It was bound to happen someday. X-O Manowar #1 features a bar code and space for an iPhone in order to deliver a very important message. It's also one easy way to establish an entire back story.

[boingboing]

Aaron Castro, 30, was convicted of running a 41-person meth ring, importing the drug from Phoenix, AZ to Colorado, and authorities say he was doing it to support his own habit: collecting comic books.

Castro's collection of 18,753 comics was recently auctioned off by the U.S. Marshals Service, raking in around $125,000.

The collection started out as a way to launder his meth money, and he was said to be considering starting his own comic book business. Authorities say he even hid meth inside some of the books.

But, according to Castro's associates, his hobby became "a kind of mania." Court papers say he "began to struggle with money because he would spend his drug money on comic books."

Best. Meth ring. Ever.

[latimes]