2018.01.04 Some Confusing Background Information Concerning Ken "Whit" Whitman's Comic/Game Store

Word on the streets has it that there has been a LOT of drama with a particular Facebook Group: Game Store Retailer.

This is a closed group and since none of our writers/editors own a game store, we're not about to make something up to get an inside man.....just not our style.

Now this is OBVIOUSLY just rumor that we've heard and while we will repeat it, it is only so we can shed some light on our end of things. We might luck out and get a member of that Facebook group to give us the inside scoop. You can also read the pertinent Tenkar's Tavern post to catch up, but our takeaway rumor comes down to a single question: Does Ken Whitman own or manage a comic/game store previously owned by Marcus King?

This should be a simple yes/no question. It appears, at least by the intel that Tenkar's Tavern has posted, that the real problem is our question itself because there seems to be some inconsistency.

Is Ken "Whit" Whitman an owner or manager of Little Monsters Games & Comics, or does he just manage it?

Let's look at the facts that we can uncover from a third party:

• Little Monsters Games & Comics, LLC filed Articles of Organization with the Commonwealth of Kentucky's Secretary of State on July 20, 2017, and is listed as organization number 0991519. Ken Whitman is clearly listed as the only officer of the company, which is managed by "Managers". This makes sense since the grand opening, according to the Little Monsters Games & Comics Facebook page has the "Grand Opening" listed as July 23, 2017.
• The Kentucky Secretary of State only lists two legal entities with a name containing "Little Monster". The second one, Little Monster Comics, LLC was administratively dissolved on October 9, 2017 when the company failed to file the required annual report.
• The only officer listed on the Articles of Organization for Little Monster Comics, LLC is one James Arthur Sears. This was organization 0736766.
• Marcus King is listed as a "Member" of Many Gifts, Games & Comics, LLC and is listed as an "Inactive" company with a "bad" status as organization 0854151. On May 23, 2017 his status was changed to "Registered Agent", but the name of the authorized agent (Webbed Sphere, Inc.) who signed that paperwork was Marcus King, and he dated the paperwork as June 11, 2016. Webbed Sphere, Inc was the Organizer and the other Member was one Johnathan Huston.

• Many Gifts, Games & Comics, LLC was also administratively dissolved on October 9th, 2017.
• Johnathan Huston is listed as the Director & President of Webbed Sphere, Inc (organization number 0583884). Webbed Sphere, Inc has had several assumed business names in the past: Troll and Toad, Toy Vault Toy Club, The Arcade Lair, and most recently Corbin Toys and Games.
• Webbed Sphere, Inc was also the Registered Agent for two other "Inactive" and "bad" status LLCs: Games & Comics, LLC (organization 0854151), which was administratively dissolved on October 9, 2017; Game Festival, LLC (organization 0867995), which was administratively dissolved on October 1st, 2016.
• Webbed Sphere, Inc. is also the Registered Agent for one active company, Six Hogs, LLC (organization 0849063)
• Johnathan Huston is the President of another company, Troll & Toad II, Inc, which is a Kentucky Corporation (organization 0971360)

Just meandering through these listings can be a bit confusing, and it doesn't even tell us that Marcus King actually owned a game store, much less sold one to Ken "Whit" Whitman. There is the odd paperwork for Many Gifts, Games & Comics, LLC, which should probably have been signed by Johnathan Huston since he has always been listed as the Registered Agent for Webbed Sphere, Inc.

These filings don't specifically tell us that Ken "Whit" Whitman owns Little Monsters Games & Comics, LLC, but as he is the only listed Registered Agent, there is a 99% likelihood he owns the thing. Nobody in their right mind makes a "Manager" the Organizer and only Registered Agent.

These filings also don't specifically tell us that Marcus King owned a store to sell to Ken "Whit" Whitman. He might have been a partner of Webbed Sphere, Inc., and that he was allowed to make himself the Registered Agent for Many Gifts, Games & Comics, LLC lends some credence to that theory. The fact that Little Monster Comics, LLC was administratively dissolved on the same date as Many Gifts, Games & Comics, LLC is interesting. Of course these are just legal entities, not necessarily the stores as customers would know them.

It looks, and this is just pure conjecture here (i.e. don't take our word for it) that if Marcus King actually owns some businesses as he purports to that he is running them from behind the scenes and using others as the public face(s) of said companies. That doesn't really help us get to a clear answer to the original question of Does Ken Whitman own or manage a comic/game store previously owned by Marcus King? The short answer is....maybe?

It looks like Ken "Whit" Whitman maybe owns Little Monsters Games & Comics, LLC and if that LLC is running a store with resources obtained from Little Monster Comics, LLC and/or Many Gifts, Games & Comics, LLC, then Marcus King's ownership of those two now defunct entities is tenuous at best.

It is apparent that there are not only inconsistencies in the story, already reported on at Tenkar's Tavern, and the legal paperwork does nothing to straighten things out. We will not conjecture further as to why there are all these inconsistencies.

We will, however, gladly report that we have a legal address for Ken "Whit" Whitman, for those who need said address:

Ken Whitman
C/O Little Monsters Games & Comics, LLC
4440 S Highway 27
Somerset KY 42501