There is no doubt that manga's influence on American comics appears to be growing. Witness two stories that appeared on Newsarama this week. Michael Doran broke the story of Marvel's plan for an eight-title Marvel ' Mangaverse ' event planned for January, 2002, while Matt Brady detailed plans at DC Comics to use manga artist Kia Asamiya (Silent Moebius, Dark Angel) for a series of Titans covers.

The July issue of Diamond Previews includes a shared exclusive (with the Electronics Boutique chain) of Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy figures from the comic-savvy Simpsons TV series (and, of course the Bongo Comics series).

Max Allen Collins and Richard Piers-Rayner's graphic novel The Road to Perdition never received the attention it deserved in the comic market, but it did raise eyebrows in Hollywood, where this depression-era saga of a hitman's revenge has been developed into a starring vehicle for Tom Hanks.

The CMAA contacted Marvel and the publisher admitted that putting the Code Seal of Approval on Wolverine #165 was 'a mistake' on the company's part. ICv2 has learned that Marvel has not been submitting books to the CMAA recently and other current issues that carry the code (e.g., Tangled Web #3) are also 'mistakes.'

Reuters News Service is reporting that AOL Time Warner will shutter all its Warner Bros. Studio Stores by the end of October. AOL Time Warner announced in January that the newly merged entertainment juggernaut was seeking a buyer for the retail stores, but reportedly gave up the search for a buyer in February.

Crossgen, the Florida-based comic publisher, announced the signing of artist Karl Moline, who is currently penciling Joss Whedon's Fray.

Tokyopop has announced a major expansion of its manga line, which will double by the end of the year.

Madison, Wisconsin-based Nostomania, Inc has announced the launch of Nostmania.com, a website that provides users with a free state of the art collectible management system.

Today only a surprisingly small percentage of pop culture retailers make much of an effort to sell apparel in their stores, but those that do often enjoy remarkable success. Here's the first in a series of examinations of the methods of retailers who have had great success in selling apparel items.

AnotherUniverse.com is up and running as one part of the Fandom inventory liquidation being run by CMI Holdings, parent of Comics and Comix and Thecomicstore.com. AU sent out an e-mail notice to its former customers on Friday, June 29th.