An Australian comic book store owner said he was dressed as Spider-Man for a promotion when he stopped a thief with the help of two Jedi knights.

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Michael Baulderstone, 45, owner of the Adelaide Comics Center, said he was dressed as Marvel comics character Spider-Man for Saturday's international "free comic book day," which promotes literacy, when a customer without a costume grabbed a $150 book, the "X-Men Omnibus," from a window display, The Times of London reported Monday.

"My Spider-sense was tingling," Baulderstone said. "I didn't want to scare him off so I followed him around the store and eventually said: 'Are you right there mate?'"

"I'm a tiny bloke, but I just grabbed his bag and looked in it and there was the book," he said. "I had 50 people in the store so I just shouted for someone to guard the front door and it just happened that the Jedi Knights were there and they had their light sabers out so they held the door until the police arrived. My colleague, who was dressed as The Flash, kept running the shop and stayed calm; it really was a team effort."

"When the police came in they managed to keep a straight face and just hauled him away," Baulderstone said.