Designed by cartoonist Jeff Bonivert (Captain Four Color's co-creator!), this is the 16th annual calendar we've done. We think you'll dig it.
And in case you aren't local to Concord and you still would like to get one (or two), Flying Colors 2022 poster/calendar is also available by mail order!
FlyCo Faithful... start your holiday shopping engines!
How it was then... and how it is now!
Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff first opened on October 3, 1988...
33 years
ago!
Our first customer was a kind gentleman named Tony who bought a few packs of
baseball cards. That opening day we did all of $63 in
sales (truly a soft opening!). We made up a lot of things as we went, trying to invent little systems
where there were none before, trying to make friends and win customers one at a
time, one day at a time... hoping we could survive long enough to "make
it."
And here we are... 12,052 days since October 3 1988!
We've tried our best to make Flying Colors
live up to our original mission to be "the one comic shop for the entire
family." Little did I know that so many of you have become like family to
us. That's a beautiful thing!
Heaping mounds of gratitude to my Libby who has been as integral to the success
of Flying Colors as anyone, even though she prefers me to be the public face of
Flying Colors. I was the comics geek, after all.
And then there's our FlyCo
Retailing Brigade (with thanks to cartoonist Jeff Bonivert for originally
naming the group... plus designing and co-creating our Flying Colors' superhero
mascot, Captain Four Color!
In order from 1988 to present, I wish to thank each and every one of our frankly fabulous FlyCo Retailing Brigadeers:
Anne, Mark, Teri, Tom, Steve, Scott, Scott, Sam, Doug, Gavin, Jason, Marleigha, Alan, Cara Mia, Quinn, Shaw, Matt, Ken, Colin, Chris M, Adrian, Jerry, Erin, Paul, Chris J, Maria, Jan, Robert, Mike A , Mike E, Adam, Melissa, Taylor, Brian H, Brian, Cindy, Adric, Jenny, Robert, Andrew, Ed, Marty, Jazmine, Leticia, Melissa, Susie, Aaron, Kenni, Casey, Anna, Eryn, Spencer, Dylan, Chad, Andrew, Aidan, Cyrus!
Finally, let's face the facts.
A business
without customers just doesn't last. So I want to genuinely thank you all,
past and present, who have trusted us with your business over all these
years. You are all FlyCo Faithful... and I am FlyCoJoe, your grateful Local
Comic Shop owner.
And I hope we'll be around for many more years of Slinging Comics to Concord,
to Contra Costa County and to the Cosmos!
Bless you all, each and every one!
Peace 'n' Comics!
Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field
Mel Smith is the mastermind behind the popular Rock and Roll Biography series from Acme Ink, plus other series including Dead Ahead, 7 Lives of Dr. Phibes, Death Race: Lords of the Road, Heavy Metal, Vincent Price Presents--- and the new series Becoming Frankenstein, featured in the 10 Ton Press FCBD 2021 special edition.
Get a taste of Charley & Humphrey in "10 Tons of Fun" the FCBD
special edition comic.
These guests will be signing at Flying Colors on Free Comic Book Day, Saturday August 14 from 11AM until 2PM.
It's my birthday. Woo-hoo to the 65th power!
As kids we're all asked that question "What do you want
to be when you grow up?"
And like most kids, my answer to that question changed
somewhat often.
At my youngest, I wanted to be a baseball player. But as
much as I loved to play, that wasn't in the cards.
When I was six, about the age in the photo here taken for my
first grade photo at Santa Maria School, I wanted to be an astronaut. I think
every kid wanted that during the era when John Glenn made his flight on
Friendship. Look at the photo again... I even had John Glenn's haircut!
From the time I was 12, I wanted to go into radio or TV. I
still have dreams about being a TV game show host.
I did wind up going into
radio on the sales/marketing side, but I really wanted to be on the talent
side. Didn't help that my voice didn't really mature until way too late.
And as much as I have always really enjoyed comics, I never
thought about being a comic book retailer!
I didn't even think about being a husband or a dad until Libby
and I fell in love... and those two roles are much more vocations than mere
jobs.
The thing is, life just doesn't travel on a straight line from
dreams to reality. 
Life experiences move us on curves through time
from who we were to who we are.
Each of those ideas about my future seem to reflect something of who I am.
* The baseball player represents tradition, as my dad passed his love of the game on to me and my brother.
*The astronaut is my adventurous and daring side (the most
daring thing I've done is started a business when everyone told me there was no
future in it).
*The doctor represents my care for others and maybe the need
inside me to be something of a leader.
*The radio/TV/ game show host combination is my humorous
side. I've always loved to entertain myself and others, making them laugh...
making them feel happier.
All those qualities of the dreams I had of what I might do as an adult are parts of who I am as a husband and father, entrepreneur and friend.
Sure, it's my birthday, but I want to wish everyone reading this heaping doses of happiness.
Now let's all hope there are a lot more healthy birthdays to celebrate!
Peace!
--- FlyCoJoe
of work in my 35 years in thisbusiness. But it has also beenthe year with more blessingsthan any other..."
Rain or Shine, Flying Colors is OPEN daily from 11AM-6PM.
We invite you to visit us soon!
Jack Kirby had it right 50 years ago because he saw the atrocities 75 years ago.
