BIFF! POW! WOW! >>>

Word has been floating amid the circle of regulars for the past week, but today it is official: Comic Book Ink will no longer be Tacoma's largest comic retailer.

Proprietor John Munn this morning signed a fresh lease on a new storefront in the Lakewood Cinema Plaza (2510 84th St. S.), home of the 15 screen Regal movie theater, on Aug. 1, placing the shop just outside Tacoma's city limits for the first time in its eight-year history.

The new space will provide "500 more square feet of space, more interior space and more parking," according to Munn, for what is reportedly significantly less cost than their current location at 72nd Street's Johnsborough Station. The shop originally opened in the Proctor District in 2002, but was forced by construction to move to East Tacoma in 2005.

Comic Book Ink has also had a longstanding partnership with their new neighbor, manning a booth with giveaways at midnight premieres of comic-inspired films such as this Spring's Iron Man 2. Whether this will evolve into late-night openings and promotions for the shop itself remains to be seen.