In a dramatic acceleration of its release schedule, Viz Media is moving up both its Naruto Shippuden anime and manga releases, much closer to the release in Japan .

John Jelley of Pyrimid Comics & Games in Sierra Vista, Arizona saw our story on Topps shutting down WizKids, and had these comments on the economy and its impact on sales in comics and game stores.

This week, John Riley talks about the possible impacts of the economy on sales.

We recently caught up with Wizards of the Coast CEO Greg Leeds to get his thoughts on the state of the market and the implications of the WizKids shutdown, where he expects to find growth for Magic and D&D , and how licensed and new properties fit into the company’s strategy.

We look at the questions, reactions, and future in the wake of the announcement of WizKids' shutdown.

The Topps Company is announcing today that it is closing down WizKids, its core hobby gaming business and temporarily discontinuing the WizKids product lines.

In Part Two of this three part interview, we talk about the changing relationship between movies and publishing; Marvel’s digital initiatives; and Marvel’s position on a shift to a universal Tuesday delivery day to retailers.

In Part One of this three-part interview, Buckley talks about the current state of the comics and graphic novel market, including the possible impacts of the economic turmoil; the impact of increasing bookstore sales on Marvel’s publishing strategy, especially on comics for kids.

DVD sales in October, despite the release of Iron Man and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, were weaker than expected.

The nation’s largest book chains are feeling the pain of the financial crisis and passing it on to their suppliers, with a tough holiday season and 2009 ahead.