An Official ICv2 Release.  ICv2 announced the release of its first magazine, The ICv2 Retailers Guide to Anime/Manga, which is being distributed this week.  The magazine covers the rapidly growing, related fields of anime and manga as two guides in a flipbook format.  Among the topics covered in this print exclusive material are overviews (including the sizes of the markets for these products), a glossary of terms, the top manga and anime properties based on retailer interviews, a guide to TV exposure for the properties, the top licensed toy products for Q4, and the top manga and anime releases for Q4. 

The magazine is intended to be a tool that retailers can refer back to throughout the coming months.  According to Publisher and ICv2 founder Milton Griepp, 'We wanted to create a publication that retailers can use to learn more about these exploding fields, and then keep on their desks for future reference.' 

This represents full circle for Internal Correspondence, the print predecessor of ICv2.  Capital City Distribution published Internal Correspondence monthly for over a decade until 1996, when Capital was sold.  ICv2, which stands for Internal Correspondence version 2, was launched as a Web-only news and information service for pop culture retailers in early 2001.  As a tribute to its roots, the words 'Internal Correspondence' have been incorporated into the magazine logo.

According to Griepp, the publication is a one-shot, test publication.  'We're going to evaluate the response to this first issue to determine whether to do more, and if so, how.  Advertiser support has been very gratifying, and if the retailer response is as good, we will probably expand this program.'