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.

Dark Horse Comics has signed an agreement with film director Tim Burton to create a program of toys and other merchandise based on original characters created by Burton.

Initial raw dollar orders on comics and graphic novels from comic stores continued to decline in February vs. the previous year for the fifth consecutive month, but the rate of decline slowed to under 1%.

Marvel is about to pay tribute 'to the world's least-heralded heroes -- the peacemakers' in a three-issue mini-series entitled simply 411 .

Estimated quantities for initial orders on graphic novels shipping in January 2003 from pop culture stores ordering from Diamond US.

Free Comic Book Day is back on May 3 and it is going to be bigger and better than ever--just one day after the debut of X-Men 2, several thousand comic stores will give away millions of comic books.

A Paid Advertisement. Diamond Select Toys & Collectibles is bringing the hero of one of director Tim Burton's most memorable films to life with the Edward Scissorhands Bust , now available from Diamond Comic Distributors!

New Line Cinema is teaming with sister company DC Comics to create a feature film based on Shazam! .

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

John Gavin of York Comics and Cards in Parma, Ohio saw Timothy Davis' plea for more comics for kids, and sent us this comment, which in addition to agreeing with the concept, makes a specific suggestion about the type of title(s) that might work best.