The burglars who broke into the Bellingham, WA, comic shop The Comics Place early in the morning of October 31 made off with thousands of dollars worth of game products and comics, including two CGC-graded comics, Fantastic Four #52 (CGC 3.5) and New Mutants #87 (CGC 9.6), and an issue of Fantastic Four #48 with the lower right area of the front cover missing.

“They seem to have been here before, they went straight for the cases and took the high value stuff,” co-owner Django Bohren told The Bellingham Herald. He also said there were no signs of forced entry.

Despite the burglary, the store went ahead with its planned comic and Pokemon card giveaways during the local Downtown Trick or Treat event. To support The Comics Place, local store Ritual Records is offering a 10% discount to customers who bring in a receipt from the comic shop this week.

Co-owner Django Bohren did find one amusing aspect to the theft: As he wrote on the store’s Facebook,

I’d left Devendra Barnhart’s Insect Eyes playing at max volume as a prank for the opening staff. So the robbers got to listen to that at a deafening level.

And so did the five or six police who responded. Guns drawn. Flashlights splashing over comics and IKEA shelving while the Hills Have Eyes 2 trailer song blasted over the sound system.

I’m sure it felt surreal and unnecessarily extra intense for everyone involved.

Here’s a list of the stolen comics, in addition to the two CGC-graded issues:

  • Amazing Spider-Man #30, #55
  • Astonishing #61
  • Avengers #58
  • Batman #255, #666
  • Batman: The Dark Knight #1, #2
  • Conan the Barbarian #7
  • Fantastic Four #27, #28, #35, #48
  • Frankenstein #1
  • Giant Size Super Stars #1
  • House of Mystery #213
  • Incredible Hulks #635
  • Jungle Action #5
  • Kanan the Last Padawan #1
  • Marvel Feature #1
  • Marvel Spectacular #1
  • Marvel Spotlight #7, #9, #10
  • Marvel Team-Up #9
  • Nintendo Comics System #9
  • Supergirl #1
  • Supernatural Thrillers #2
  • Tale of Ghost Castle #1
  • Thor #411
  • Tomb of Dracula #11
  • Tomb Raider: The Series #9
  • Werewolf by Night #2

And the games:

  • 1 Pokemon TCG: Sword and Shield Crown Zenith Collection Regieleki V/Regidrago V
  • 1 Pokemon My First Battle
  • 1 Digimon Alternative Being Booster Box
  • 26 MTG Adventures in Forgotten Realms Boosters
  • 16 Pokemon Silver Tempest Booster Pack
  • 2 MTG Wilds of Eldwain Set Booster
  • 2 MTG Commander Masters Booster
  • 3 MTG Phyrexia All Will Be Set Booster
  • 2 MTG Infinity Draft Booster
  • 1 Phyrexia All Will Be Collector Booster
  • 1 MTG March of the Machines Jumpstart Booster Pack
  • 2 YuGiOh Spell Ruler Booster Box
  • 7 YuGiOh Pharaohs Servert Booster Pack

Click Gallery below to see examples of The Comic Shop’s price stickers.