With sales of graphic novels in mainstream bookstores on the rise, and book distributors vying to sign comic publishers, one of the first questions to arise is -- which graphic novel publisher is number one in bookstores?

American Gods , by comic scribe Neil Gaiman, was awarded the 2002 Hugo Award for best novel at last weekend's World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, California.

The 2002 Eisner Award Winners were announced at the recent San Diego Comic-Con, and the love was spread around. Four titles won multiple awards: 100 Bullets with three, and Eightball, Dork , and Akira with two each.

Marvel's recent announcement of exclusive deals with Joseph Michael Stracynski (JMS) and Kevin Smith could be seen as a response to DC Comics forging similarly exclusive deals with Brian Azzarello, Warren Ellis, and Mike Carey.

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.

We got a quick response to Ilan Strasser's comments on Marvel's book pricing yesterday. Tricia Hovorka, President of TalesofWonder.com, feels that Marvel's pricing represents a reasonable strategy and good value.

Neil Gaiman took part in today's Marvel press conference, at which Editor-in-chief Joe Quesada announced that Marvel would publish a six-issue mini-series written by Gaiman.

Hogshead Publishing announced that Charles Vess will contribute four full page illustrations to the new role-playing game Nobilis .

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.

After remaining silent for months in the face of chiding from Marvel's Bill Jemas, DC Comics spokesman Bob Wayne fired off a flurry of verbal jabs at Marvel.