Mark your calendars, folks, this Saturday, May 2 is Free Comic Book Day! On that day, comic book stores all over the United States will be handing out complimentary copies of some great new books for you try.

This year VIZ Media has something truly special planned, it’s a 32-page Shonen Jump sample (rated T for teens) featuring one chapter of Ultimo, one of the newest serialized manga adventures in the best-selling monthly manga anthology.

Manga, you say? But not just any manga. Ultimo is the historic collaboration between comic book legend Stan Lee, 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. The new series, which is serialized in Shonen Jump, is an incredible collaboration of East and West with the majesty of manga and the sultan of superheros.

Also included in the Sampler is a special look at every single SHONEN JUMP manga series, an Ultimo pinup (of a character that may look familiar to Stan Lee fans), and an insightful interview with both Stan Lee and Hiroyuki Takei.

So make sure you stop by your local comic book shop this Saturday to pick up the special Shonen Jump sampler and all of the free comics. For more information visit www.shonenjump.com or stop by www.freecomicbookday.com to locate a participating location near you.

Cover art courtesy of VIZ Media.

Variety reports that legendary comic creator Stan Lee will adapt the Perry Moore book Hero for Showtime. Hero is about a young man concealing two secrets from his superhero father. One secret is that the young man is developing superpowers of his own, the other is that he is gay.

Since it’s being developed for Showtime, this show certainly won’t have to pull any punches. With the involvement of Lee, who created superheroes like Spider-Man, the X-Men and the Incredible Hulk, the show is already generating lots of press. This one should be interesting. What do you think, readers? Will this unconventional “Hero” find an audience?

Variety is reporting that Stan Lee’s new project Legion of 5 will become a series of animated feature films courtesy of Rainmaker Entertainment. Those movies will come with all the trappings of the superhero genre including games, merchandise and comic books.

Rainmaker will work with Lee’s Purveyors of Wonder (POW!) Entertainment and Brighton Partners to make these films happen. Legendary creator of characters like Spider-Man, The X-Men and The Incredible Hulk, Lee shows no signs of stopping.

Iconic creator Stan Lee and his Purveyors of Wonder Entertainment will work with Walt Disney on three film projects.

The projects are all based on stories by Lee, though none have yet appeared in comic books, the medium Lee is most famous for. In an interview with Variety, Lee didn’t rule the prospect of them appearing in comic book form later.

Richard LaGravenese  will direct and write the screenplay for Nick Ratchet. Gary Goldman is writing Blaze.  New talent Zoe Green will write Tigress. That one is not to be confused with the Tigress that Lee is developing with Michelle Rodriguez reportedly starring.That project is based on a Conan the Barbarian villainess. Hmmm, forget the POW Entertainment version, I suddenly want to hear more about the Michelle Rodriguez vehicle.

Lee has created legendary comic characters like Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk and the X-Men. Lee and Gill Champion co-founded Pow Entertainment in 2002 and signed a first-look deal with Disney last year. Since this is Disney we’re talking about, I’m assuming Lee’s Spike TV creation Stripperella is not one of the projects in the pipeline.