Police hot on trail of thieves who snatched Deadpool comic from Edmonton shop

If the shop owner had listened to his "spider sense," a valuable comic book wouldn't have walked out the door.

On Sunday afternoon, two customers who showed up at The Comic Shop on 111th Avenue said they wanted to sell some comics.

"They didn't act like they were quite aware of what they had," said owner Patrick Boudreau. "So I spent a considerable amount of time actually educating them on what they had. One fellow in particular pretty much had my attention the whole time, and the other fellow proceeded to explore while I was busy."

'It was a one-of-a-kind book'

7 years ago

Duration 2:00

The Comic Shop owner Patrick Boudreau describes how two thieves worked together to steal a valuable Deadpool comic.

The theft wasn't discovered until Wednesday, when Boudreau noticed something was missing and checked the security video.

"You can see it on the video that I posted on Facebook," said Boudreau. "He just kind of skulked away real quiet and had the book down low, so nobody could see he had it in his hand. And you can clearly see him stuff it up his shirt. And then he walked out."

The book, which Boudreau had only recently acquired, was special.

"It was a one-of-a-kind book that had original artwork done on it by a famous artist, Reilly Brown, and it was a book that was valued at $400," said Boudreau. "It's quite a hot character. It's from the movie Deadpool, and it featured the character predominantly on the cover."

Boudreau was left feeling like one of the crime victims from the comic books he loves.

"I felt violated," he said. "I trust people on a general level. And my instinct was tingling a little bit, my spider sense was tingling, and I didn't really listen to it. I was more interested in helping the gentleman out, and there was a bit of shame in there. It wasn't a good moment when I saw that."

With no super heroes stepping up to help, Boudreau took action and posted the details with photos and videos on Facebook.

"It went viral. Normally my posts hit 200, 300 people every time," said Boudreau. "Last count, I think we were just about to hit 40,000 people, and it has been shared 750 odd times. It's just been incredible."

Boudreau also got in contact with others in the business to let them know of the theft, in case the suspects try to sell the book. They were quick to offer support and share the post, a sort of justice league of comic book store owners and employees.

A clue in Red Deer

"When I discovered the loss, I started contacting all the local shops here," he said. "They were all very receptive, they were all very understanding and sympathetic."

One owner told him to call two shops in Red Deer.

"One of them, Amazing Fantasy I believe it was, informed me that the gentleman had showed up on Monday, the day after, to sell him the book," Boudreau said.

The Red Deer shop didn't buy the book. But that gave Boudreau a clue about the whereabouts of the thieves. He also got messages from two people saying they knew the identity of the thief. That information has now been passed on, and Edmonton police are now investigating.

Boudreau said he is optimistic he'll get the book back.

"I'm very grateful for the response this has generated," he said. "I'm humbled by what's happened, since and it kind of restored my faith in humanity."

Still, he has learned a lesson. Boudreau plans to increase security and move the more valuable items out of reach.