''ICv2'' is an online

trade magazine A trade magazine, also called a trade journal or trade paper (colloquially or disparagingly a trade rag), is a magazine or newspaper whose target audience is people who work in a particular tradesman, trade or industry. The collective term ...

that covers geek culture for retailers. ''ICv2s main areas of focus are

comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

, gaming, and

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

products. The site offers news, reviews, analysis, and sales information for retailers and librarians. ''ICv2'' holds an annual trade conference in conjunction with the

New York Comic Con The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to comics, Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, Film, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,00 ...

; the company also periodically publishes ''ICv2 Retailer Guides'' in

hard copy In information handling, the U.S. Federal Standard 1037C (Glossary of Telecommunication Terms) defines a hard copy as a permanent reproduction, or copy, in the form of a physical object, of any media suitable for direct use by a person (in par ...

format. The site is produced by GCO, LLC, based in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

Name

''ICv2'' stands for ''Internal Correspondence'' version 2, named after a trade magazine published in the 1980s-1990s by Capital City Distribution.

History

Capital City Distribution co-founder Milton Griepp published ''Internal Correspondence'', first as a newsletter and then as a magazine, until Capital City was acquired by Diamond Comic Distributors in 1996, retaining rights to the name. He launched ''ICv2'' in January 2001. The ''ICv2 Retailer Guides'' magazines were launched in 2002. In 2011, ''ICv2'' began holding an industry conference on the eve of the

, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. Held annually, the ''ICv2'' event is now known as the "White Paper Happy Hour." Griepp (on behalf of ''ICv2'') supervised the 2015 American Anime Awards balloting. ''ICv2: The Business of Pop Culture,'' edited by Griepp, was nominated for the "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism" Eisner Award in 2025.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ICv2 Online magazines published in the United States Professional and trade magazines Magazines established in 2001 Magazines published in Wisconsin Magazines about comics