Sophie Tedmanson in Sydney
When Australian comic book store owner Michael Baulderstone dressed up as Spider-Man for a promotional event in his shop last weekend, he never imagined by the end of the day he would become a real-life crime-fighting superhero.
But luckily, Mr Baulderstone’s “Spider-sense” was tingling and he was able to thwart a robbery attempt at his shop in the South Australian capital of Adelaide, with the aid of The Flash and some trusted Jedi Knights wielding light sabres.
The comical crime caper began on Saturday morning in the Adelaide Comics Centre, tucked away in a mall in the heart of the city, which was full of fans dressed as their favourite superhero characters who had descended on the store for international ‘free comic book day’, aimed at encouraging children to read.
Mingling among the customers in fancy dress — including a Wolverine, a Catwoman and someone dressed as Kick-Ass, the character from the recent British film about a hapless American teenager who creates his own superhero character to fight crime — Mr Baulderstone noticed someone acting suspiciously.
The customer, who was dressed as himself — a comic fan in an overcoat and jeans – allegedly picked up an X-Man Omnibus (worth $AU160, or £97) from the shop window display.
“My Spider-sense was tingling,“ Mr Baulderstone, 45, told The Timesas he fielded congratulatory calls for his superhero behaviour. “I didn’t want to scare him off so I followed him around the store and eventually said: ‘Are you right there mate?'”
With no police – or Batman – on hand to help, Mr Baulderstone decided to take matters into his own red and blue lycra-clad hands.
“I’m 169cm tall and only 57kg, so I’m a tiny bloke, but I just grabbed his bag and looked in it and there was the book,” he said.
“I had 50 people in the store so I just shouted for someone to guard the front door and it just happened that the Jedi Knights were there and they had their lightsabres out so they held the door until the police arrived.
“My colleague, who was dressed as The Flash, kept running the shop and stayed calm, it really was a team effort”.
CCTV footage captured the whole scene on tape, which shows Spider-Man calmly confronting the unmasked offender and confiscating his backpack.
Mr Baulderstone, a life-long comic fan who has owned the shop with his colleague Peter Spandrio for the past three years, said they often have people trying to steal valuable comics and collectors' items.
However he said that never before has one been stopped by a real-life superhero: “When the police came in they managed to keep a straight face and just hauled him away”.
Times Online
