§ Okay, this one is so kooky it’s sure to be a staple of TRU for years to come: A copy of DETECTIVE #27 worth as much as $1 million may be sold off to pay for the defense of the woman accused of killing its owner.

Got that? The crime in question is the 2009 torture and murder of hotelier Ben Novack Jr., who happened to be a big Batman collector. His collection, including DETECTIVE #27, is about to be auctioned off.

But the plot thickens:

…in a perverse plot twist worthy of the Joker, the proceeds could go toward defending his 53-year-old widow, Narcy, against charges that she had Novack and his mother murdered, plundered his bank accounts, then tried to pin the crimes on her own daughter.

Only one thing now stands in the way of the auction: Narcy’s daughter, May Abad. On June 22, she persuaded a Broward County judge to hold off on the auction and give her at least 14 days to find suitable storage and insurance for the massive collection, stuffed floor to ceiling in rooms of his Fort Lauderdale house.

Abad often attended comics shows with her father, and has a sentimental attachment for the collection.

§ If that crime is a bit too venal, here’s a simpler one: a 13-year-old Belgian lad and his mom were nabbed when they attempted to make off with more than $800 in Smurf toys from a Ghent supermarket. The kid stuffed the Smurfs into his clothes while mom watched, but a surveillance camera caught the deed and the two were apprehanded.

Peyo’s little blue guys are still popular in the Francophile world — evidently these robbers did not get the memo that the upcoming Smurfs film signifies end times.