Grand Rapids, Mich. (WOOD) – It was quite a day for kids at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital on Friday when instead of doctors and nurses, they got a visit from Batman, Wonder Woman, Captain America and Batgirl.

Volunteers with the Michigan group League of Enchantment joined Don Myers on Friday, who along with his family, operates The Comic Signal on Plainfield Avenue.

Myers’ wife and children work with him at the store which serves as a refuge as he awaits a liver.

“I call it my happy place, it’s something I’ve done, I’ve collected since 1974,” Myers said.

His store is made up primarily of his collection but he also sells a vast selection of new comics, and in the space of a few years, it has become one of West Michigan’s premiere comic book stores.

To celebrate his store’s third anniversary, Myers had a drive where if customers bought a comic to donate to the hospitals, he would match their purchase.

As he brought some 350 comics to the hospitals, kids were all smiles as they got their four-color treasures.

“They get excited to see the books and see the superheroes and their faces just light up, and hopefully that lasts for some time,” Myers said.

The hospitals said they will put the comics in their libraries and they will also bring them to kids who can’t get to the library.

“Sometimes people forget that we have kids all the way up to the age of 20,” said DeVos Children’s Hospital spokesperson Amy Larson. “So comic books are really awesome because they are young adult and move up a little older in ages and give them just something different and unique to read and be able to learn from.”

Myers understands what it means to spend long stretches in the hospital and he says he hopes comics can bring the kids more than just what’s on the paper.

“Brings them that little sense of escapism, little bit of hope even, because superheroes are about hope,” Myers said.

Online:

Spectrum Health: Ways to give

Mary Free Bed: Ways to give