Sales of periodical comics in January 2004 dipped slightly across the board, with only three titles registering gains versus December totals while the numbers for 19 titles fell.

Michael Pandolfo of Dr. Comics and Mr. Games in Oakland, California reacted to some recent coverage of manga sales, and wants ICv2 to focus more on direct market sales of comics.

Dean Phillips of Krypton Comics in Omaha, Nebraska saw our article on Tower Records' bankruptcy and retailer Charlie Platt's comments, and gives his opinion on publishers' and manufacturers' handling of multiple channels.

John Jelley of Pymrimid Comics and Games in Sierra Vista, Arizona saw these Talk Back comments on retailer responsibility and sent us his reaction.

Rembert Parker of Reader Copies in North Anderson, Indiana saw the recent discussions of ratings on comic books, and notes that perhaps ratings on games are also appropriate.

Anime distributors Manga Entertainment and Bandai Entertainment will jointly distribute the new Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex TV series.

Upper Deck Entertainment has announced a wide range of new products for 2004 including Shaman King and Bratz CCGs and Spider-Man 2 trading cards.

In an article in Time Magazine discussing manga's appeal to female readers ('Drawing in the Gals'), Time's comic book maven, Andrew D. Arnold, reported that later this year 'DC Comics plans to launch a manga imprint called CMX.'

Lucasfilm is planning to release the original Star Wars Trilogy in a four-disk DVD box set on September 21.

Variety is reporting that X-Men director Bryan Singer will team with writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty 'to create a year's worth of Ultimate X-Men comics for Marvel.'