October Comics Sales Soften
As the economy went into free fall, ICv2 notes that October sales have shown some slippage. From their just released list of the top 25 titles, just two showed signs of improvement over September sales. One was Amazing Spider-Man #573 which featured the faux-Stephen Colbert for President cover while the other was Batman #680, the penultimate chapter to Batman RIP.
Despite somewhat stagnant sales, the dollars sold in to comic stores were up a “robust” 9% compared with a year ago, according to the industry watchdog. September and October were the first positive months for comic sales since January. Of course, more titles were retailing last month at $3.99, rapidly becoming a standard, as opposed to last October. ICv2 did note that the unit sales for the title charting in the 300th position was 4200 compared with 3000 just twelve months ago which they interpret as a sign of overall industry strength.
Graphic novel sales showed an increase of just 5% compared with last October. Combined with comic book sales, that creates an 8% total increase.
The site notes that the company crossovers, Secret Invasion #7 (154,675 copies) and Final Crisis #4 (115,666 copies) took the first two spots on the list. Marvel had seven of the top 10 and 17 of the first 25 with DC taking the balance. IDW’s G.I. Joe relaunch and Angel: After the Fall were the first non-Top Two titles to crack the top 100 list coming in at 65th and 66th place. This further cements IDW’s fourth place standing among comic book publishers, after Dark Horse and now ahead of Image.
In graphic novels, DC’s Joker by Brian Azzarello, took first place with an estimated 17,000 copies sold, also nabbing the top spot for dollars earned. Marvel’s best seller for the month was the Marvel Zombies trade paperback, which likely hit the top Marvel spot given its three variant covers. Wile Watchmen slipped from first place to sixth, its 6000 copies remains impressive given its age.
Two more notable comic book celebrities will be joining the festivities at New York Comic Con (NYCC) this year as Guests of Honor. Affording thousands of fans the opportunity to meet them in person, Geoff Johns, who is well-known as a comic book writer of a number of DC Comics characters, including Superman, Green Lantern and the Flash as well as for his work as a screenwriter; and superstar artist Jim Lee, known for his acclaimed artistic runs on titles including BATMAN, ALL STAR BATMAN and WILDCATS, will be attending NYCC to help launch the new Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing game, DC Universe Online (DCUO), produced by Sony Online Entertainment for PLAYSTATION 3 in collaboration with DC Comics and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. 
Following the established pattern of creating an animated series in the wake of its live-action counterpart, Marvel has announced the arrival of Thor. The series has a 26-episode order, according to
ICv2 reports that Image Comics’ Liberty Comics, an anthology benefiting the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, has raised nearly $27,000 for the charity. The comic, which shipped in July and sold nearly 17,000 copies its first month, was a joint effort of Image, the creators involved, and Diamond Comic Distributors, all of whom donated their revenues.
Lionsgate has announced the arrival of Hulk Vs. in January. According to a press release, “If Hulk alone weren’t enough, Hulk is now joined by the super-heroes of the next two Marvel tentpole films — Wolverine and Thor in this newest addition to the Marvel Animated Features series.
Harry Knowles at Ain’t it Cool News provided his 
This year’s Halloween might be dominated by Heath Ledger Jokers, but a few years from now, expect Robby the Robot to be the costume to beat.
Paramount has picked up the screen rights to Dave Roman’s graphic novel Agnes Quill: An Anthology of Mystery. Thor Freudenthal (Hotel for Dogs) will direct from a script by Evan Spiliotopoulos. 
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