Diamond Select showed off a growing collection of licensed products and cool Japanese imports at its showroom at the New York Toy Fair this year.

In Marvel's press conference today, Marketing Manager Bill Rosemann ran down an impressive list of Spider-Man projects scheduled for the spring in order to feed off the heat generated by the Spider-Man movie, which opens May 3.

In contrast to the heady days of the late 90s, Hasbro has pruned back its offerings.

DC's Dark Knight Strikes Again was the top-selling comic for the third consecutive month, according to orders placed with Diamond US from pop culture stores. The initial raw order was over 171,000 copies, which was around 10% over initial orders on #2, and nearly as high as the initial orders on #1.

Estimated quantities for initial orders on comics shipping in February 2002 from pop culture stores ordering from Diamond US.

Free Comic Book Day is gaining strength as more publishers have agreed to participate and as the promotional heat picks up.

A couple of weeks ago, we published a story on Marvel's new hardcover program for 2002. Here's a continuation of a dialogue between Ilan Strasser of Fat Moose Comics and Games and Tricia Hovorka of TalesofWonder.com.

Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure topped the comic charts for January 2002, with over 650,000 copies ordered from Diamond U.S. prior to any late orders or reorders.

Here are ICv2's Top Five Comic Stories of 2001. These rankings are based on the business impact of these events on pop culture retailers. 1.Comics bottom? The first three quarters of 2001 were rough in the comics industry. Orders on comics hit new lows

Ilan Strasser of Fat Moose Comics Comics and Games in Whippany, New Jersey, took issue with the way Marvel is pricing its upcoming hardcover books.