PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The story of a Philadelphia man whose collection of classic comic books was stolen without a trace has come to a happy ending.
Late last November, a thief broke into freelance writer Chris Cummins’ storage locker in Northeast Philadelphia.
“A ton of stuff was stolen from it — most notably, my 40-year-plus Archie comics collection, which was thousands of issues,” Cummins said, “roughly worth about six thousand dollars.”
But he was robbed of something far more valuable. Cummins had been collecting Archie comics since 1982, and they were a connection to his dad, who had died only shortly before the theft.
“This collection was kind of fostered a bit with my father, over the years, when we would go and shop at flea markets and things,” he said.
After his story ran on KYW Newsradio, Cummins says he experienced a Christmas miracle of sorts.
“While my faith in humanity was kinda dwindling by the actual theft, the response to it from the actual public at large and websites was really great,” Cummins said.
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“The outpouring of support from strangers from across the country was just wild. I had people contacting me who were like, ‘Hey, I have my mother’s Archie comics collection. I no longer have any use for this. She passed. I was going to try and sell it, but I’d rather give it to someone who appreciated it.’”
Cummins continued to work on rebuilding his collection. Then, this fall, he got a call that would change his life. It was from the publisher of Archie comics. They offered him a job as their director of social media.
“I would always say the only way I’m going back to full time work is if I somehow get a job with Archie,” he said.
Cummins immediately accepted the offer.
“I was a little concerned that, you know — if you love something, don’t find out how the sausage is made. But getting this job with Archie has just, if anything, enhanced my love for these characters even more,” he said.
“I’m still not entirely sure that I haven’t died and this just isn’t my version of heaven.”
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