The worlds of American superhero comics and Japanese rock collided at New York Anime Festival last weekend when legendary comics creator Stan Lee and X Japan drummer Yoshiki announced their plans to collaborate on a new "motion comic" written by Lee with music by Yoshiki.
Both Lee and Yoshiki appeared at their Saturday panel and explained their plans for the project. The story will feature Yoshiki as a "Gothic-styled superhero/vigilante" and that Yoshiki's interest in dragons will be incorporated into the story. As Lee envisions it, the Yoshiki character's powers will be activated "when certain musical notes are played on (his) drumsticks."
The project will be developed in the U.S. by Lee's POW! Entertainment company, and is slated for release in the U.S., Japan and other countries "sometime in 2011." The story will be presented as a "motion comic," which will incorporate animated panels accompanied by music by Yoshiki. The pair also intend to release the story in printed comic book form, although a publisher or print / online distributor has not been announced for this project as of yet.
At this time, the only talents linked to this project are Yoshiki and Lee, so no other creative team has been named to draw the images or develop the multimedia content for this comics project. It is also not clear whether the plans are for a one-shot story or a series, and which digital platforms that this content will be presented in (e.g. iPad, Kindle, web, mobile phones, etc.)
Yoshiki is the founder and drummer of X Japan, one of Japan's most popular and successful rock bands, with sales exceeding 30 million records over their career. X Japan recently kicked off a U.S. tour, playing to a sold-out crowd in Los Angeles, as well as shows in San Francisco and New York City. You can see photos, videos and tour date info on the official X Japan website, xjapanmusic.com.
While not a household name in the U.S., Yoshiki has been compared to U2's Bono as far as his popularity and influence in the Japanese music scene. His name and likeness has been used to sell a line of jewelry, Yoshiki label wine developed with the Mondavi family, a Yoshiki-branded VISA card, and even a Yoshiki Hello Kitty.
Meanwhile, Lee has been delving into the Japanese market in his own way. First by co-creating Ultimo, a shonen manga series with Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei that is currently featured in Shonen Jump magazine, and Heroman, a manga series illustrated by Tamon Ohta that's currently featured in Square Enix's Monthly Shonen GanGan magazine in Japan and an animated series from BONES that's now being streamed on Crunchyroll.com.
Both Lee and Yoshiki have residences in Los Angeles, which is where the pair met and hatched their plans to combine their talents and interests for this project. Lee recently made a cameo in X Japan's music video, Born to Be Free, and was a special guest at the Yoshiki Foundation bash in Los Angeles in July 2010.
So what do you think of this new cultural crossover from Stan Lee with Yoshiki? Add your comments below!
Image credits: ©2010 YSK Entertainment. All Rights Reserved., © Reed Expositions
Comments
So they are going to make something with less fluidity than the bland animation of anime?
Yo-hohohohoho
I think this is very exciting news. Yoshiki is a musical genius and also an extremely strong & inspiring figure considering his successful comeback despite all the hardships he went through in life. His versatility is what makes him one of a kind- he plays such beautiful piano and the next moment the fragile image is shattered when he starts playing his amazing speed metal style drums. Just saw him perform live in nyc and I was completely blown away. I hope this comic would capture his elements well but if anyone could do it, it will be Stan Lee. I will be looking forward to see what will come out of these 2 geniuses, but most of all looking forward to hearing more of yoshiki’s music after 10+ yrs of hiatus.