The owner of a comic book store that has served Tacoma and Lakewood for nearly a decade has gone online in a desperate plea to customers to help keep his doors open and his staff employed. In a candid letter that opened the books on his business and was posted to Comic Book Ink’s Web site, owner John Munn explained that relocation costs, an economic downturn, and personal issues have forced him to give himself until August 11 to repay $30,000 in debt or close for good. “I knew before I wrote this that this would be the most difficult message I would ever have to write, and I have been putting off writing it for some time,” wrote Munn, who added that at one point his shop’s debt reached $115,000. “I have always said that I would be truthful about how the shop is doing, and here is an honest truth. Through no one’s fault but an economy that is being slow to recover, we are on the verge of closing our doors by as soon as this August — if not possibly sooner.” The shop has been a South Sound favorite of local artists, illustrators, and cartoonists, as well as comic book collectors. It was named the best comic book store by viewers of King 5’s “Evening Magazine” in 2010. Here is the letter Munn wrote to Comic Book Ink customers and posted online — http://myemail.constantcontact.com/COMIC-BOOK-INK-in-DANGER-in-CLOSING–Please-Help-.html?soid=1102927891802&aid=MOLbQ6SyeCw . For more information, visit http://www.comicbookink.com/ .

— Originally published in Tacoma Daily Index’s print edition on Tues., May 31, 2011