Where to find us!

Inviting you all to visit Flying Colors Comics soon!

Facebook:https://facebook.com/flyingcolorscomics
Instagram: https://instagram.com/flycojoe/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flycojoe

And in person! https://bit.ly/3IyiJ2p

 

Jeff Smith Event at Flying Colors!

SPECIAL EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT!

Flying Colors will host Jeff Smith's "Dawn of Man" national tour Saturday April 29!

Jeff will be giving a presentation and signing his great work, including BONE,  RASL and TUKI.

Stay tuned for more details!

Flying Colors Best Selling Graphic Novels of 2022

Presenting the 2022 Best-Selling Graphic Novels at Flying Colors Comics

 

Notes & Trivia:

* Click on the Best Sellers' graphic to enlarge the image and make it easier to read.

* 19 of the top 26 best-sellers are from our "All Ages" section! That's a testament to how much younger readers love comics and get excited to read more by reading graphic novels. Know a reluctant reader... of any age? Introduce them to comics!

* New and more publishers are jumping into the graphic novel business every month.  Flying Colors sold at least one graphic novel in 2022 from 174 unique publishers!

* While there are only 25 places on this top sellers list, there are 95 different titles due to titles selling the same amount.

* Flying Colors in 2022 sold at least one copy of 4250 different graphic novels. 1881 of those sold just one copy each.

* Sadly, we ordered 196 titles, totaling 463 graphic novels that did not sell even one copy. Such is the risk of running a small independent shop.

* While the vast majority of best-selling periodical comic books are from the long dominant superhero genre, when it comes to graphic novels, only about 1 in 4 are from that genre.

* To a degree, this list could have looked different. Over the last year, a number of strong selling graphic novels have gone in and out of print so their availability was sometimes tricky. We can't sell the books we don't have in stock, after all. That makes this list more representative of the books that were more consistently available for order.

* AN INVITATION! You can let us know what you'd buy from us by looking through our preorder catalogs in the shop. We do accept special requests and have good success filling them. Our goal is to get you just what you want.

What was your favorite graphic novel of 2022?
Is it on this list?

Join the discussion on the Flying Colors Facebook fan page, follow me on Twitter, or post a comment directly to this blog.

THANK YOU for your support, encouragement and thank you for buying your comics, graphic novels and other cool stuff from Flying Colors!

Here's to a fantastic 2023!

Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field

2022 Best-Selling Comics Lists

The two lists here represent the best-selling single issue comic books at Flying Colors for the calendar year of 2022. (Click on the Best Sellers lists to enlarge them for easier reading)

The periodical comics market is filled with different ways to get consumers interested in buying comics. Above all, we hope the entertainment of reading comics is the driving force for most buyers. Some customers like having different covers to choose from, preferring one artist over another. They'll even follow favorite cover artists from title to title.  Others buy for "collectibility"--- a mostly elusive thing and definitely NOT recommended!

The first list counts ONLY the main cover for each comic book.
The second list COMBINES the sales of all variant editions for each issue... and that
significantly changes the list.

A few notes:
* BATMAN SPAWN wouldn't even make the top 72 based on sales of just the main cover.... but it vaults all the way to #1 when sales of all variant covers are included.

* Several different issues of 

BATMAN and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN make the list... and the sales of each of those vary from issue to issue. Why? Flying Colors is the first choice for many comic book buyers, but sometimes we're the 2nd, 3rd or 4th choice for less frequent shoppers (such as out of town visitors, other shops selling out faster than we do,etc).  The lack of consistency of sales from issue to issue of the same title increases our risk.

* The dominance of Marvel Comics and DC Comics on this list of best-selling comic books is clear. The large lead The Big Two have in the periodical category is due to familiar and popular characters that have been around as long as 85 years.

* There are lots of awesomely entertaining and engaging comics from publishers large and not so large, from well-known companies to more obscure small press.  We invite you to explore what we have in stock and try something new outside your usual comfort zone. New entertainment awaits!

* Notable best-selling comics NOT published by Marvel or DC include:
--- CHARLEY & HUMPHREY #1, the cool comic from 10Ton Press that's drenched in Bay Area kids-TV nostalgia
--- STARHENGE, the absolutely trippy series from amazing artist/writer and FlyCo Fave LIAM SHARP.
--- SAGA, Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staples' sci-fi epic from Image Comics.
All of these are in stock and highly recommended!

* Crazy Factoid: During 2022, Flying Colors sold at least one copy of 9790 different comic books. That big number includes variant editions of the same issue, plus some special single issue requests for items we didn't have for rack sales. So 2301 out of 9790 line items we sold just one copy each.


* Our challenge at Flying Colors is to find the right combination of what we stock, what we sell and what we have left over.  Our goal for 2023 is sell more, for sure, but to have less left unsold. For that, we need the help of every one of our FlyCo Faithful. If there are titles you know you want to get issue after issue, please add them to a reservation list at our shop. That way, you'll never miss what you want and you'll be helping us make more educated guesses when we place our orders.

THANK YOU to all those who shop here at Flying Colors. As we head into our 35th year in Concord, we know we couldn't be here without your kindness, your support and your regular visits to shop here!

Comments about these best-seller lists are welcome! You can add to the discussion with a comment here, or join the discussion on our Facebook page, follow me on Twitter or better yet, visit the shop and we can discuss it there.

Happy 2023, FlyCo Faithful!
--- Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field

Marvel Cover Artist Benjamin Su!

Join us for the release of Miles Morales: Spider-Man #3 with variant cover art by Benjamin Su!

Benjamin Su is a Marvel Cover Artist contributing to such titles as Venom, Ghost Rider, Punisher, Shang Chi and Amazing Spider-Man #900.

Ben is also a Directing Animator at Pixar Animation Studios. Over the last 13 years he has worked on many Oscar winning Films including Toy Story 3 & 4, Coco and Inside Out.

Event page HERE!

Stan Lee Inducted into FlyCo Hall of Fave!

 

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of the late great STAN LEE... we announced he is our latest inductee into the
FlyCo Hall of Fave!

The FlyCo Hall of Fave honors creative talents, stellar comics’ work, plus the energy & enthusiasm in promoting comics & steadfast support and promotion of Flying Colors Comics.

We're grateful for Stan Lee's enthusiastic support of Flying Colors Comics. He joins previously inducted FlyCo Hall of Fave members Seanan McGuire, Jim Lee, Mick Gray, Dan Brereton, Gene Luen Yang, Liam Sharp Art and Jeff Bonivert.

At Flying Colors, we are grateful for these fantastic talents and good people!

A Very Special New Comic Book Day!

Hope you can visit  Flying Colors for our final New Comic Book Day of 2022.

Wed Dec 28 11AM!

* We'll be celebrating Stan Lee's 100th birthday with some stories and memories.

* We're featuring cartoonist Jeff Bonivert and his latest work,
DOCTOR KORVUS, debuting in the pages of SHRIEK #2, new for 12/28. Get your signed copy while they last!

*As a bonus, Jeff will also sign the new & FREE 2023 Flying Colors calendar/poster which he designed! 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1221978222058359

Holiday Hours

Graphic Novel Gift Ideas

Hit this link for some excellent graphic novel gift suggestions I shared with Bay Area Newsgroup (San Jose Mercury News, East Bay Times) pop culture writer Jim Harrington.

While we only could fit a mere eight different titles into this feature, fans know we have a deep selection of Comics & Other Cool Stuff at Flying Colors... with a ton of possibilities for gift-giving to long-time readers and young emerging readers, too.

As always, our frankly fantastic Flying Colors Retailing Brigade is ready to lead you to some great art and stories in comics and graphic novels.

Happy Holidays!
Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field

Sat Dec 10: Artist/Animator Brandon McKinney!

You are invited to join us Saturday December 10 at Noon when we will host artist & animator BRANDON McKINNEY!

Pick up a copy of the first issue of Brandon's new series, CRIMSON STORM!

We will also have copies of GIANTS UNITE!, the special edition comic book celebrating the 10th anniversary of the San Francisco Giants 2012 World Championship! Brandon did the art in that special comic book.

This is a great chance to get a cool signed gift for you or anyone on your gift list!