Santa Monica Hi De Ho Comics Store Devastated By Looters

Santa Monica Hi De Ho Comics

Geoffrey’s Hi De Ho Comics was raided by looters in Santa Monica on Sunday, losing over $40,000 in stolen products.

On May 31 Hi De Ho Comics in Santa Monica was hit by looters who used the Black Lives Matter peaceful protest as an opportunity to steal a devastating amount of stock from the store. Now the shop owners have set up a GoFundMe to help replenish their resources so they can continue to do business in the future. The fundraiser has been generously supported in just a few days by comic book fans and creators alike.

In a statement on the crowdfunding site, co-owner Kristen Parraz explained Hi De Ho Comics had already been affected by the coronavirus shutdown, but this break-in has crippled the Santa Monica store. She explained the looters stole a number of extremely valuable products, including comics from across the Golden, Silver and Bronze ages. Read a portion of the statement below.

Like many small businesses, the Covid-19 shutdown has impacted us tremendously. Closing our doors at the height of tourist season resulted in the biggest financial hit in our 40+ year history.To make matters worse, our store was broken into on May 31st by thieves using the peaceful protest of the day as cover. Our door was literally drilled into until the lock fell off.Once inside, cases of the Magic: The Gathering product Ikoria (with special Godzilla cards!) were stolen, wiping out what should have lasted us for months in a matter of minutes.Toys and statues were taken throughout the store, our custom glass cases were flipped over and/or had their glass broken out.

Fixtures were tossed around and product strewn across the floor. Both of our cash registers were smashed and the computer we rely on to run our POS system was damaged, making it difficult to get in contact with our customers.When the looters got to the back room they found multiple boxes of valuable Golden, Silver, and Bronze age comic books. Everything from 70s Spider-Man to 60s X-Men to 50s Superman. Even the World War II era superhero Bulletman and his dog, Bulletdog! (Yes, that was really the dog’s name) Those boxes are gone. Along with the Magic cards, and the toys, and the doorknob, and the statues. But we aren’t gone. Our employees were safely at home – they are ok.  We are ok.

Read the full message from the Hi De Ho Comics team and donate at GoFundMe.

As of now, Hi De Ho Comics crowdfunding effort has raised $28, 765 of its $43,000 goal. A number of other comic stores and notable figures in the comic book industry have supported the fundraiser including Golden Apple Comics, Mark Waid, Greg Pak,  Donny Cates, Megan Hutchison, Rick Remender, Christos Gage, Bryan Edward Hill, Chris Ryall and J. Scott Campbell.

You can also check out our most recent video and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content in the future.

Source: GoFundMe

Eammon Jacobs

Eammon Jacobs

British dork who can be found online raving about how good Tron: Legacy is.