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Stan Lee & Bones' Heroman Anime Now in Production

The anime subcontractor Studio Wanpack reports that it produced the key drawings for the 12th installment of the Heroman anime from American comic pioneer Stan Lee and the BONES anime studio last month. Wanpack's report is the first indication that the long-gestating project is in actual production. Lee, the co-creator of the Spider-Man and X-Men comics, has been planning this new animated series for television with the same Bones studio behind Fullmetal Alchemist and Soul Eater.

According to the May 2008 issue of Kadokawa Shoten's Newtype magazine, the story of Heroman will center on a boy named Joey who discovers a toy robot near the west coast of the United States. The toy becomes Heroman, a giant robot that Joey pilots against evil threats. BONES screened a promotional movie for Heroman (as well as for Soul Eater, Bōnen no Xamdou, and Shinjuku Satomi Hakkenden) at Tokyo International Anime Fair 2008.

Tamon Ōta already launched a manga version in Square Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine on August 12.

Pow! Entertainment, Lee's current production company, is producing a separate manga series called Ultimo with manga creator Hiroyuki Takei (Shaman King), Shueisha's Jump Square magazine, Viz Media's Shonen Jump magazine, and the Sony Music Entertainment subsidiary Dream Ranch. Last year, Lee was also developing an animated television series named Quartz with GDH, which was the corporate parent of the Gonzo anime studio.