Comicbook fans in Sydney were Blue-Beetle stunned with shock and befuddlement to this week's shipment of comics.
Amazing Spider-Man, Savage Dragon and Radioactive Man were among a slew of titles to be hit by the negligence of Qantas ground crew. Pallets were left to sit on the tarmac during heavy rain which led to the comicbook shipments ending up soaking wet and heavily water damaged.
Every comicbook store in Sydney was hit as the weekly shipments are all flown over from the United States on the same day on the same plane.
Reactions to the massacre have been met with pallid looks and empty gestures. While most of the comics suffered exaggerated warping others weren't so lucky. A copy of Justice League Adventures #21 was soaked so bad that the pages start to prepulp themselves and beyond salvage.
The water damaged comicbooks look set to be pulped as a new shipment is re-ordered and is expected to arrive in two weeks. Customers of a certain kingdom of comics will be nonethewiser, management will probably cite 'an extreme level of instore humidity.'
Written on Friday, 4 July 2003