Two #1 products repeated in February, a testament to the strength of some recent releases and the weaker competition scheduled for this normally weak month.

Initial March comic orders from US pop culture retailers were up 7% over March 2001, powered by strong performances from Marvel and Dark Horse.

The best-selling comic title for March 2002, New X-Men , has initial raw orders to Diamond US of only around 104,000 copies, the lowest quantity for a #1 comic title since April of last year.

January is a transition month in the pop culture products business, with the first week or two typically showing strong post-Christmas sales, followed by slowing traffic as the winter doldrums set in. But there was a lot of activity in pop culture stores this January, with especially strong releases in the comic category.

DC's Dark Knight Strikes Again was the top-selling comic for the third consecutive month, according to orders placed with Diamond US from pop culture stores. The initial raw order was over 171,000 copies, which was around 10% over initial orders on #2, and nearly as high as the initial orders on #1.

Estimated quantities for initial orders on comics shipping in February 2002 from pop culture stores ordering from Diamond US.

The December Top Ten Cool lists, which reflect how products actually sold through in pop culture stores, had big products selling big...

In the midst of a recession and in the wake of the economic turmoil created by the 9-11 attacks, the pop culture retailers surveyed by ICv2 reported strong sales in December. Let's take a look at some of the categories...

With comics- and fantasy-based movies at a peak of popularity in Tinseltown, it is only fitting that comic artist extraordinaire Alex Ross ( Kingdom Come ) was chosen to create a poster for the Motion Picture Academy's annual self-congratulatory awards ceremony.

Comic and graphic novel orders to Diamond U.S. (dollars) were up 18% for January 2002 vs. January 2001.