We're publishing an e-mail from Robert Boyd of the LPC Group which in addition to giving some information on an ICv2 error last week also gives some insight into the progress Marvel is making with its trade book program .

Comic orders from North American comic shops strengthened in June, with increased sales at all levels of the chart reflecting the retailer confidence associated with the kick-off of the summer selling season and a seemingly strong underlying sales trend.

Marvel Comics has signed an 'expansive' three-year licensing agreement with Diamond Select Toys, a sister company of Diamond Comic Distributors.

In today's Marvel press conference, Marvel President Bill Jemas took the blame for the impression '...that it often does look like we are out to get comic shops -- a lot of that is my personal failure to provide complete information about the policies....

ICv2 recently submitted a number of written questions to Marvel President Jemas, and he took time to respond in his usual frank style (we guess it's not just the spoken interviews that bring out that trait).

A quick trip around the exhibition floor at Book Expo America demonstrates two very important facts.

Marvel has entered into an agreement with Dimension Films, a subdivision of Miramax, to develop a film based on the relatively short-lived 1980s comic Cloak and Dagger .

This is a directory of comic distributors, with links to more extensive profile pages on each of them.

In spite of a lawsuit from Fox, Tribune Entertainment, which licensed the property from Marvel, is forging ahead with production of the syndicated Mutant X television series. The sets have been built and dressed, the casting is complete, and filming starts next Monday, June 4th in Toronto, Canada.

Trends that we have seen during the first quarter, such as the increasing dominance of the DVD format, the overall sales importance of high ticket items, and the continuing reign of CCGs are even more apparent in the April numbers.