At the time, comic book distributors would only allow unsold books to be returned if they were six months late.

Last year, the book fair earned $55,000, including about $1,200 from a dealer who purchased the unsold books wholesale.

"She said she didn't want to have boxes of unsold books sitting around."

That's because the return rate, the number of unsold books that retailers send back to the publisher, is lower for online sales.

When police found them, Bismil absconded with the books unsold.

Retailers can return all unsold books to publishers for a full refund.

Returns of unsold books last made headlines in 1996.

Retailers and distributors could return any unsold comic books to the publisher.

In turn, that could help reduce the number of unsold books returned from stores.

But in fact, stores can always return unsold books to publishers.