Flying Colors Plans Big Party for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!

(Official News Release)

CONCORD, CA – On May 3rd, Free Comic Book Day will bring millions of new comic books to the hands of readers of all ages at participating stores in the United States and more than 30 other countries. And, as the name implies, the comics are FREE!

Joe Field, owner of Flying Colors Comics in Concord, California, and the founder of Free Comic Book Day will be celebrating May 3 in grand fashion. This year marks the 20th anniversary of his retail store, which has become known as one of the premier comic book specialty stores in the world.

To celebrate, Field is releasing "Flying Colors 20th Anniversary Special Edition" – a limited-edition comic book filled with new comics by Northern California artists and writers, and more. Published and edited by Field, the publication features art by Concord native Ken Hooper, and J.B. Bonivert of Oakley, Chris Mendoza of Vallejo, and Adrian Rivero of Alamo, and a back cover image of Mt. Diablo by Walnut Creek native Daniel Brereton. The pieces are written by J.B. Bonivert, Joe Field, and Humanitas Prize winner Cliff MacGillivray of Danville.

The first 500 attendees at Flying Colors Comics in Concord on Free Comic Book Day will receive the Flying Colors 20th Anniversary Special Edition for FREE (cover price is $2.99). Artists Bonivert, Mendoza and Rivero will be signing copies of "Flying Colors 20th Anniversary Special Edition" from 11am-3pm on Saturday May 3 during the Free Comic Book Day event.

"Because Free Comic Book Day celebrates the tremendously diverse medium of comic books, the best way to mark the event and celebrate our anniversary is to present this new comic book by local and very talented artists and writers," said Joe Field.

ABOUT FLYING COLORS 20TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL EDITION
The Flying Colors 20th Anniversary Special includes the following original stories:

"Captain Four Color Saves New Comics Day!" by cartoonist J.B. Bonivert (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Graphic Classics). Something strange has hijacked Flying Colors' new comic shipment! And what mystery does the majestic Mount Diablo hide?

"Reg'lar Joe" written by Joe Field and illustrated by Chris Mendoza and Adrian Rivero. It's 1925 and a boy dreams of playing for his favorite baseball team, the Kansas City Blues. This is the baseball origin story of major league pitcher Joe Bowman, partially adapted from Jack Etkin's 1987 book "Innings Ago."

"Toshiro Hundred Horses" written by Cliff MacGillivray and illustrated by Ken Hooper (Star Trek, Indiana Jones). On the Nebraska plains in the 1850s, the locals are terrorized by a creature the likes of which has never been seen before. Who---or what--is Toshiro Hundred Horses?

In addition, Flying Colors 20th Anniversary Special includes rare and previously unseen sketch art from comic industry stars Jim Lee, Daniel Brereton, Grant Morrison, Terry Austin, Jeff Johnson and Ken Hooper. Plus news, notes, photos and nostalgia with a look back on the 20 year history of Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff.


ABOUT FREE COMIC BOOK DAY
On May 3rd, simply walk into one of the 2,000 participating stores, including Flying Colors, to pick up your free comic book – it’s that easy. More than 40 publishers are participating by releasing special edition comic books for Free Comic Book Day. For more information, and the location of a store near you, visit FreeComicBookDay.com.

Joe Field brainstormed the concept of Free Comic Book Day in 2001. With the release and the attendant publicity of the first Spider-Man movie in May 2002, the first Free Comic Book Day put the spotlight on Hollywood’s favorite source medium---comics! Designed to reach new readers, call back former fans and thank current fans, the kickoff event marked another industry first - the first time comic book retailers, publishers, and Diamond Comic Distributors (the industry’s largest distributor), came together to promote comics to a wider audience. Their efforts were helped by comics’ broad appeal, and the day has grown each year.

"Free Comic Book Day is quickly becoming something like a holiday for an original American art-form," Joe Field said. "Comics can entertain, inspire and teach, and comics are the genesis of all visual entertainment, while also a great medium for telling smaller, more intimate stories. This truly is a Golden Age for comic books and graphic novels."

ABOUT FLYING COLORS COMICS
With something for everyone, and a newly remodeled interior that’s attractive and accessible, Flying Colors Comics is recognized as one of the world’s great comic book stores. Since opening the store in 1988, Joe Field has been an industry analyst and columnist, is an honored recipient of the "Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retail Award," and serves as president of ComicsPRO, the Comics Professional Retail Organization, an industry trade and advocacy group.

Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff is at 2980 Treat Blvd. (at Oak Grove Rd.) in Concord, (925) 825-5410

Free Comic Book Day is on the way!

Saturday May 3 is the 7th Annual Free Comic Book Day.

Two thousand comic book stores in 30 countries will be participating...and of course, Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff will be doing things in a big way!

Here's the national TV spot for FCBD:

Stay tuned for more details about special happenings here at Flying Colors!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Happy 8th, Mike Fantastic!

Saturday March 15, 2008 marks the 8th anniversary of Michael Eriksson's tenure on staff here at Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff.

And like most Saturdays, Mike will be in the store all day, talking comics and pop culture with anyone who'll listen. He'll also be preparing our weekly reorder list, so if there's something comics-related and special you'd like us to get back in stock next week, be sure to visit the store and give Mike Fantastic your special request.

And thanks for 8 solid years, Michael!

Peace 'n' Comics!

FlyCoJoe

View these, Wisely!

Been pretty crazy around here over the last six weeks. That's one lousy excuse why there haven't been any updates to this blog.


So here, at long last, are some shots from our in-store "House" concert, featuring Cindy Field and WISELY!

These shots were taken by long-time Flying Colors' Faithful and stalwart photographer Adam Kubokawa.


It was a fun event to kick off the New Look at Flying Colors.

If you haven't been by the store in the last month and a half, come on by soon to check out the new layout.

More news coming soon.

But for now, be sure to save the date, SATURDAY MAY 3rd is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

WISELY: Live Friday Night @ FLYING COLORS!

Huge reminder: Friday February 8 is our in-store concert featuring WISELY!

Who is this WISELY guy? And why are we making such a big deal about this event? Please check out his new album streaming at the Evocative Pop web-site. In addition to good music, we just want to do something new and different in our new store setting.

Over the years here at FLYING COLORS, I've introduced a lot of people to some cool music with the stuff we play on the store's sound system. WISELY's tunes have been played here for years. When we used to retail some great music from the premier power pop label, Not Lame Recordings, one of my favorite CDs was WISELY's "Parador". We sold several copies here simply on my recommendation. Anyway, WISELY's new self-titled CD is available through OGLIO Entertainment, which does get distribution into Best Buy and other chain music stores.

Friday night, we'll let WISELY's music speak for itself. And with my youngest daughter Cindy (and her band-mate Andrew) opening the show, plus the HOUSE WINE and snacks, it's looking like a good time.

In other news:
Sorry it's been almost two weeks since I've posted anything new here. Things have been crazy with the new lay-out for FLYING COLORS. The whole staff here has worked some very long hours to make the new look of the store something special.
We worked long hours on Sunday January 27 to unload the whole store so the contractors coming in the next day could do their thing. Then the crew was back for Tuesday night to re-load the store and get things ready for the new stuff on Wednesday.

Big thanks to the whole crew that helped. In the photo here, from left are: Jon, Marty, Dave, Mike, Andy, Kat and Cameron.

It's been only eight days since the new FLYING COLORS debut. We're still working our way out of some less essential boxes, tweaking displays and filling empty spaces. For those of you who've been asking, we'll be doing a fairly major re-stock of our back issue bins over the next few weeks.

Photos and more coming soon!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Flying Colors Will Be CLOSED Monday & Tuesday for Remodeling!

After several years of wondering if we'd ever get to this point, my long-delayed plans to remodel FLYING COLORS are finally happening.

To pull off this huge job, FLYING COLORS store will be CLOSED on Monday January 28 and Tuesday January 29. We're open regular hours until then---and again starting on Wednesday January 30 (Hey! That's New Releases' Day!)

That's Marty (Merry Marvel Movin' Man) Messner in the photo to the right. Notice some of the walls and racks are looking a little less full of cool stuff than usual. Rest assured, we still have TONS of cool stuff in stock and ready for sale in the store this weekend.


Come Monday, contractors will be here before the crack of dawn (apologies, Mr. Linsner) to begin the job. Sunday will be a moving day for us. We'll be open regular hours, and while we're here (and maybe long after we close for the night) we'll be moving our huge inventory of in-stock comics & other cool stuff into two pods that have landed in the parking lot outside FLYING COLORS.

To the right is a photo of one of the currently near-empty pods. When the contractors are done with their work (hopefully sometime late Tuesday), it'll be our turn to move everything back into place inside the store.

I've had a number of people ask why we're doing these changes---and it's my experience as a small business owner for nearly 20 years that if you aren't trying to make progress you're probably falling behind. When finished (and really, no vibrant and viable small business is ever 'finished'), we hope to have a new look that is even more organized and user-friendly than ever.

Hope to see you soon in FLYING COLORS!
Peace!

FlyCoJoe

A Word about WISELY!

Save the date: Friday, February 8th.
All systems are GO! We're getting ready to unveil an updated look for FLYING COLORS Comics & Other Cool Stuff.

To mark the event, we're throwing a party and concert featuring WISELY. His new self-tited CD has just been released from Ella Records on the OGLIO label. The new CD is streaming
HERE! Give it a listen!

Also, be sure to check out
WISELY's new video for his song "Through Any Window" featuring the lovely JENNA FISCHER (from NBC-TV's The OFFICE and The DEWEY COX STORY: Walk Hard!).

WISELY, besides being a world-class songwriter and performer, has appeared in the HBO series SIX FEET UNDER and was also in Mike Meyer's AUSTIN POWERS: GOLDMEMBER movie, among many other credits.

So you may ask what does WISELY's "evocative pop" have to do with a comic book store? Well, I love WISELY's music and want to pass that on so more people can enjoy it, too. Cool tunes are even better when shared, y'know?

This will be one of a number of events we're planning to tie in with our 20th Anniversary. I've also noticed there's a strong connection between comic book and graphic novel aficionados and fans of independent pop music. And it's a chance to hear some good music, enjoy a glass of wine courtesy of HOUSE WINE (we'll also have cheese & crackers and a few desserts).

I hope you can join us. Should be a lot of fun.

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Wednesday Means the Return of NEW RELEASES' DAY!

Don't get me wrong...I love the Holiday season, from Thanksgiving all the way through to the New Year.

But as a comic book specialty retailer and life-long comics' fan, I live for each week's rhythm that includes all the new Comics & Other Cool Stuff hitting the racks every Wednesday. The holiday schedule royally messed with that Wednesday coolness, but as of January 9, I'm happy to say we're back into the regular Wednesday groove. Woo-Hoo!

Be here for the cool stuff!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

BIG Things are Happening in Flying Colors

The New Year is taking off in huge ways at FLYING COLORS!

Over the next few weeks, our store will be under-going some transformation, as we are doing a partial remodel to make our displays a bit more vibrant and better organized. Hopefully, the remodeling will be done by February 1. The store will be closed on for two days (January 28 & 29) to get the job done, so stay tuned for all the details.

Once finished, we're doing something really special!

Friday Night February 8, 8PM-9:30PM
An after-hours in-store live concert debuting the new CD from Oglio Entertainment recording artist WISELY!
Wanna get a listen of this cool new pop CD? Click the pic and it'll stream right to you.

Check out the videos on WISELY's page to see a special guest appearance from JENNA ("The Office") FISCHER.

Opening the show for WISELY will be CINDY FIELD, marking her second in-store live show at FLYING COLORS.

The concert event is FREE and is co-sponsored by HOUSE Wine, from the Magnificent Wine Co.

Save the date--- Friday February 8th ---and plan to be here!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

New Comics & Calendar for New Year

Friday January 4 is the first NEW RELEASES' DAY of 2008!

The photo here shows Michael Eriksson (aka "Mike Fantastic")posing with the brand-new exclusive FLYING COLORS Comics 2008 Calendar/Poster.

Designed by the ultra-talented Jeff "JB" Bonivert, known to FlyCo Faithful for his cool and quirky comics posted HERE!.

The new calendars commemorate 20 Years of Comics & Other Cool Stuff at FLYING COLORS with lots of Silver Age weirdness and a guide to all of 2008's NEW RELEASES' DAYs.

The calendar/posters are 11" x 34" and are suitable for hanging in the Louvre Museum (I wonder if they like comics there?).

Best of all, the calendar/posters are yours FREE when you visit Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff.

See you soon!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe