Like all the other major hits of the summer of 2001, Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes will be released on DVD in time for holiday sales this year.

The key to the development of a market for Viz's shojo titles is the mostly shojo Animerica Extra anthology magazine which has more than doubled its circulation during the past year.

At today's Marvel Press Conference, President and COO Bill Jemas announced that pre-orders for Marvel's October books were the highest (both in dollar and unit terms) since December of 1996, when the numbers were buoyed by the Onslaught crossover with DC.

Two recent trends are the lowering of SRPs on backlist titles and an increasing interest in 'pan & scan' versions.

In an article in today's Los Angeles Times , staff writer Geoff Boucher asks whether Superman is 'Undressed for Success?' in Smallville , the new WB television series that chronicles the Man of Steel's teenage years.

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.

N2 Toys, the innovative toy company that created the Matrix figures and many other toys aimed at collectors '), is set to release action figures and statues based on the Shi comic series created by Bill Tucci.

Marvel is planning to move back into the lucrative CCG arena on its own. The aptly named Marvel Recharge CCG is set to debut in November.

N2 Toys has announced that they plan to release toys based on The Fifth Element, the stylish 1997 film written and directed by Luc Besson.

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.