Money Troubles May Sink Comic Book Ink

Landmark Lakewood business Comic Book Ink will shut its door if it can’t find a way to sop up $17,000 in red ink by Aug. 22 says John Munn, owner of the store for nine years.

Last month, Munn took the unusual step of publishing an open letter on the Internet through Facebook in hope that friends, associates and comic-book aficionados will come to the rescue.

Munn, who also serves as interim artistic director for the , says he is on the brink of losing the thing he loves most besides his family.

There are reasons Munn believes his business should remain open, one being that Comic Book Ink recently was nominated for the prestigious Will Eisner Retailing Award for the seventh consecutive year. It's the industry's equivalent to the Oscar's.

“If we win this year, we can be the Martin Scorsese of the Eisner’s,” he said. “If we lose, we can be the Susan Lucci of the Eisner’s.”

To help close the gap between income and outlay, the store hosted a special event called “Be A Hero For Comic Book Ink” on June 25.  It featured artists doing sketches for donations to the “Claw Fund for Comic Book Ink.”

Seth Williams, a comic-book fan from Wenatchee, drives by the store often and finally stopped in for the first time this past month, noticing it situated next to the Lakewood Regal Cinema Plaza.

A comic book fan since childhood, Williams said Munn’s place “is really what you want from a comic book store.”

“You’ve got your Dungeons and Dragons set-up for board games, a vending machine, a wide variety of comics and the monthlies,” he said.

At the same time, Williams said the store faces an uphill battle because the medium is rapidly going electronic via the Internet.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a dying industry, but it’s changing,” he said.  “A lot of little guys are coming up and making their own stuff.”

Colin O’Kelley, a 26-year-old math tutor, has been coming to Comic Book Ink since the day it opened.

“John described the subscriber system to me and I’ve been reading more comics than I can probably afford to ever since,” he said.  “On a monthly basis I spend between $50 and $100 for, maybe, two or three trade paperbacks and 20-plus comic books.”

Munn’s goal when he established Comic Book Ink Oct. 22, 2002, was to offer the best customer service, subscription programs and new-and-old comic book and movie merchandise. His Internet plea was one of the most difficult messages he has ever written.

“Through no one's fault but an economy that is being slow to recover, we are on the verge of closing our doors as soon as this August,” he said.

Part of the debt stems from the store’s move from East 72nd & Portland to its current home.

“We had a debt around $115,000. We were honestly behind in some of our bills by six months, including a back debt to Diamond Comic distributors,” he said. “The new location has been doing very well (and) we’ve been eating into that debt pretty quickly."

But an ongoing battle with his previous landlord, along with his major supplier calling in short-term notes due to financial collapse of the Borders bookstore chain and the relocation have all added to Comic Book Ink’s woes.

In addition, Munn has gone through some personal trials lately, financially and emotionally. His father’s health and losing his long-time friend, , have taken a toll. Walker had been the before his death to cancer.

More recently, Munn’s wife, Sarah, went from full-time work as a bookkeeper to 20 hours a week, which barely covers gasoline and medical insurance for the family. She left her job to find more hours elsewhere, but has not landed anything yet.

“I have juggled as far as I can juggle,” Munn said. “I have kept a constant vigil on our shop, but currently it is resting on a house of cards …. that could go at any minute.  We are at a debt of two months behind in bills.”

Munn said he has been using his playhouse earnings to underwrite the store and keep Comic Book Ink alive.

“This only works for three reasons—the staff here, the staff there and my family,” he said.  “I’m just trying to do the best I can do.”

Munn said he has managed in the past few months to reduce his $30,000 debt to about $17,000.  But there is no relief in sight for the balance, he added.

What he is not willing to do, he said, is layoff his four employees and replace them with his unemployed wife or his eldest son’s wife, who also is out of work. His staff has been with him between one and seven years, he said, and is “the life blood of this shop.”

“We will all finish together,” he said.

Nor is Munn willing to cut his losses and declare bankruptcy:

“That's simply is not an option to me, he said. "It hasn't been since day one and it won't happen now. "I have sacrificed too much, including my house … to keep this store alive.”

What he’s hoping is that his customers will come to the rescue by picking up orders that have been laying around, by purchasing gift certificates but not using them for a while, by offering the store short-term loans and even buying a share of it for one or two years.

Munn has given Comic Book Ink until Aug. 22 to get back in the black or the store closes, he said. He chose that date because it was the date he applied for the first business license.

“If I cannot make it, I will consider myself a failure and begin the process of dismantling the shop,” he said. “I will see to it that all of my Angels are repaid, stock is repaid, give my staff severance of three months and close the store.”

Munn said he hopes things don’t come to that, however.

“All I ever wanted to do,” he added, “was have a place where people could come and escape for a while."