Diamond has released some general mid-year category information, and while the shifts between categories are substantial year-over-year, the over-all business is stable with some positive underlying trends despite a tough economic environment in the 'real world.'

Robert Boyd of LPC, the company that sells Tokyopop titles to bookstores, told ICv2 that Sailor Moon sells better than any of the other graphic novels his company reps by a factor of 'at least' 1.5.

DC Direct has a huge slate of products on tap for 2002, which will make it unlikely that any challenge to DC's dominance in this increasingly important product area will succeed.

Tucked inside the massive monthly listings of products from comic distributors like Diamond and FM are the modest offerings of SQP, typically a group of trade paperbacks which retail for under ten dollars each.

With two weeks left until Tim Burton's refashioning of Planet of the Apes opens, ICv2 conducted an unscientific survey on the sales of POTA merchandise by contacting some twenty retailers from coast to coast.

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

Orders by comic shops (Diamond U.S. customers) for the Top 300 Comics shipping in July.

In previous years the show was held on Tuesday and Wednesday, the busiest days of the week for many pop culture retailers. This year the Comic Book Expo will be held on Sunday, July 22nd and Monday, July 23rd a move that organizers hope will boost attendance.

CrossGen Comics announced the hiring of Chris Oarr as Director of Marketing and Sales. Coming off a brief stint at DC Comics, Oarr is upbeat about working for CrossGen.

This is a directory of comic distributors, with links to more extensive profile pages on each of them.