ICv2 has learned that Dark Horse Comics has just acquired the license to publish the entire 23-volume Astro Boy manga series, which was published in Japan as Tetsuwan Atomu (literally ' Mighty Atom ').

GAMA, the Game Manufacturers Association of America, and Wizards of the Coast have settled their dispute over the Origins game convention. GAMA, the Game Manufacturers Association of America, and Wizards of the Coast have settled their dispute over the Origins game convention.

The Game Industry Forum has entered into an agreement with Wizards of the Coast to provide ongoing retailer-oriented programming at GenCon, North America's largest gaming convention.

For Part II of our series on successful retailing of apparel in pop culture stores, ICv2 talked with Warp II of Edmonton, Alberta.

With two weeks left until Tim Burton's refashioning of Planet of the Apes opens, ICv2 conducted an unscientific survey on the sales of POTA merchandise by contacting some twenty retailers from coast to coast.

There is no doubt that manga's influence on American comics appears to be growing. Witness two stories that appeared on Newsarama this week. Michael Doran broke the story of Marvel's plan for an eight-title Marvel ' Mangaverse ' event planned for January, 2002, while Matt Brady detailed plans at DC Comics to use manga artist Kia Asamiya (Silent Moebius, Dark Angel) for a series of Titans covers.

The July issue of Diamond Previews includes a shared exclusive (with the Electronics Boutique chain) of Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy figures from the comic-savvy Simpsons TV series (and, of course the Bongo Comics series).

Max Allen Collins and Richard Piers-Rayner's graphic novel The Road to Perdition never received the attention it deserved in the comic market, but it did raise eyebrows in Hollywood, where this depression-era saga of a hitman's revenge has been developed into a starring vehicle for Tom Hanks.

The Trigun Kubrick figures include: Vash the Stampede, Nicholas D. Wolfwook, and Monev the Gale. These figures are exclusive to Diamond, and will be incl uded in the August issue of Diamond's Previews catalog.

Anime News Service is reporting from Anime Expo that Newtype Magazine , the cutting edge anime magazine published by Kodakawa Shoten, will be available in an English language edition starting in the spring of 2002.

The CMAA contacted Marvel and the publisher admitted that putting the Code Seal of Approval on Wolverine #165 was 'a mistake' on the company's part. ICv2 has learned that Marvel has not been submitting books to the CMAA recently and other current issues that carry the code (e.g., Tangled Web #3) are also 'mistakes.'

The Origins Awards are the most comprehensive set of gaming awards, and in many ways the most prestigious.