Our final 2002 Top Ten Cool survey of the sell-through of pop culture products in December serves as a fitting capstone, since the major trends that we have been noticing are evident in abundance.

Gail Burt of Metropolis Comics in Downey, California saw our article on ordering Namor and had this to say.

Daniel McAbee of The Tangled Web in Spartanburg, South Carolina saw Marvel COO Bill Jemas' remarks on ordering Namor #2 and had this response.

Estimated quantities for initial orders on comics shipping in February 2003 from pop culture stores ordering from Diamond US.

John Secreto of Comic Swap in State College, Pennsylvania saw Marvel COO Bill Jemas' comments on ordering Namor and supports the concept, but has reservations.

Marvel has announced that it will be simultaneously releasing three Marvelous Adventures of Gus Beezer one-shots in late March, which will be appropriate for very young readers.

Marvel Comics has announced that starting on February 5, all the Ultimate titles will be upgraded to a new thicker paper stock.

Rick Ralsten of The Time Capsule in Chester, Virginia saw Gail Burt's comment on the new cover stock used on the Marvel Ultimate line and strongly agreed.

SKUMM #1, the first issue of a four-shot comic miniseries featuring characters that will be developed into action figures by X Concepts, will be released in April.

These awards are given as a way of reflecting on the events of the year and to draw some conclusions from them. We chose Jakks Pacific's acquisition of the Dragon Ball toy license as the Deal of the Year, and the divergent price trends in collectibles as the Phenomenon of the Year.