In two recent instances, Marvel products appeared first in channels other than comic stores serviced by Diamond Comic Distributors.

As Marvel warned in an SEC filing last week, Stan Lee has filed suit against the company.

Marvel has announced that it's hiring Michael Doran of Newsarama as Marketing Communications Director, effective November 14th.

Jerry Ringi of Amazing Fantasy Comics in Chesapeake, Virginia takes issue with Marvel's policy of limiting the information it puts into Previews about its books, and feels that he could do a better job of selling them with more informaiton.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission dated November 6, Marvel announced that Chairman Stan Lee was contemplating a lawsuit against Marvel if he fails to receive 10% of the profits derived by the company from movies and TV programs using the characters that he helped to create.

The prolific Mike Boze of HawgHead Comics in Fort Smith, Arkansas responded again to Bill Jemas' Open Letter to Retailers and Marvel's quick scheduling of a Must Have for The Truth with this anecdote illustrating the impact of sell-outs on key books.

Emmanuel Simms of Emmanuel's Comic Shop in North Sydney, Nova Scotia responded to Bill Jemas' Open Letter to Retailers and Marvel's quick scheduling of a Must Have for The Truth with this alternate suggestion for a way to satisfy demand on key books.

Shawn Hamilton of the Great Escape in Nashville, Tennessee responded to Bill Jemas' Open Letter to Retailers and Marvel's quick scheduling of a Must Have for The Truth with this comment on another aspect of Marvel's No Overprint policy (difficulty in replacing shortages), and a happy ending.

The Spider-Man video has broken all records for opening weekends in theaters or in stores by generating over $200 million in its release weekend.

Total comic and graphic novel orders from comic stores for November were down about 3% vs. last year, continuing the trend from last month.