Ultimo Volume 1

The past collides with the present when high school student Yamato finds a mechanical boy named "Ultimo" and is drawn into a battle between "Ultimate Good" and "Ultimate Evil." Yamato learns that a promise he made hundreds of years ago in another life can still upend his normal high school life today.

Stan Lee's shonen manga debut has all the strengths and weaknesses of shonen manga. All disagreements will be solved by fighting. Normal relationships with peers and adults won't intrude on the wackiness, but expect lots of 'funny" misunderstandings. But like blue ketchup, Ultimo is a little weird, but a lot of fun.

Yamato is a typical high school student, with typical problems. On a quest to find a gift for a girl, Yamato discovers a mechanical boy in an antique shop, and oddly enough, he knows the its name: Ultimo. Yamato becomes entangled in an ancient bond of master and servant with Ultimo, and thrust into a war against Evil.

As a fan of both shonen manga and American superhero comics, I had no particular expectations for Ultimo. I started my comics collecting with Marvel years ago and have long respected the character-building skills of Stan Lee. When I found out that Lee was venturing into the world of shonen manga with Shaman King creator Hiroyuki Takei, I wondered how these two similar but culturally different genres might dovetail.

I rarely enjoy stories that draw upon "ultimate" good and evil, and was completely prepared to not like Ultimo, but was unable to maintain my ambivalence for long. It's quickly apparent that there's something far more complex than just Good vs. Evil here.

One of the most amusing things about Ultimo is the Mary Sue-like insertion of Stan Lee in the form of the psychopomp, a.k.a "Dunstan". In fine mythological fashion, Dunstan sets the characters up, gives them a too little useful information and leaves them to figure things out.

And figure it out they do! We learn from a few flashbacks that Ultimo and Yamato were a once a powerful force for good. These scenes from the past are definitely the best in the book. They draw the reader forward, even as the present day Ultimo and Yamato are still working out the details of their relationship and powers. Both Yamato and Ultimo come primed with an ambiguous past and a long history between them, which is one of the most compelling qualities of the first volume.

That said, Ultimo does have its tedious moments as it relies on some tired shonen manga clichés: moments of unavoidable clumsiness in front of girls, words not said that should be, bathroom scenes, and at least one "mistaken assumption about a character's sexuality." It's nothing new, and it didn't diminish Ultimo's entertainment value for me, but I'd be very interested to hear what a teenage boy would have to say about it, though.

The art style is consistently inconsistent, with some scenes emphasizing manliness, while others are reminescent of a romance magazine. Compared to Yamato, most of the other students look very young -- the girls in particular are drawn with featureless faces and frail, doll-like limbs. Overall, the hyper-stylized, slightly schizo art reminded me quite a bit of Yu-Gi-Oh!.

Despite these stylistic issues, the story was compelling enough that I can definitely recommend Ultimo to anyone who enjoys Shonen Jump manga or who likes shonen manga in general. It's more than just the sum of its parts. Ultimo provides a solid reading experience with characters you want to know more about, in a situation you want to see resolved well.

Erica Friedman is the President of Yuricon & ALC Publishing.