Tim Davis, owner of Alternate Reality in Chicago, Illinois, said of FCBD in his store, 'I saw 3 to 4 times the number of bodies that I normally see on a Saturday.'

Fox News is reporting that Quentin Tarantino is set to produce a film version of Larry Hama's Mort the Dead Teenager . Unlike Spider-Man , the X-Men , or The Hulk , Mort is no superhero--just a teenager who loses his head (literally) in a train wreck.

Marvel Comics used its conference call with the comics press today to outline plans for three new reality-based comic series.

Initial raw orders to Diamond US from pop culture stores were lower on 16 of the top 25 titles in May than they were in April . Six titles were up, and three were new. Of the six that were up, two were Spider-Man and two were Batman titles.

The Punisher has received a green light from Artisan as the second film in its fifteen-property deal with Marvel.

Marvel has announced final details of its May Insert program, which will encompass every comic the publisher will release that month to sample the additional readers that are expected to pick up comics as a result of the Spider-Man movie.

Another key Marvel-based film project moved closer to fruition as director Ang Lee ( Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon ) began principal photography on The Hulk .

Artist Sam Kieth is making a major donation of original art to benefit both ACTOR (A Commitment To Our Roots) and the CBDLF (Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Just ten years ago it appeared that Marvel couldn't get a movie made to save its life. How times have changed. This week the second Blade film topped the box office, and everyone expects that Sony/Columbia's Spider-Man movie is going to be one of this summer's biggest hits.

Blade II strolled into 2,707 theaters on Oscar weekend and promptly cut the competition down to size by earning over $33.1 million, the second largest March opening ever.