color pages that the Japanese readers of Jump SQ. got to enjoy. Two robots, one good and one evil are created by a Dr. Dunstan in feudal Japan -- only to awaken years later to wage battle over a modern Japanese city.

NORA: The Last Chronicle of Devildom by Kazunari Kakei - October 2008 issue preview
Nora is a trouble-making demon who has broken one rule too many. So the demon powers-that-be sentence him to spend time with a Japanese honor student who is both brilliant and somewhat uptight. Nora can only use his powers when his human handler allows him to. Needless to say, hilarity ensues. Volume 1 of the graphic novel will also debut in October.

Tegami Bachi (Letter Bee) by Hiroyuki Asada - March 2009 serialization debut
Weidenbaum announced that Takehiko Inoue's Slam Dunk will be leaving the monthly Jump line-up in February 2009 (more on that later) -- but that its spot will be filled by Tegami Bachi, a futuristic adventure that was first featured in Monthly Shonen Jump and is currently serialized in Jump SQ. magazine in Japan. Tegami Bachi is set in a world of darkness where sunlight is a rare commodity only enjoyed by the very rich. The realms of Amber Ground are separated by class, with an area that's only populated by the privileged that's separated from the progressively darker and grimmer worlds of the middle-class and the poor by dangerous waters and deadly giant insects that suck away their victim's will to live, then leaves them to wither away slowly and painfully. The only way to send messages between the realms is through Tegami Bachi, or Letter Bee messengers. The series follows the adventures of Lag Seeing, a young and determined Letter Bee delivery boy who is also seeking his mother, who was kidnapped years ago.

WaqWaq by Ryu Fujisaki - August 2009 issue preview
From the creator of Hoshin Engi comes a new series that will debut in the August 2009 issue of Shonen Jump. Set in a futuristic time when humans and machines are at war. The main character is a "sakamori" -- a human who can meld with a good machine to fight bad machines.

The usual Q & A session was suspended because of the surprise arrival of a very special guest: comics legend Stan Lee! The guy's still got it -- the room erupted in excitement once he came in.

Weidenbaum did a short interview session with Lee, asking him about Ultimo, and his collaboration with Hiroyuki Takei, the creator of Shaman King. A few choice quotes from Lee:

• When asked about his first impressions with reading his stories Japanese style, from right to left, Lee laughed, "I was initially confused, but i go through life confused!"
• His thoughts on Japanese manga: "I love manga! I've been reading it for a long time. The stories are written differently, they're paced differently and the art has a different look. It's exciting to work in a new medium and still work in comics."
• Looking at the cover of the September 2008 issue of Shonen Jump that features his photo, Lee asked Weidenbaum, "Why is my picture so small?"
• Why Ultimo? "I guess I came up with the name first and then came up with the story. Ultimo is a great name for a robot! I figured if I have a good robot, why not a bad robot too?"

Weidenbaum also explained why Slam Dunk is leaving the pages of Shonen Jump in February 2009:

"By then, we'll have run it for a year. It's a very long manga but all the action takes place within one season as experienced by a high school basketball team. So publishing it slowly with the monthly serialization doesn't make sense. Once it's not on monthly serialization, we'll be able to put out the graphic novels at a faster pace."

Also from the "I didn't know that" department, Weidenbaum showed off "Baka-Para" (Baka Paradise, a.k.a. "stupid paradise")-- the monthly feature written by the U.S. Shonen Jump editors, where they explain to Japanese readers how and why manga is popular in America. This feature appears monthly in Jump SQ. magazine.

And finally, a plug for the Shonen Jump contest to send one lucky American fan "plus their BFF -- or parent or guardian if they're under 18 (boo)," to Jump Festa, "the biggest Jump festival ever," promised Chang. Entering the contest involves getting a poster from the August issue of Shonen Jump and finding stickers in various Shonen Jump manga and anime, which is much too complicated for me to explain here, so I'll let the Shonen Jump website do it for me.

And on to the next panel!