Girl power? While every other media outlet in the free world focuses on Spider-Man 2, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required) turns its attention to Marvel's girl-focused Amazing Fantasy, drawn by Kirkwood resident Mark Brooks:

"[Marvel publisher Dan] Buckley freely admits that Marvel is eager to tap into this girl genre of comic books that has exploded recently with sales of manga, the Japanese books translated into English, which have become one of the hottest trends in publishing. Paperback manga compilations accounted for about $100 million in sales last year, a 50 percent jump from 2002, according to ICv2, a Wisconsin company that analyzes manga sales in the United States.

"The prime purchasers: young women.

"'The thing that we've noticed is that manga sales have proven females will read graphic-novel fiction,' Buckley said. 'If we can develop the content and get it into the right retail, we'll have a chance.'"