The chief topic at today's Marvel news conference was the 'Retailer Rally Presentation' that will be held at the China Club in Times Square on Monday, October 1.

This December Viz will publish the first English edition of Kazushi Hagiwara's Bastard!!, while Image Comics will debut a prime example of American 'manga,' Bastard Samurai .

ICv2 has learned that WizKids, the company that created the category-defining collectible miniatures game Mage Knight , has tapped Jonathan Leithuesser for the post of Advertising and Public Relations Manager. Leithuesser is a veteran of the games industry with solid credentials.

Fans will get their first chance to view the theatrical trailer for the first episode of the Lord of the Rings trilogy during the premiere of the Angel television series on the WB Network.

SQ Productions announced the January 2001 release of The Art of John Bolton , a full color, 104-page, oversize collection.

The biggest surprises at the top of the lists in August are the #1 toys product -- Clive Barker's Tortured Souls from Mcfarlane -- and the #1 anime -- the El Hazard OVA DVD box set.

Across the entire entertainment industry, content is being reviewed to see if it passes a careful taste test in the light of last week's attack on the U.S.

Image Comics' revival of G.I. Joe is going very well. In spite of overprinting final orders by a whopping 33%, the book is now a virtual sellout and Image is going back to press to print more.

The first 80-page installment of Frank Miller's Dark Knight Strikes Again, one of the most highly anticipated comic releases in years, will be accompanied to market by a second monster product capable of generating huge sales, the Dark Knight Strikes Again Statue .

Dark Horse Comics announced the November release of a new manga series from Kenichi Sonoda, the creator of Gunsmith Cats (also published by Dark Horse).