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It's always a bummer when rare comics are stolen from anywhere, but there is something deeply tragic about stealing thousands of vintage books from a university library. 

It was first reported in 2021 that 4,996 items went missing between mid-March 2020 to February 10, 2021 from the Robert M. Ervin Jr. Collection at Florida State University. Among the stolen books were issues of Captain America, The Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Justice League of America, Silver Surfer, Journey into Mystery, Strange Tales, The Incredible Hulk, Teen Titans, The Flash, and more - including The Incredible Hulk #180 and #181, the first cameo and full appearance of Wolverine, respectively. Together, the collection was estimated to be valued at over $100,000. 

In 2022, local police charged the head of security at FSU's Strozier Library, a man named Todd Peak, with grand theft. As it turns out, the local comic book community near FSU played an important role in identifying Peak as a suspect. Before the collection was reported missing in local news, Peak went into a comic book shop with part of the collection in tow and mentioned that he worked at FSU. A county attorney and comic book collector, Adam Morrison, noticed that Peak had a huge haul of Silver Age comics with him and "thought it was a bit odd at the time."

Once the news broke of the collection's theft, Morrison searched up Peak's name online, where he found out that he was the head of security at FSU's Strozier Library. Morrison's tip was instrumental in "uncovering an alleged lengthy sales history between Peak and the owner of [the local shop], who talked with investigators and gave several boxes back for review - in one comic, the discovery of a signature, matching the name of the collector's donor, Robert Ervine, [was made]." Peak was one of only four people at Strozier Library who had a key to the Special Collections area where the comics were stored. 

Now, Todd Peak has been sentenced to prison for 18 months with 10 years on probation. He is also ordered to pay $50,000 to FSU and $13,850 to a man who was "identified in court documents as paying that amount to Peak for the stolen comics." 

It's unclear how many books from the original collection are still missing today. 

Get ready for what's next with our list to upcoming comics and how to buy comics at a comic shop, and our guide to all the free comics you can get with this year's Free Comic Book Day 2026 and Comics Giveaway Day 2026.