Sharpening the Sword is a regular column by retailer John Riley of Grasshopper's Comics, a 1300 square foot comic and games store in Williston Park , New York . This week, Riley talks about minimum pricing and Internet retailers.

Gary Cross, an editorialist in the Op-Ed section of Sunday's New York Times , tied licensed toys to the recent toy recalls, suggesting that the business model teaches kids to collect.

ICv2 continues its series of interviews with comic publishers with a talk with Marvel publisher Dan Buckley (who asked VP Sales David Gabriel) to join in. In Part 2 we talk about more of the newer distribution channels for Marvel books, and Marvel's publishing plans to tie into its 2008 movies.

In Part , we talk about the state of the market and the reasons for the success of Civil War in bookstores as well as comic stores.

In Part 3, we talk about Wizards' policies on Internet sales, and how it enforces them.

In Part 2, we talk about why pre-release events are held outside of stores, and what impact those events might be having on sales made in brick and mortar stores.

In Part 1, we get an overview of the different kinds of Magic organized play events.

With the announced resignation of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a number of candidates are being suggested to replace him, including Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who's a big supporter of Japan's anime and manga industries.

The Japanese advertising agency Dentsu is once again the sole owner of Geneon USA .

The prize-winning animated feature based on Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis will open on Christmas Day.