Good market news, for a change? A year ago, Diamond started using a new method to calculate its order indexes. So today, ICv2.com combs through the data to compare sales from last month to those from March 2003. And the news is, well, not bad: Single-issue sales saw a 13 percent increase in March '04 over March '03, while graphic novels saw just a 2 percent increase (keep in mind these are direct market figures, not book market).

Dark Horse grew by 78 percent, due largely to the Hellboy trade paperbacks, followed by Viz (75 percent), Tokyopop (39 percent), Dreamwave (36 percent), DC Comics (18 percent) and Marvel (12 percent).