Hamtaro , the anime series about a 10-year old girl and her pet hamster, debuted on the Cartoon Network in June and has been a surprise ratings success.

We recently caught up with Image Publisher Jim Valentino and asked him about the issues of the day, including what challenges he perceives from CrossGen's new initiative, what limits we may see on the currently hot retro trend, and Image's plans for its book distribution in the wake of the LPC bankruptcy, among other topics.

Snake Plissken, the charismatic character played by Kurt Russell in John Carpenter's 1981 science fiction/adventure classic, Escape From New York , is about to star in a new comic book series entitled John Carpenter's Snake Plissken Chronicles .

Set in the Shanghai underworld circa 1932, Hara Tetsuo's Fist of the Blue Sky is a 'prequel' to his action classic Fist of The North Star .

CrossGen Comics has chosen Client Distribution Services (CDS) for exclusive representation of its growing line of graphic novels to the bookstore, library, warehouse club, and mass merchandiser channels.

Comic and graphic novel orders (dollars) to Diamond US by pop culture stores for August were up sharply, increasing 14% over 2001 orders and 21% over 2000.

Comics based on retro toon and toy properties extended their lead in August comic orders from pop culture stores, with four out of the top 10 and six out of the top 20 comic titles fitting the retro mold.

CDS was very close to getting Marvel's bookstore business last summer, before Marvel moved to Diamond, so there was already a relationship long before the LPC bankruptcy led to the creation of a graphic novel division inside CDS, and this deal was probably unrelated to the new initiative.

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

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