Just as Marvel has moved its bookstore distribution from LPC to Diamond, ICv2 has learned that Dark Horse is moving from Penguin to LPC for its exclusive bookstore distribution. Though no press release has been issued as of yet, we've been told that the switch will take effect on July 27, 2001. With its extensive backlist of comic trade paperback titles (only DC's is bigger) Dark Horse is a comic industry leader in bookstore sales.

At today's Marvel news conference, Marvel President Bill Jemas announced the renewal of Marvel's agreement with Diamond Comic Distributors to continue Diamond's exclusive distribution of Marvel titles in the direct market. In addition, the two companies agreed that Diamond would also represent Marvel's trade paperbacks in the traditional bookstore marketplace.

Marvel President Bill Jemas announced at a press conference today, April 25, that Marvel will continue its relationship with Diamond as exclusive direct market distributor and will also expand the relationship so that Diamond will handle Marvel's trade paperback business to bookstores as well as the direct market.

On Wednesday April 18, 2001, the Washington Post printed a lengthy article by Hank Stuever that focused on DC artist Phil Jimenez and his obsession with Wonder Woman . Stuever's essay covers the entire history of the character, who first appeared some sixty years ago just one month before Pearl Harbor.

Marvel has announced that X-Force #116 , the first issue written by Peter Milligan and illustrated by Mike Allred, will not carry the Comics Code Authority's seal of approval. This is the first time that this has happened since way back in the 1970s when a Stan Lee-penned issue of Spider-Man took on the issue of drugs.

Just before the start of this year's show, Mike Friedrich and Joe Field, the co-producers of the Oakland-based WonderCon, approached Comic-Con International to take over the operation and ownership of the Bay-area comic convention.

'Art School Confidential,' one of Daniel Clowes most popular Eightball strip, has been optioned by actress Drew Barrymore. Clowes and Terry Zwigoff, who wrote the screenplay for Ghost World , are scripting 'Art School Confidential' which Zwigoff ( Crumb, Ghost World ) has signed to direct.

ICv2 has learned from sources in Japan that Broccoli has plans to open four to six anime character goods stores on the West coast within three years. I f Broccoli does succeed in opening a chain that size, they will have important economies of scale based on both the parent chain's buying power in Japan and the sharing of expensive freight and customs costs.

Marvel's 2000 Annual Report is now available, and there's information on a number of key issues for pop culture retailers , among them the importance of direct sales to pop culture stores to Marvel's publishing operations and business as a whole. Marvel's direct sales are critical to its publishing, but publishing remains a small part of the overall picture for Marvel since it was folded into Toy Biz 1998.

Entertainment Weekly's influential 'Summer Movie Preview' issue which hit the stands Monday, April 23 features a spectacular fold-out Planet of the Apes cover. The coveted EW cover spot goes to the summer film with the most 'buzz' and Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes fits the bill for this highly competitive summer season.