Michigan Comic Shop Owner Shot in Robbery
Until not too long ago, I worked for a newspaper as a police reporter, filing stories about homicides and then covering comic books in my free time. Thankfully, the worlds of real violence and superhero battles never intersected.
For the owner of Apparitions Comics and Books in Kentwood, MIch., violence became all too real Friday night, when police say a man went into the store, demanded money from David Pirkola, 56, then shot Pirkola and fled. The Grand Rapids Press has the full story.
First, best wishes to Pirkola for a speedy recovery. He’s listed in critical but stable condition.
One heartening aspect of this terrible news is the response from the comic book community, including owners of competing shops:
[Stephen] Jahner, who owns Capital City Collectibles in Lansing, said Pirkola enjoys role-playing games and is well known in comic circles for his devotion to the store.
He said he was informed of the shooting from another Apparitions employee, and together they will try to keep the shop open until Pirkola recovers.
Other Grand Rapids comic store owners said they were shocked to hear about the shooting.
"Comic-book store owners tend to have an affinity for each other," said Kirby Tardy, owner of Tardy’s Collector’s Corner, 2009 Eastern Ave. SE.
"It’s a tough business, and it takes a lot of love to keep it going."
The shops around here don't "compete" with each other, and I mean that in a good way. I remember back in the bad old says of speculation-induced shortages that they'd call around to each other to help a regular reader find a book that they'd run out of because it was "hot". None of them want Apparitions to close, and of course they want Dave Pirkola to recover.
Thanks for posting, Todd. That was exactly what I meant – here are shops that would seem to be competitors, but the owners are all very close and pulling together. That's one of the things you have to love about comics, the sense of community.
Dave is a sweetheart of a guy. This is a horrible thing to happen. It's nice that comic shop owners are so gracious, but what about the giant distributor that all of those in the industry have to deal with. I am curious to see if they will help in keeping this comic shop in business during this tragedy. Needless to say, I have my doubts. Maybe I'm wrong and they will be a gem!