Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Coloring Contest Winners!
It was a good turn-out for our first-ever Captain Four-Color Coloring Contest! And we've been slow to announce the winners.
In the photo here are the winning entries. If you don't see your entry here and you completely filled out all the contest entry information, look in your mailbox in the next week.
If you see your entry here --- Congratulations! (And please watch the mail).
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
Sunday, June 14, 2009
New Flying Colors Facebook page
Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff is now on FACEBOOK!
Click on the link to become an official fan, browse photos, join conversations and connect with other comic fans and members of the FlyCo Faithful!
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
Click on the link to become an official fan, browse photos, join conversations and connect with other comic fans and members of the FlyCo Faithful!
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
Monday, June 08, 2009
An Anecdote Becomes a Comment on the Sad State of the Newspaper Business
In the run-up to the WATCHMEN movie back in March, Flying Colors received some nice coverage in the Contra Costa Times and the other Bay Area News Group papers.
There’s a link to the feature article HERE!
With comics and graphic novels being the source material for many big screen flicks, as well as TV shows, videos games, advertising, etc., there’s a news-media fascination with comic books that continues unabated. But when it comes to daily metro newspapers particularly, there’s seems to be a strange disconnect between Those Who Make the Newspaper vs Those Who Read the Newspaper.
Here’s what I mean--- When the WATCHMEN feature story ran, I got many nice comments about it. I was stopped in the grocery store, people at church, at the gym, and of course, a number of regulars here at Flying Colors mentioned seeing my photo in the paper. The "disconnect" was that 90%+ of the mentions came from people over the age of 55, while the median age for all movie attendees is 32…and that’s about the average age of a Flying Colors’ customer. For a movie like WATCHMEN, I’d bet the average age skewed even younger.
If anything can be gleaned from this little anecdote, it's that the dedicated newspaper reader seems significantly older than the audience to which most newspaper professionals are writing. Going just slightly deeper, the reasons for this are likely varied--- news editors and writers are writing younger than their core audience, all-important advertising demographics don't favor aging readership, and a growing number of younger readers opting for online news sources. Ad dollars for all print media are falling faster than you can read this.
Over the years, in many newspaper readership polls, comics were often cited as the #1 favorite feature of most readers. Could a return to large broad-sheet Sunday funnies spur higher circulation in the flagging newspaper business? I’d like to think so, but given the dire straits faced by newspaper companies all over the country, I doubt we’ll ever see such a bold stroke.
*****************
That brings me to back to comics. DC Comics is preparing to roll out the much-anticipated 12-week series called WEDNESDAY COMICS.
It’s a comics-market throwback to the big Sunday Funnies of generations ago, in a fold-out format that reveals each weekly strip to be a full 14x20 inches! In the phot0 above, FlyCo Retailing Brigade members Mike (Dr. Literal) and Melissa (Super-Wit)show off the promo piece for WEDNESDAY COMICS to give you a look at the size of the individual pages.
And it’s loaded with top talent, including Neil Gaiman & Michael Allred (Metamorpho), Paul Pope (Adam Strange), Dave Gibbons & Ryan Sook (Kamandi), Joe Kubert & Adam Kubert (Sgt. Rock), Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (Batman), Kyle Baker (Hawkman) and many others.
WEDNESDAY COMICS is also a huge call-out to our New Releases' Day. Every Wednesday for comics' fans is like a mini-holiday with new comics & other cool stuff to eagerly devour.
WEDNESDAY COMICS looks great, so I'd like to encourage everyone to reserve a copy soon. Your reservation assures you of getting this cool new series. The first issue hits the racks at Flying Colors on Wednesday (natch!) July 8.
Peace 'n' BIG Comics!
FlyCoJoe
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Captain Four-Color(ed)
Here are a few pix of some of the entries to our
CAPTAIN FOUR-COLOR
Coloring and Art Contest.
You can view them all up close and personal on your next visit to Flying Colors.
Lots of creative work from everyone who gave us an entry.
The winners will be announced June 15, and the judges are listening to all the comments we hear from the FlyCo Faithful, so if there's a particular entry you love, don't be shy. Tell us why!
****************
Wednesday June 3 is our New Releases Day this week. As always, we have lots of new & cool stuff for comic book fans of all ages and interests.
In addition, we received a shipment of two great books that we're featuring at way below cover price---Excellent books at excellent values!
THE BATMAN HANDBOOK (The Ultimate Training Guide), regularly priced at $15.95... only $4.99
and
WHAT WOULD WONDER WOMAN DO (An Amazon's Guide to the Working World), regularly priced at $15.95... only $6.99
Both are very cool gift items in limited supply, so hurry in soon!
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
CAPTAIN FOUR-COLOR
Coloring and Art Contest.
You can view them all up close and personal on your next visit to Flying Colors.
Lots of creative work from everyone who gave us an entry.
The winners will be announced June 15, and the judges are listening to all the comments we hear from the FlyCo Faithful, so if there's a particular entry you love, don't be shy. Tell us why!
****************
Wednesday June 3 is our New Releases Day this week. As always, we have lots of new & cool stuff for comic book fans of all ages and interests.
In addition, we received a shipment of two great books that we're featuring at way below cover price---Excellent books at excellent values!
THE BATMAN HANDBOOK (The Ultimate Training Guide), regularly priced at $15.95... only $4.99
and
WHAT WOULD WONDER WOMAN DO (An Amazon's Guide to the Working World), regularly priced at $15.95... only $6.99
Both are very cool gift items in limited supply, so hurry in soon!
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Guesswork about Comics' Future
Kleefeld on Comics, a cool blog put together by Sean Kleefeld, has an interview with yours truly, FlyCoJoe, posted HERE!It's a discussion of the potential future of the business of comics-- certainly a great topic, but not one that has a lot of certainties to it. So if you're interested in my crystal-ball take on the topic, hit the link... HERE!
(And a reminder: New Comics & Other Cool Stuff will be available this week on Thursday May 28, a day later than usual due to the memorial Day holiday.)
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
Monday, May 25, 2009
Memorial Day
“Heroism is latent in every human soul. However humble or unknown, they (the veterans) have renounced what are accounted pleasures and cheerfully undertaken all the self-denials - privations, toils, dangers, sufferings, sicknesses, mutilations, life...”
---Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain
Happy Memorial Day!
'Happy' in celebrating the dedication and sacrifice of all those in Harm's Way, all those who willfully serve in our Armed Forces, all those who give of themselves in service to our great country.
Thank you to all who serve!
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
(Due to the holiday, our New Releases' Day will be Thursday May 28.)
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Today in Baseball (and Family!) History
The date: May 24, 1935
The site: Crosley Field, Cincinnati, Ohio
The game: Home-town Reds vs the Philadelphia Phillies
Starting Pitchers: CIN's Paul Derringer vs PHI's Joe Bowman
The game: The very first night game in the history of Major League Baseball
Seventy four years ago today, President Franklin Roosevelt in Washington DC pressed a button to officially turn the lights on Major League baseball's first night game. My Great Uncle Joe Bowman (married to my paternal grandmother's sister, Mary) was the starting (and sadly, losing) pitcher in that game.
Since first posting on this blog about my great uncle Joe back in December '05, I've done a little bit more research about that game.
While Bowman was officially the losing pitcher--- the final score was 2-1 --- he pitched very well, giving up just four hits in seven innings, driving in the Phils' only run, even stealing a base, but he got no offensive help (sound familiar, Giants' fans?). I reported earlier that Joe had one of Cincy's four hits in the game, but was proved wrong by the box-score I've included below and to the right.
His opposing pitcher that night, Paul Derringer, is considered one of the better pitchers of the '30s, winning 20 games in a season four different times.
Like my great uncle Joe, though, Derringer had the ignominious honor of having lost more than 20 games in a single season, going a stomach-churning combined 7-27 for the St Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in 1933. Despite that one dreadful season, Derringer had a fine career and was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1958.
Uncle Joe's career, though, lasted a dozen seasons in an incredibly rich time for baseball talent when there were only eight teams in each Major League. After his time in the Majors, Joe pitched in the talent-laden Pacific Coast League for the San Diego Padres, later becoming a minor league coach and manager.
It wasn't until Joe retired from the field for good that his Hall-of Fame-worthy career began. Joe Bowman became perhaps one of the most successful scouts in the history of baseball. While he may not have had the world's most devastating fastball, he did have a keen eye for talent and a knack for signing that talent. As the Director of Scouting for Charlie Finley's Kansas City A's in the '50s and '60s, Joe was in on the signings and negotiations for some of the greatest names in baseball--- Reggie Jackson, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Tony LaRussa, Dick Green and many others.
As the scouting director, Joe successfully led a crew of scouts with the A's and when those regional scouts found prized talent, Finley and Bowman would come to town to seal the deal. Later, he continued his scouting career with the Atlanta Braves (for a couple of years) and the Baltimore Orioles (for the last 15 or so years of his life, until his passing at the age of 80 in 1990).
So, today I'm saluting the anniversary of that first Major League night game while also saluting my great uncle Joe Bowman's entire career. I fondly remember the times as a young kid when my brother and I would get gift packages from the Bowmans, including genuine American League baseballs that we scuffed up beyond recognition by playing with them on Scofield Drive in Moraga.
Every year when I get a new Major League Baseball daily calendar, I hope to see this story covered on May 24th. Maybe this blog post will reach the right eyes to make that happen, especially with next year being the rounder 75th Anniversary of that first night game.
My father idolized his uncle, especially in the time after his own father died from TB in November 1934. Uncle Joe lavished my father with baseball gifts, including an autograph book, signed baseballs and the like. As a kid, my father wouldn't talk a lot about his uncle, but he was sure to make me know we were related to big league talent.
That may have been my dad's way of trying to inspire me to be a better ballplayer, but after losing a summer season to a broken arm, I also lost the nerve to face much bigger much faster pitchers. But I have always loved the Great American Pastime.
(Ironically, the broken arm led to my love of comics--when you're bed-ridden, you read more! So life does have a way of balancing the good with the bad.)
For Flying Colors 20th Anniversary, we created and published a special edition comic book that features three stories, one being the baseball "origin" story of Joe Bowman, along with a text piece about him and about my hopeful plans to complete writing a graphic novel about Uncle Joe's career and his relationship with my father.
Back to comics' news in a day or two!
Peace 'n' a dancin' knuckler!
FlyCoJoe
(Flying Colors 20th Anniversary Special Edition is $2.99 and available exclusively from Flying Colors Comics. The cover is pictured here to the right.)
The site: Crosley Field, Cincinnati, Ohio
The game: Home-town Reds vs the Philadelphia Phillies
Starting Pitchers: CIN's Paul Derringer vs PHI's Joe Bowman
The game: The very first night game in the history of Major League Baseball
Seventy four years ago today, President Franklin Roosevelt in Washington DC pressed a button to officially turn the lights on Major League baseball's first night game. My Great Uncle Joe Bowman (married to my paternal grandmother's sister, Mary) was the starting (and sadly, losing) pitcher in that game. Since first posting on this blog about my great uncle Joe back in December '05, I've done a little bit more research about that game.
While Bowman was officially the losing pitcher--- the final score was 2-1 --- he pitched very well, giving up just four hits in seven innings, driving in the Phils' only run, even stealing a base, but he got no offensive help (sound familiar, Giants' fans?). I reported earlier that Joe had one of Cincy's four hits in the game, but was proved wrong by the box-score I've included below and to the right.
His opposing pitcher that night, Paul Derringer, is considered one of the better pitchers of the '30s, winning 20 games in a season four different times.
Like my great uncle Joe, though, Derringer had the ignominious honor of having lost more than 20 games in a single season, going a stomach-churning combined 7-27 for the St Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds in 1933. Despite that one dreadful season, Derringer had a fine career and was elected to the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1958.
Uncle Joe's career, though, lasted a dozen seasons in an incredibly rich time for baseball talent when there were only eight teams in each Major League. After his time in the Majors, Joe pitched in the talent-laden Pacific Coast League for the San Diego Padres, later becoming a minor league coach and manager.
It wasn't until Joe retired from the field for good that his Hall-of Fame-worthy career began. Joe Bowman became perhaps one of the most successful scouts in the history of baseball. While he may not have had the world's most devastating fastball, he did have a keen eye for talent and a knack for signing that talent. As the Director of Scouting for Charlie Finley's Kansas City A's in the '50s and '60s, Joe was in on the signings and negotiations for some of the greatest names in baseball--- Reggie Jackson, Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Tony LaRussa, Dick Green and many others.
As the scouting director, Joe successfully led a crew of scouts with the A's and when those regional scouts found prized talent, Finley and Bowman would come to town to seal the deal. Later, he continued his scouting career with the Atlanta Braves (for a couple of years) and the Baltimore Orioles (for the last 15 or so years of his life, until his passing at the age of 80 in 1990).
So, today I'm saluting the anniversary of that first Major League night game while also saluting my great uncle Joe Bowman's entire career. I fondly remember the times as a young kid when my brother and I would get gift packages from the Bowmans, including genuine American League baseballs that we scuffed up beyond recognition by playing with them on Scofield Drive in Moraga.
Every year when I get a new Major League Baseball daily calendar, I hope to see this story covered on May 24th. Maybe this blog post will reach the right eyes to make that happen, especially with next year being the rounder 75th Anniversary of that first night game.
My father idolized his uncle, especially in the time after his own father died from TB in November 1934. Uncle Joe lavished my father with baseball gifts, including an autograph book, signed baseballs and the like. As a kid, my father wouldn't talk a lot about his uncle, but he was sure to make me know we were related to big league talent.
That may have been my dad's way of trying to inspire me to be a better ballplayer, but after losing a summer season to a broken arm, I also lost the nerve to face much bigger much faster pitchers. But I have always loved the Great American Pastime.
(Ironically, the broken arm led to my love of comics--when you're bed-ridden, you read more! So life does have a way of balancing the good with the bad.)
For Flying Colors 20th Anniversary, we created and published a special edition comic book that features three stories, one being the baseball "origin" story of Joe Bowman, along with a text piece about him and about my hopeful plans to complete writing a graphic novel about Uncle Joe's career and his relationship with my father.
Back to comics' news in a day or two!
Peace 'n' a dancin' knuckler!
FlyCoJoe
(Flying Colors 20th Anniversary Special Edition is $2.99 and available exclusively from Flying Colors Comics. The cover is pictured here to the right.)
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Links-A-Go-Go!
While we're hitting the links, check out our short video with interviews from our 2009 FCBD guests Glen Brunswick, Eric Jones and Landry Walker, as well as some of the FlyCo Faithful--- HERE!
If you were here at Flying Colors for the start of FCBD, you might just see yourself
HERE!
Did you see the cool promotional spot Hugh Jackman did for FCBD promotional? It's right HERE!
While you're at it, you can check out all of FlyCoJoe's videos
HERE!
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
Thursday, May 07, 2009
Highly Recommended!
I want to point your attention to a new graphic novel called ETERNAL SMILE, by Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim, two big talents in my eyes. Many remember Gene's breakout award-winning graphic novel called AMERICAN BORN CHINESE, while Derek scored a huge hit and awards for his SAME DIFFERENCE & OTHER STORIESGene and Derek's new graphic novel is a book I will gladly be putting into the hands of many eager readers. It's a graphic novel in three parts, stylistically very different, but thematically held together for a very entertaining and thoughtful read.
Randy Myers of the Contra Costa Times interviewed both comic creators in today's edition, so please check it out HERE!
*********************
And in other news, on Free Comic Book Day, we kicked off our first-ever Captain Four-Color Art & Coloring Contest! This contest is open to all kids 13 and under and there will be prizes for different ages, including a big prize of a $100 Flying Colors Shopping Spree! Entry forms are available at Flying Colors now---and we'll need to have your entries, creative as they can get, back here in the store by May 31, 2009.
Glory awaits!
Peace!
FlyCoJoe
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