Book Recommendations

Recommendations for two recently published books.

The first, "Unopened Doors" by Gina DePaulo, is a memoir of her harrowing experience surviving a serial killer. Years ago, in doing research for her book, Gina contacted me to talk about my dearly departed sweet sister Maureen who died at the hands of a serial killer in November 1972.

As Gina was trying to piece together memories of the time in the late '60s when she was abducted and lived to tell the tale, she thought it might be possible that the person who killed Maureen was the same one she dealt with. While that didn't turn out to be the case, the information I was able to give Gina, and the insight I gave her into the beautiful person Maureen was do play a pivotal role in Gina's story. 

I really tip my cap to Gina for her raw honesty in telling her tale of family dysfunction, strength and finally survival. It's Gina's story of finding her way and getting to the truth of her life. "Unopened Doors" is a compelling read and one I'm proud to say in which I played a small role.


David Danforth's "Chameleon" is a fun superhero tale... a breezy read with characters that will feel comfortable to long-time comics fans and any reader just craving a page-turner. There's even an "FC" comic shop in the book, run by a dispenser of wisdom... and it's not me!

Libby and I were so very touched when David presented us a copy of his book... and lo and behold, he dedicated this tome to the both of us!

Now here's the sticky part: Anyone who knows me knows I don't post links to The Evil Empire... you know, the place named after a big river. But that's likely the place you'll be able to find these books...or maybe you can contact the authors directly on social media?

Hey, look! Flying Colors Canvas Book Bags!

NEW! Flying Colors canvas book bags emblazoned with the symbol of Captain Four Color, sworn protector of comic books and all those who love them! Available now, exclusively at Flying Colors Comics!

"This looks like a job for..."

Accepting Resumés for Potential Staff Openings 

Flying Colors is accepting resumés for potential staff openings to augment our current awesome Flying Colors Retailing Brigade.We’re looking for someone (or someones) with professional presentation, a drive to succeed, a knack for learning quickly, and some knowledge about comics to be shared with readers of all ages and interests. 

Full-time and part-time positions are potentially available. Our open hours are 11AM-7PM (11-8 every Wednesday) and it’s necessary to be available for full day work shifts.

Interested?
Deliver your resume in person to Flying Colors. Include a cover letter with your resumé detailing your unique skills, why you believe you can be an asset to Flying Colors and why you want to be considered for a position here. Include your hours of availability for each day either on the resume or in your cover letter. Please note: those interviewed will be required to take a short writing and math test.

Please note:
* If you have previously dropped off a resume, please do so again. 

* Emailed and mailed resumes will not be considered.  Bring your resumé to Flying Colors Comics during our regular open hours of 11am-7pm.

* Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff is recognized as one of the leading comic shops in the world. A special set of skills and personal presentation is necessary to win this staff position.

After a successful probationary training period, benefits can include medical insurance, staff discounts, inclusion in our Simplified Employee Pension (IRA) program… and maybe even a place in Comics History!   

31st Anniversary Specials!

Our 31st anniversary specials continue through Wed Oct 23.

Buy any graphic novel of $12.99 or more and get a FREE Baskin Robbins ice cream cone!

Try a “different flavor!” from cool publishers like Image, First Second Books, Dark Horse Comics, Fantagraphics Books, & more!
This offer does NOT include Marvel or DC.
Limit One per person.

* Save a few bucks by prepaying for Gene Luen Yang's Superman Smashes the Klan 3-issue series, now through 10/23/19.
Reg $24, w/ this deal just $19.99.

We've Got
Your Cool Stuff
Right Here in Flying Colors...
and right next door at Baskin Robbins, too!

Cool Deals for Our 31st Anniversary

Be here Wednesday October 16 at 5PM for our signing event with Gene Yang for the release of his new DC Comics' miniseries SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN!

We're also celebrating our 31st Anniversary of serving you the best in Comics & Other Cool Stuff here at Flying Colors! 

With that, we have a couple of cool deals, one in conjunction with our next door neighbors at Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors. These are for a limited time only, so get in here soon!

Info here:
https://conta.cc/2BekD4p

Wed Oct 16: Gene Luen Yang at Flying Colors!

Award winning writer/cartoonist Gene Luen Yang returns to Flying Colors to debut Superman Smashed the Klan.

The background:
Throughout the summer of 1946, on the Adventures of Superman radio show, the Man of Steel dealt with the Clan of the Fiery Cross, with the fictional bigots standing in for the real-world Ku Klux Klan.

Debuting October 16, 2019, Superman is going to return to the fight with Superman Smashes the Klan, a three-part serial by American Born Chinese author and MacArthur Fellowship recipient Gene Luen Yang adapting and updating the famous radio storyline for a contemporary comic book audience.

READ MORE HERE

Flying Colors Facebook Event Page


Watch Gene Luen Yang's TED Talk

Watch this! Jack Katz in conversation with Liam Sharp and FlyCoJoe

A very cool part of FlyCo Mini Indie-Con 2019 was having Jack Katz as our Special Guest.

Jack's first comics' work was published in 1943... meaning he's been at this comics' thing for more than 75 years! Along with that experience comes a healthy dose of wisdom and pointed opinions.

In the first part of this wide-ranging interview,  Jack Katz talks with artist Liam Sharp and FlyCoJoe about the interior life of being an artist. He shares advice for aspiring cartoonists, including this poignant gem: ""Honor the creative tide within you."




In the final part of our talk with Jack Katz, he tells a few stories of some of the great artists he has worked with over the last 75 years. Alex Raymond, Hal Foster, Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, Stan Lee...
Watch this!

Origin Story: How I became a baseball fan

I’ve loved baseball forever.

I have fond early memories of hot summer days playing in the front yard on Sunday afternoons with my maternal grandfather sitting in a chair on the porch, watching his grandkids. On the hi-fi radio in the living room, blaring through the screen door at the front of our house, were the sounds of KSFO Radio with Russ Hodges and Lon Simmons broadcasting San Francisco Giants games. (That’s my mother’s dad, Grandpa Jack Murphy, in one of the photos here, taken in the late ‘50s.)

 

My great uncle Joe Bowman was a pitcher in the Major Leagues in the ‘30s and ‘40s. He played for several teams, but spent the largest chunk of his 12 year career with the Pittsburgh Pirates. After this playing career ended, he had a successful career as scouting director for Charlie Finley’s Kansas City Athletics from the late ‘50s until the A’s moved to Oakland for the 1968 season. 

You can read Joe Bowman’s biography, courtesy of the Society for American Baseball research here:

https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/aa4eed26

My dad grew up idolizing his ball-playing uncle. The pro games my dad saw in his youth were the Kansas City Blues minor league team. That was long before MLB went west of the Mississippi, so those AAA games were the next best thing to an MLB game.

After his time in the Naval Air Reserve in WWII, my dad moved west to SF from KC to follow his mother who had job-transferred west to SF during the war. Dad didn’t get to see his first real Major League game until he was nearly 35 when the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958.

My great uncle, like most of the family on my father’s side, was a Kansas City native, born and bred. He didn’t want anything to do with moving to Oakland with the A’s. He'd had enough of Charlie Finley and just wanted to stay close to home.

The teams he helped build by signing young talent like Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson, Jim “Catfish” Hunter, Tony LaRussa and many others, won three World Series, but not until uncle Joe was off working for other teams, serving as a midwest scout, mostly with the Baltimore Orioles, right up to the time he passed away in 1990.

My Dad was a weekend season ticket holder in the Giants’ early years in The City. But he dropped the Giants like a hot rock when the A’s came to Oakland. Maybe it was loyalty to the team his uncle helped to build… or maybe it was a severe case of “root, root, root for the home team” since Oakland was a few miles closer to our Moraga home than San Francisco was.

In any case, Dad was one of the first Oakland Athletics’ season ticket holders. The one souvenir I have from that is a 1968 signed team ball. Joe DiMaggio was a celebrity home coach for the A’s. He signed the ball in the “sweet spot”—the place of honor for a ball signature.

When my brother and I were quite young, Joe Bowman and my great aunt Mary Bowman (my paternal grandmother’s sister), would send along baseball gifts to us. My brother and I would play catch with our Dad in the front yard of our Moraga home…and when we did, we used the official American League baseballs Uncle Joe & Aunt Mary sent us.

In another photo here, that’s me at about four years old in 1960. With one hand, I’m holding the hand of my great grandmother, Nellie Fitzgerald (my paternal grandmother’s mother). She was about 90 at the time. In my other hand, I’m holding... a baseball.

"You spend your life gripping a baseball," Jim Bouton once wrote, "and it turns out that it was the other way around all along."

Baseball is a game of seasons. It starts hopefully every spring as daylight begins to grow. So here we are, on one of my least favorite days of the year…the last day of baseball’s regular season. It’s the surest sign of darker, colder days and the certain farewell to summer…. even if there may still be a bit of warm weather in October.

Sure, the playoffs are looming and we could get almost another full month of baseball. I’m rooting hard for the A’s to go deep in the playoffs. Not just because I’m a big fan, but because every day they play is another day closer to spring, to new and longer light, to the promise of spring.

Just 135 days or so until pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training 2020. I can't wait!

From early 1930s Spring Training: Pitchers Lew Krausse, Joe Bowman,
Roy Mahaffey with Athletics' manager Connie Mack

Wed Sep 25 is National Comic Book Day

Like it says above, National Comic Book Day is a pseudo-holiday. It's been on some calendars for more more than 40 years, but not many know what it is or whether anyone needs to care about it.

Back in 2017, I posted a thread on Twitter about National Comic Book Day. You can read that thread HERE!
In 2019, National Comic Book Day also falls on our weekly New Comic Book Day (#NCBD).
Isn't a great invitation to visit Flying Colors? 
In addition to dozens of new comics being released Wed Sep 25, Flying Colors will have something else new. Join us for this little surprise.

Sat Sept 7: FlyCo Mini Indie-Con!

Flying Colors hosts the 5th annual FlyCo Mini Indie-Con Saturday September 7 from 11AM-4PM.

Check out this fantastic guest list!

Jack Katz is a living legend of comics! His first comics work was in 1943 and he's worked for many of the big publishers in the Golden and Silver Ages of Comics. Since the 1980s, Jack has worked on his own graphic narratives, including the long-form First Kingdom and soon to be published "Beyond the Beyond."

Jack will be on hand from 2PM-4PM... then we invite you to stick around for a special interview with Jack Katz conducted by artist Liam Sharp hosted by FlyCoJoe.

From 11AM-4PM, we invite you to visit Flying Colors and check out the great work done by our local indie cartoonists.
* Jeff Bonivert (TMNT, Flying Colors Anniversary Specials, Fun Boys, Atomic Man)
* Sarah Leuver (Teen Titans GO!, DC Super-hero Girls, Red & Rover)
* Ben Ferrari (Pilot Studios)
* Robert Stewart (Afterburner: Tales of the Wicked & the Cool)
* Matt Harding (Pop Apocalypse, Madefire, Not Forgotten)
* Mel Smith (Rock n Roll Biographies, WildCard Ink)

Be sure to visit our Facebook event page for info about each of these cool cartoonists!