TIME Magazine comics columnist Andrew Arnold has had a big influence on the ligetimization of comics over the last few years, lending many “Time Magazine Sez!” pull quotes to comics press kits, and in general being a hardcore supporter of the very finest and most challenging in comics for a major press outlet. Now, after being one of scores of Time employees laid off in recent weeks, he’s hanging up his column:

Originally TIME.comix ran on a weekly schedule. Gradually it has slowed. This is mostly due to my own increasingly busy life, but also reflects a shift in the market. When TIME.comix began there were far more chapter-length comic books than there are now (manga excepted). Gradually the focus in the “alternative” comix industry has become more on completed long-form books that can be sold through regular booksellers, beyond just comic specialty shops. This reflects the major shift in public interest towards graphic novels that TIME.comix has born witness to, and I’d like to think, in some small way contributed to.

Arnold hints he’ll be back however, and we hope we haven’t seen the last of him.

Publishers Weekly has some hard numbers on the distribution of the 300 graphic novel, still going strong at #8 on Amazon. 80,000 copies of the book are on their way for next month, with many more already on shelves:

In a conference call that also included DH v-p of business development Michael Martens, Richardson sought to dispell rumors that the publisher would not have enough books to meet retailers’ needs. He said that 300 has shipped about 250,000 copies since January 2006. He added that the bookstore market should have 25,000 to 30,000 copies in stock (plus another 10,000 copies at online book retailer Amazon.com) and that bookstore and comics shop retailers have stock to meet demand. Richardson said part of the confusion over the availability of the title is that retailers fearful of getting caught short are reordering even though they have the book in stock. There have been complaints in the past about the availability of reprints for DH’s Sin City and Hell Boy graphic novels after those films opened, although the publisher disputes the notion that it did not have enough books available.

§ BAD GIRL leads China down Japan’s ‘toon path:

Time was when Chinese cartoons were childish retellings of traditional tales or propaganda images peopled by rosy-cheeked peasant women, muscle-bound ironworkers and strong-jawed soldiers celebrating the Communist ethos.

Little P, the hero of Song Yang’s Bad Girl comic book, is more likely to be celebrating her new low-slung jeans, complaining about her tough mother, or her latest mobile phone.

Reflecting China’s changing social realities, particularly in cities, Little P wants to be China’s first successful cartoon icon. Bad Girl is playing a lead role in transforming Chinese cartoons from poor-quality kids’ stuff or dull propaganda to something far hipper, as the country competes with Japanese manga and Korean manhwa.

§ Meanwhile, in America, mailboxes shaped like R2-D2 are on their way:

Post boxes across the US are to be dressed up as Star Wars robot R2-D2 to celebrate 30 years since the release of the sci-fi series’ first outing. Some 400 boxes will get the new look, including outside Hollywood’s Grauman Chinese Theatre, one of first cinemas to screen the film in 1977. The makeover is part of a post office campaign for the announcement of a surprise stamp on 28 March. The public have been urged not to tamper with the droid mail collectors.

§ This story is a kind of confusing following up to the story of the Red Sox pitcher whostarted his own video game development company with Todd McFarlane and others. The main idea is that by changing the name of his company from GREEN MONSTER GAMES to 38 STUDIOS, pitching ace Curt Schilling might be indicating that he someday won’t be a Red Sox, which would probably be quite upsetting if you were a Boston fan. We don’t know, we just think the idea of a pro athlete starting a video game development company is funny.

Green Monster Games looked at one time to be the perfect name for Schilling’s game development firm. But Close said Schilling and company hope to be much more than a game development company. So, for a name, “we needed something that reflects a larger vision as an entertainment company. We reserve the right to be more than just a game company.” Indeed, Schilling’s endeavor has attracted some big names. R.A. Salvatore, a Leominster native and science fiction novelist, is the company’s “creator of worlds,” or creative director. Todd McFarlane, the creator of the Spawn comic book series, also works for 38 Studios.

§ Jerry Beck didn’t much care for the AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE movie:

AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE (COLON): MOVIE FILM FOR THEATRES is, without question, the worst animated film of the year. It may be the worst film (of any type) I’ve ever seen. A text book example of an unfunny comedy, with poor production values; no craft, no art, no laughs, period. I’ve only seen one episode of the TV series, so I’m clearly not the intended audience for this. But who is? High School drop-outs on pot? I suspect there may be 7 year old out there who may think this is the funniest film they’ve ever seen. If so, I’d be worried about that 7-year-old.

We’re pretty sure this is the most clueless thing we’ve read all morning, but what does the group mind say? Dick Hates Your Blog says that 70s comics weren’t as influential as some other decades:

1940s-The Golden Age of superhero comics
1950s-EC Comics; Wertham, Senate hearings, and the Code; the golden age of romance comics
1960s-Wacky Silver Age fun; birth of underground comics
1980s-Event comics/crossovers; “dark” superhero comics are born; the independent publisher explodes onto the scene; the direct market begins to overtake the newsstand
1990s-Crap-tacular comics with stupid gimmick covers; rise and fall of the major independent publisher; the big speculator bust
2000s (so far)-Manga gains major ground, overtaking Marvel/DC in several categories; graphic novels begin to supplant the pamphlet format; probably a bunch of other stuff that will seem clearer in hindsight
[snip]So basically: there were many good comics published in the 70s, especially if you’re into idiosyncratic superhero comics, Underground Comix, or horror. But I’m skeptical that the 70s will ever be considered a monumental epoch in the history of comics. Some important wheels were set in motion, but the industry didn’t undergo any of the extensive changes (on either the art or business front) seen in other decades. So maybe it’s not such a great crime that the 70s dwell in the shadow of the two decades bookending it, an island of humility between two oceans of conceit (I think that’s how that saying goes).

Come on now! Is Dick trying to be silly? As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, the current comics biz is mostly run by post-boomers who all came of age reading 70s comics, and that era of “relevance” is what really kicked off the Grim’n'Gritty/Pow! Sock! Comics aren’t for kids any more era. Marvel in particular, had a great run that is still being strip-mined to death. Far from being inconsequential, it was the underground comics/”relevant comics/birth of self-publishing that planted the seeds of everything that came after.

If we were going to peg a decade as wheel spinning it would probably be the 90s. Indie comics were better than ever, but didn’t really develop beond what had already been done, and mainstream comics were irredeemably in the crapper.

Or are we full of it?

AAAAAAAND, one last 300 note: At last week’s Second Life 300 press conference, we managed to ask star Gerard Butler if he would ever get into the kind of shape he did for 300 again. The answer was not unexpected, but saddening all the same:

“I wasn’t in that kind of shape in the first place. I hate to say this, I’d love to say something inspiring, but I actually don’t think I could get into that kind of shape again. It was great for that moment, but I actually over did it and was in a lot of pain for a few months.”

Women all over the world may mourn this news, but at least we go on with the certain knowledge that for one shining moment, one man rose to the highest level his body could achieve, and even if this man truly gave his all, through the miracles of slo-mo, pause buttons and screen captures, the legend of dear, dear Gerard Butler and his 300 muscle groups will live on forever.

Speaking of Second Life, you can visit the 300 area at Silverscreen and look at books, see photos or kick peopleinto a pit while shouting “This is SPARTA!” Internet marketing man Neville Hobson talks about the event here and via comments, you can see how the custom avatars were made by Adam’n'Eve here.

300 handily vanquished the opposition at this weekend’s box office, taking in about $31.2 million for a total of $127.5 after 10 days. It was a 56% drop-off from the bofftastic opening weekend but the WB expects it to reach $200 million. Meanwhile, it’s also expect to slay them overseas.

Thanks to smashing bows in five Asian territories plus exceptionally strong holdover-market performances, “300″ decisively dominated international boxoffice for the weekend, battling its way to an estimated $15.6 million from about 1,300 screens in 13 markets.

The Warner Bros. International release took the No. 1 spot in each market it played. The fresh territories included South Korea (an estimated $6.3 million in five days from 353 screens), Turkey ($1.5 million from 115 sites), Thailand ($917,000 from 120 spots), Hong Kong ($730,000 from 33 sites for an astonishing $22,121 per-screen average) and India ($582,000 from 161 sites).

The biggest of the holdover markets for director Zack Snyder’s rendition of Frank Miller’s graphic novel about the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C. is Greece, where the film earned an estimated $2.5 million at 140 screens in its second weekend for a per-screen average of $17,857. The second-weekend tally is exceeded only by “300’s” record-setting opening weekend in the market. Upcoming this weekend are “300″ openings in such major territories as the U.K., France, Italy, Spain and Mexico.

Variety has more, with predctions of “massive” worldwide grosses:

“It will go very, very, very well in Spain,” says one Iberian exhib, who predicted around $16 million for the title and listed violence and piracy as the only possible downsides.

“There’s lots of excitement about it,” a German booker notes. “It even got a standing ovation at the Berlinale. The movie is going to attract male viewers looking for brutal action and female viewers eager to see Gerard Butler in the buff.”

Meanwhile, Ghost Rider has been holding it’s own at the box office, taking in $197.7 million worldwide.

Various teaser images for SPIDER-MAN 3 and FF2 have been going up here are a few. Click for larger images. Film Ick has the whole FF2 lot.

And from Spidey:

CAPTAIN MARVEL screenwriter John August takes time on his blog to reveal that the “Jake Gyllenhaal is Captain Marvel” thing is 100% not true:

I can pretty much assure you he’s never heard of the project. And we’ve never discussed him. We’ve never seriously discussed anyone.

After several months of meetings, casting has come up exactly zero times. There’s no casting list. If there were a list, Gyllenhaal’s name would probably be on it, but trust me: there is no list. There’s no start date, no release date, no movie whatsoever. There’s just a script to be written. Which I should probably get back to.

But if you happen to bump into the internet, please tell him what I said.

At Wizard World LA, Dan Didioembraced the truth:

Asked about Detective Chimp, Didio interjected “You cannot add a chimp to anything and not make it better.”

A friend emailed us with this:

“Wizard LA is so small and depressing I can’t believe it.”

UPDATE: But Marv liked it.

I also had a nice chat with many friends I hadn’t seen in awhile, and I was really pleased that Wizard did such a good job this year. I have to admit I didn’t care for last year’s LA show although I have liked their Chicago events when I’ve gone there. I think they got a better room at the LA Convention Center and things seemed to be a lot livelier and from the fans I spoke with, they seemed to think it was a better con, too. Still wish they were back in Long Beach; more restaurants in the area and cheaper parking, too, but the powers that be appear to be taking care of business and making the shows better, so that’s what really counts. I’m also a guest at another Wizard show in a few months, this one on the East Coast and after this one I’m looking forward to it.

Th Beat archives at Comicon from 2004 to 2006 have finally been taken down. This was supposed to happen back when we moved last July, so it wasn’t entirely unexpected, but still, we were used to having them around. We do have backups of most of the content, and may restore posts of some historical interest to some other site one of these day. In the meantime, nothing lasts forever in the cold November rain.

In English with Russian subtitles. this one won’t last long.

Verdict: We would watch this movie right this moment if we could!

UPDATE: Neil Gaiman explains this is no way no how a real trailer:

I just looked at it — it’s not an actual trailer, and it seems to be a bunch of shots cobbled together from unfinished CGI footage and has some Pirates of the Caribbean music on it, and I’m not sure who did it or for what, and it honestly isn’t something I’d feel good about linking to and saying “This is a Stardust Trailer”. So I won’t. It should take you a second or two to find it with a google if you go looking for it. It’s possible this might encourage Paramount to bring the real trailer out a week or two earlier than they were going to, but I believe the trailer will be out in the next three weeks anyway.

But we would still watch this movie NOW! STARDUST is slated to be released July 27th.

The WB held a 300 press conference in Second Life today with Zack Snyder, Frank Miller, Lena Headey, Rodrigo Santoro and, yes, dear, dear Gerard Butler. Was it weird? Of course it was! The participant avatars were pretty accurate — Miller in his perennial cowboy hat, Snyder in a baseball cap, Butler in his jeans and leather jacket. Headey was impressed with her new, large boobs, but in SL it’s impossible to have less than impressive knockers.

Miller mentioned that he had met with Robert Rodriguez last night about SIN CITY 2 and shooting might start as soon as June. As for casting “read all the rumors,” he hinted, perhaps a reference to their pursuit of Angelina Jolie for Ava in A DAME TO KILL FOR.

He also said that he has an actor in mind for THE SPIRIT but couldn’t reveal the name.

Snyder talked about getting ready for WATCHMEN. For now they are concentrating on the characters and the look of the costumes, since superhero movie fans are used to a high level of detail. “Spider-man is fetish in its detail. That’s the level people expect and if you fall short of it it becomes a joke and that’s the last thing I want to have happen.”

He said there would be some bonus footage on the 300 DVD: “It’s my cut, there is no director’s cut. But there was a sequence we cut out with these giant albino giants that had elfs riding on their backs. When I saw I said that’s too much. Even for me it’s too much! Vince Regan cuts the leg off one of the giants. Someone stabs the midget elf who is on the ground in an elf hat.”

Headey mentioned her recent pilot playing Sarah Conner in a proposed Terminator TV show, but said its been filmed and they are waiting to see if it gets picked up.

Santoro was asked about his LOST character and said you would be learning more about Paulo.

As for DDGB, he didn’t have much to say about the ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK remake he’s signed for. There’s a script but no director. He also said his favorite band is Sigur Ros. Sigh.

With the HIP FLASK: ELEPHANTMEN widescreen edition out this week (featuring a special gallery of sketches and drawings by Ladrönn) we’re reminded that Comcraft is also at WWLA this weekend!

We’ll be sharing a booth with Graphitti Designs right up at the front, so you can’t miss us!

Starkings and JG will be selling & signing, and Moritat will be sketching fabulously. Hope we see you there!

Very sad news going around this morning that Jay Kennedy, the highly respected editor in chief at King Features syndicate has died in a drowning accident while on vacation in Costa Rica. No further details are available at this time.

Kennedy was a major figure in the comic strip business, liked and respected by all, and this is a huge loss.

feeling a xanax high give does

Today mobile payments ranging from mobile banking to mobile credit cards to mobile commerce are very widely used in Asia and Africa, and in selected European markets.

In case you missed it, here is the full story from the Marshall Democrat-News on the new Marshall, MO library policy and the fate of FUN HOME and BLANKETS which were removed from shelves following complaints over adult content. The books have been returned to circulation but will be shelved in the Adult section instead of the YA section.

And just like that, democracy and intelligence reign.

More in the link.

Dark Horse has announced that BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SEASON 8 #1 had sold out of a 100K+ initial printing.

Following the book’s release yesterday, Dark Horse will be going back to print on the much anticipated first issue of Buffy: Season 8. Since the book was announced last summer, Dark Horse has garnered a great deal of attention both in and outside of the comic market. With high profile press coverage, buzz among fans, and excitement from direct market retailers, orders exceeded the initial printing of over 100,000 copies!

“Admittedly, our expectations were already gigantic, but this has surpassed even those” says Dirk Wood, Director of Marketing. “We couldn’t be happier about how this has launched, and have high hopes for upcoming issues.”

“We’ve done something unique here. We’ve taken something really popular from the most mainstream of media, television, and we’ve transplanted it with total authority into comics” says Managing Editor, Scott Allie. “This is Buffy, by Joss, as much as the show ever was. And the sales seem to suggest that people are getting the message.”

The upcoming second printing will feature a full bleed version of the breathtaking Jo Chen cover, with some of the design elements removed for a cleaner, and more stripped down look. This new version will be arriving in stores with an on sale date of March 28, just a week before the release of issue #2. Dark Horse encourages retailers to backorder Buffy The Vampire Slayer #1 with confidence, as orders will be filled in full with the new printing.

This will come as a big “duh!” to anyone who knows how popular Whedon and Buffy are among comics-friendly readers, over on the Engine, Warren Ellis wonders why:

And here’s the thing. Printing numbers aren’t set until the order numbers are in. And no-one wants to sell out a print run inside 24 hours of release, so you look at the numbers and you set an overprint, an additional number of copies to satisfy re-order demand.

Lots and lots of books have been selling through their overprints like wildfire. More and more, in fact. And I can tell you that the overprint percentages aren’t being reduced on my books, many if not most of which have been selling out lately.

So what the fuck is going on, that the market cannot guess the demand for BUFFY, SEASON EIGHT, EXCLUSIVELY TOLD IN COMICS AND WRITTEN BY JOSS, to the extent that the overprint is fucking VAPORISED something like twelve hours after the book hit the shelves? If I’m missing something here, please tell me.

A classic story of intrigue, double crosses, runaway financiers, campaign skullduggery, and Stan Lee got yet another chapter underway when it was announced that Stan Lee Media is suing Marvel for a cool $5B. The one-time new media venture claims that it co-owns Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Incredible Hulk.

How is this possible? You thought Stan Lee Media went down in flames in the first dot.bomb crash? And Stan Lee was long gone and moved on to POW! Entertainment? And renegade co-owner Peter Paul was busy planning to undermine Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid with stories of improprieties from her senate run?

While the colorful Paul is not involved in this chapter, it seems STAN LEE MEDIA has been resurrected by Jim Nesfield, a self described “Whistleblower” who has appeared on 60 Minutes to talk about mutual fund malfeasance and so on. And Nesfield is claiming that contracts Lee signed while still involved are still in effect.

He said Mr. Lee signed a contract in October 1998 that assigned co-creative interests to Stan Lee Media. Unfortunately for Stan Lee Media, the same rights were assigned to Marvel.

“Stan Lee is no longer with the company, but the contract remains intact,” he said. “He has signed it and the contract is still in force.” He added that Mr. Lee may be called to testify if the case goes to trial.

He said the contract had been hidden from the public and Mr. Nesfield has filed suit on behalf of the shareholders to assert their rights. He said they are entitled to 50 percent of all revenue going back three years and going forward 50 years. They can only go back three years by law, but not as far back as 1998.

Meanwhile, in its own statement on the suit Marvel reveals that Stan is himself suing Stan Lee Media.

Stan Lee Media was recently in bankruptcy and is being sued by Stan Lee. In his suit, Mr. Lee is challenging the legitimacy of the management of Stan Lee Media. Mr. Lee is a long-time employee of Marvel and its predecessor companies and currently serves as Publisher Emeritus of Marvel Comics. Mr. Lee commented that, “I do not support this action and believe the suit to be baseless.”

This entire story is so tangled that it would take weeks just to read the court documents. For some entertaining background, Dirk links to this entertaining Michael Dean news story that hints just how crazy and nutty Stan Lee Media’s business dealings really were.

Mark Evanier has a longer, touching remembrance of writer Arnold Drake who passed away on Monday:

Arnold was one of my favorite comic book writers before I knew who he was…even before I knew that the guy who wrote those Tommy Tomorrow stories I thought were so great was the same guy who’d written all those Challengers of the Unknown comics I liked so much. There were no credits then and when I later did learn who’d written what, I could see the connection. Arnold’s writing was a little wittier, a little sharper than most of the others then scripting books by the tonweight for DC. He seemed to presuppose a little more intelligence on the part of the readers. He didn’t explain everything four times the way some of the other writers did. He expected us to “get it.”

72 hour, five cities, one comic book and one comic book writer: Robert Kirkman rides the whirlwind to promote THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN, kicking off with a midnight signing (is this the new fad?):

Comics industry superstar Robert Kirkman is going on a five-city, seventy-two hour tour to promote the debut of his new comic book series, THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN. The tour takes place over the weekend of May 5th, Free Comic Book Day. Fans in New York City, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area can meet the writer of WALKING DEAD, ULTIMATE X-MEN and INVINCIBLE and get FREE copies of THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #1!

“For Kirkman’s first new creator-owned series in four years, we’re doing something big,” says Director of Marketing Mark Haven Britt. “You get an awesome new FREE comic, you get to meet Robert in person, AND you get to meet him when he’s delirious from sleep deprivation and cross country flights! Come on by! It’s gonna be a hoot!”

THE ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN chronicles the life of workaholic CEO Gary Hampton. While on a rare family vacation, he’s bitten by a werewolf. Cursed to live his nights as a monster, Gary works to use these evil powers for the greater good. The story is part superhero, part horror and a whole lot of fun.

The fun starts the very first minute of Free Comic Book Day at 12:01 AM, May 4th and ends on May 6th. Listed below are the store locations, times and dates of the tour:

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
Jim Hanley’s Universe
MAY 4th @ 11PM - 1AM
(The comic will be given out at 12:01 AM)
4 West 33rd St.
New York, NY 10001
(off 5th Ave. -opposite the Empire State Building)
(212) 268-7088
www.jhuniverse.com

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Graham Crackers Comics
MAY 5th @ 11AM - 1PM
77 E. Madison St.
(SW Corner of Michigan & Madison, Across from Millennium Park)
Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 629-1810
GrahamCrackers.com

DENVER, COLORADO
Mile High Comics
MAY 5th @ 7PM-9PM
9201 N. Washington
Thornton, CO
(303) 457-2612
milehighcomics.com

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
Golden Apple
MAY 6th @ 12AM - 2PM
7018 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90038
(888) 235-2400
goldenapplecomics.com

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAY 6th @ 6:30PM - 9:30 PM
COMIC RELIEF: THE Comic Bookstore
2026 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94704-1117
(510) 843-5002
comicrelief.net

Forget about John Woo or Nicolas Cage: Virgin Comics is really hitting it up the crease this time with a comic based on Indian cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar:

The monthly comic magazine, which is being published by Virgin Comics, Total Multimedia Ltd in collaboration with Tendulkar, is expected to hit newsstands this year.

The superhero character will be known as ‘Sachin The Master Blaster’ for comic books, animation and games.

‘Sachin Tendulkar is well recognised as an achiever globally, and it works best to have him as the hero for our comic, gaming and animation series,’ said Suresh Seetharaman, president of Virgin Comics and Virgin Animation.

Tendulkar is considered the the second greatest Test batsman ever and hold the record for the most Test centuries, most ODI centuries and the most runs in ODI cricket and was the fastest to score 10,000 runs in test history. Although not normally a bowler, he has taken 38 wickets in 135 Tests and 146 wickets in 377 ODIs.

That concludes our “cricket moment.”

First Second has posted a .pdf primer for those who want to know why graphic novels are the bee’s knees. yes, there is sales info for First Second books, but also

…and in this mighty little document, we’ve put together a selection for four different age categories, of just a few Graphic Novel titles that are true gems. And hey, this isn’t just some ploy to promote First Second — it’s a ploy to promote First Second AND a bunch of other works we believe in, from Top Shelf, Oni Press, Marvel, DC, Slave Labor, AiT/Planet Lar,Pantheon, Houghton Mifflin, S&S, Drawn & Quarterly, NBM and Fantagraphics, and others too.

Try these, O valiant bookseller, if you’re not sure where to start — and watch as your amazed customers gasp at the knowledgeable staff’s picks, and return with droves of their friends!

The book lists are indeed good starting places for anyone looking to proselytize.

Famed SF/syberpunk pioneer Bruce Sterling is bearish on blogging, giving the fad 10 years in a speech at SXSW:

“There are 55 million blogs and some of them have got to be good,” Sterling said, during a speech here at the SXSW conference in reference to the slogan on blog search site technorati.com. “Well, no, actually. They don’t.”

“I don’t think there will be that many of them around in 10 years. I think they are a passing thing.”

The great blog nation seemed unthreatened by Sterling’s comments, as they giggled away at his tone and language. Such satisfaction struck us odd given that most of the SXSW panels touched on blogging in one way or another and around 80 per cent of the attendees claimed to run a blog.

They are asking too many questions!:

“Cap” may be dead.

Captain America, the star-spangled superhero of the Marvel Comics universe, suffered multiple gunshot wounds on the steps of New York City’s federal courthouse last week and is in critical condition, if not dead. There were at least two shooters, and police took one in custody but believe the close-range shooter is still at large.

“Captain America” issue No. 25 had the story of this assassination, which stirs up comic-book memories of 1993, when Superman (DC Comics Universe) died.

And although the comic, as well as online issues of Marvel’s own “Daily Bugle” newspaper, imply he is dead, that may not be the case.

Mimi Cruz, general manager of Salt Lake’s Night Flight Comics, said there is some doubt as to his death. She said the “Civil War Initiative” comic, which also came out March 7, states that Captain America is in “critical condition.”

“I don’t think he’s dead,” Cruz said. “Or, Marvel won’t allow him to stay dead.”