On the upswing? In its analysis of Diamond's Top 300 for April, ICv2.com reports that sales were up again last month, with a 6 percent overall increase over April 2003. That follows a 15 percent increase in March. The site also notes that Diamond shipped more than 230,000 copies of Superman #204:

"Piece sales on top comics dipped somewhat vs. March, with 17 of the top 25 titles down, and only five up. The bottom of the list was also weaker than March -- the bottom book in March sold 1901 copies; in April, only 950."

As usual, ICv2 has sales estimates for single issues and graphic novels. In single-issue sales, six of the top 10 titles broke the 100,000 mark. The first non-DC or Marvel title on the chart was Dark Horse's Conan #3, checking in at #34 with an estimated 48,588 copies. DC/Vertigo's Bite Club #1, which held the 100th spot, sold just 24,043 copies.

With the exception of Spider-Girl, Marvel has held firm to its imaginary Line of Death, with all of its recently canceled titles hovering below or slightly above the 20,000 mark: Captain Marvel #22 (21,742), Elektra #35 (20,313), Runaways #14 (19,363), Hawkeye #7 (16,607), Inhumans #12 (15,696) and Human Torch #12 (13,168). Spider-Girl #72 sold some 20,533 copies.

At DC/Vertigo/WildStorm, the Line of Death isn't so cut and dry, with titles such as Gotham Central, Hellblazer, Lucifer, The Losers and Plastic Man falling, in some cases, well below 20,000. Of course, most of those see new life in their collected editions (and the first Gotham Central trade clocked in at #16 on the Diamond graphic novel list).