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!

Substitute Santa at Flying Colors Comics!

Just what is a 

SUBSTITUTE SANTA?

Santa Claus is super busy this time of year, so we've enlisted the help of super-heroes from The League for Hope to help him out!

Instead of of going to the mall and waiting forever to see the same old boring Santa Claus, join us Saturday December 3 at Flying Colors to have your Christmas photo taken with our Substitute Santas...

Scarlet Witch! Wasp!
Harley Quinn! Poison Ivy!
Christmas Joker!
Captain America! Captain Marvel!

(Maybe these photos will become your holiday card for 2022!)

Thank you for Shopping at Flying Colors Comics!

There are so many more reasons to #ShopLocal!

We have so much gratitude for our FlyCo Faithful keeping us going by shopping here week after week for the last 34 years!

 

SHOP CONCORD bonus gift-cards are back!

NOV 28th UPDATE! All the bonus funds in the SHOP CONCORD have been claimed!

The City of Concord is stepping up again to do something good for locally owned shops, restaurants and services... and that means something good for Concord area shoppers!

Right now and for a limited time, when you buy a $100 SHOP CONCORD gift-card, you'll be rewarded with a $50 bonus gift-card! 

The gift-cards are valid at dozens of locally-owned Concord businesses, including shops, restaurants and --- you got it!--- Flying Colors Comics!

Buying SHOP CONCORD gift-cards is an awesome way to support the local shops you love while also scoring a bonus gift-card. You can either give the bonus gift-card as a gift... or keep it for yourself. It's like buying yourself a 30% discount at your favorite Concord businesses!

Been eyeing one of the pricier classic comics on the wall at Flying Colors? Get your SHOP CONCORD gift-cards, score your bonus, then bring 'em by Flying Colors!

Here's the link again: https://app.yiftee.com/gift-card/concord
This is a limited offer, so get on it now!

Gorillas are good for sales!

 Silver Age Comics Trivia:

Did you know sales of a comic book went up when a gorilla was featured on the cover?

What the heck? We figure it's worth a try in this modern age.

See you tomorrow, okay?

Read the gorilla history HERE!

Trick or Read! Halloween Comics at Flying Colors!

Trick or Read!
Free Comics at Flying Colors!

Sat Oct 29 thru HALLOWEEN
Mon Oct 31.

OPEN 11AM-6PM daily.

Flying Colors 34th anniversary

34 years is 12418 days.
Today is the 34th anniversary of the opening of Flying Colors Comics in Concord CA.

All new enterprises start with the wide-eyed hope of something good, viable and sustainable.

The truth is this:
* 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years of being open.
* 45% fail during the first five years.
* 65% during the first 10 years.
* Only 25% of new businesses make it 15 years or more.

Flying Colors Comics has beaten those odds with our secret formula:

* Service first... profits in time.
* Be good to others and they'll be good to you.
* Add in our frankly fantastic Flying Colors Retailing Brigade!
* Represent comics as amazing entertainment first, last and always!


* Make the shop a fun & welcoming place for long-time fans and curious new readers.
* Build the business on gratitude. Even when things are a challenge, we're grateful to learn from the experiences to make not only our shop better, but to hopefully make us better, too.

After 34 years, I've got at least 12418 different ways to say "thank you" but I'll try to keep it short.

Thank you to an elite group of 59 awesome people on staff here since 1988. You are my  Flying Colors Retailing Brigade!  

Thank you to our
FlyCo Angels. You know who you are and I'm deeply grateful for you.


For all those who have helped us by buying cool stuff here or spreading the good word about Flying Colors to your friends and families, you are the FlyCo Faithful... and I thank you!

To all of you---

and to my family and friends---
Libby and I send you love and peace and heaping tons of gratitude!

Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field

Coolest place in town...

It's always better to be cool than to be hot!

Visit Flying Colors... the coolest shop in Concord, Contra Costa County...and the Cosmos!

Open daily 11AM-6PM.

Open Labor Day weekend

Flying Colors will have regular hours this holiday weekend.
We hope you'll visit us soon!

Stockton, Comics & National Radio Day

 

Today is National Radio Day. My professional days in radio at KJOY-AM in Stockton CA are definitely a fond part of my history.

Before the long story, though, let's talk about the awesome t-shirt I'm wearing in the photo here. It's a gift from the good folks at Visit Stockton. It debuted last week at StocktonCon. I was happy to get mine this week.

So what does the cool new tshirt have to do with this being National Radio Day? Read on for the long story!

I worked at KJOY from 1978-1988. While I was supposed to be just an advertising sales executive, I dabbled in other facets of the radio station operations. I wrote a ton of commercials, helped with some comedy bits, gave my opinions to the music director and spearheaded some station promotions. I even did traffic reports from a helicopter once!

During my years in radio, I was also a regular customer at Al's Comic Shop on Pacific Avenue in Stockton. The shop opened in the late '70s and is still going to this day. (Stop in when you visit Stockton and tell them I sent you.)

In the fall of 1985, as the 25th anniversary of the Marvel Age of Comics was approaching, I came up with a little scheme to combine my job at KJOY with my deep comics' fandom. I thought it would be cool if Marvel Comics would recognize Stockton as the "birthplace of the Fantastic Four"... and even better if it meant some good publicity for KJOY, for comics and for Stockton.

It was stated in the first issue of Fantastic Four in 1961 that the FF were from a place called Central City (later amended to "Central City, California"). Marvel characters were based in other real cities-- New York, Chicago, San Francisco... even Palos Verdes, fer cryin' out loud! Since there is no real "Central City CA" I wanted Stockton, the most central city in California, to be officially recognized as the birthplace of the FF.

So I talked with Al and Mike at Al's Comic Shop, asked them if I could post a petition in their shop. They agreed and helped to round up the hundreds of signatures we got on that petition. Once that happened, I took the signatures to a Stockton City Council meeting and asked the city to get behind the drive. After some silly mumbling questions from local politicians clearly embarrassed that I was asking them to get behind a comic book idea, they agreed and issued a resolution asking Marvel to recognize Stockton as the FF's home.

When that happened, it hit the Associated Press and United Press International newswires... and the fun really started. I did scores of interviews and the petition drive was covered all over the country. But the one with the most impact was the report from Charles "Chuck" Hillinger, a very well respected features reporter for the Los Angeles Times. As part of his report, he called Stan Lee to get a response. Stan said "Marvel is in the business of saving universes on a daily basis. This is the least we can do for good ol' Stockton."

And so it went. In February 1986, Stan Lee visited Stockton to deliver Marvel's proclamation declaring Stockton as the "Official Birthplace of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four." The 25th anniversary issue of Fantastic Four was released months later.

Shortly after that, Stan Lee called me to ask if I would consider doing freelance public relations' work for the release of his wife's first novel. I did this while still working at KJOY, but the allure and fun of comics would mean I'd soon be looking to make a professional career move away from radio and into comics. (Although I first tried to combine comics and radio again by creating and writing a short radio feature about comics and pop culture. After close to 20 rejection letters from radio syndicates, that little dream died.)

I then did some freelance advertising and promotion work for a group of Bay Area retailers starting an event that would become known as WonderCon. I loved hanging with those guys, talking comics and trying to produce the friendliest big convention ever. That led to the decision to leave radio and open a comic book store. And in fairly short order, I also became one of the managing general partners at WonderCon.

My shop, Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff, is still going strong 34 years later, due to the kind support of so many FlyCo Faithful in and around Concord and all over Northern California.

And even though I live in Concord these days I still have a very fond spot in my heart for Stockton. It's a cool little city I can recommend visiting for a "fantastic" time.

Thank you, Visit Stockton, for the cool tshirt...and for the opportunity to share this story on National Radio Day.

Peace 'n Comics!
Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field
#NationalRadioDay

San Francisco Giants: There's a New Superhero in Town!

Sunday August 14 at Oracle Park in San Francisco, the Giants are hosting HEROES & COMICS DAY. It's the final event of a weekend celebrating the 10 year reunion of the 2012 World Series Champs.

The first 15,000 fans in attendance Sunday will get a FREE comic book with a story featuring players from the 2012 World Series winning team and the debut of a brand new Giants superhero. Published by 10 Ton Press, featuring interior art by Brandon McKinney, story by John Hageman, cover art by Arthur Adams and edited by yours truly, FlyCoJoe! 

Who or what is the new Giants' Superhero?
Find out in GIANTS UNITE: Heroes By the Bay!

Now, let's look back on bits of the Giants long and fun history in comics!
Peanuts comic strip creator Charles "Sparky" Schulz was a big Giants fan, especially in the early years after the team moved to San Francisco when Schulz lived in the Santa Rosa area.

And he was as bummed as every Giants fan when the San Francisco team lost to the New York Yankees in the 1962 World Series...

Willie Mays is the greatest ballplayer ever! The Say Hey Kid has been celebrated in comics going back to his rookie season of 1951 when the Giants made it to the World Series courtesy of Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard Round the World" pennant winning home run against the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

In 1954, Willie Mays came back from two years service in the military during the Korean conflict...and what a comeback it was! Not only did Willie win the MVP Award that year, the New York Giants also won the World Series in a four game sweep over the Cleveland Indians. The Amazing Willie Mays comic book from Famous Funnies is just one indication of what a huge star Willie Mays was!

Over the years, the San Francisco Giants have been featured in other comics, including one by DC Comics in 2001 (shown below on the right), as well as a Willie Mays unauthorized biography comic in the '90s.

Back in the '70s, the Giants logo was on the cover of an issue of Harvey Comics' Casper, a promotional comic from KTVU Channel 2 (the Giants TV station at the time) and Straw Hat Pizza. I'm sure in other part of the country and for other National League teams, local TV stations and advertisers were featured.

A few months after the Giants won the 2010 World Series, Marvel Comics and WonderCon teamed up for a special variant cover of X-Men #536 featuring the X-Men in black & orange with the WS trophy. Very cool!

More about Heroes & Comics Day!
The event got its start on August 7 2013 when the Giants invited the late great Stan Lee to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. That was also the day Stan Lee did a fantastic event at Flying Colors prior to going to the ballpark. 

Now here we are in 2022... and the San Francisco Giants have led the way with their HEROES & COMICS Day, celebrated every season. It's a great event bringing together baseball fans and comics/pop culture fanatics. Some will even show up to the game in costume as their favorite comics characters.

The new Giants superhero will debut in the full-length comic book FREE to the first 15,000 fans attending the Sunday August 14 game vs the Pittsburgh Pirates. Game time is 1:10, with the special VIP Triples Alley event hosted by the ever awesome Amy Gutierrez starting at  10:35AM.

In the production of this comic book, at one point we thought we'd have an extra page to fill, so I invited my long time friend (and long ago FlyCo Faithful) artist Jeff Johnson (Marvel's Wonder Man, CrossGEN's Way of the Rat, among many other credits)  to do a special pin up page commemorating the

last out of the 2012 World Series.

I thought it would be a very cool way to finish the comic book, but it got squeezed out at the last minute. I'm happy to share the pencil/ink piece with you here. (Print it out at large size and then color it in with your fave shades of orange and black!)

Bottom line, I'd love to see you at the Giants game Sunday August 14 for HEROES & COMICS DAY. 

I'll close this out by sharing the awesome Brandon McKinney's pencil art for a couple of the pages in GIANTS UNITE: Heroes By the Bay!

Go, Giants! And Go, Team Comics!
Peace, Comics and SF Giants Baseball!

Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field

San Francisco Giants Heroes & Comics Day Sun Aug 14

Happy to announce my involvement in helping the San Francisco Giants celebrate Heroes & Comics Day at Oracle Park on Sunday August 14. 

Be among the first 15,000 at the game that day to get your GIANTS UNITE: Heroes By The Bay comic book!

The fantastic cover shown here is by the great Arthur Adams. The beautiful interior art is by Brandon McKinney who along with Mel Smith designed thew new Giants' superhero! The story, by John Hageman, features lots of cool inside stuff for both comics fans and Giants fans.

The comic is published by 10 Ton Press with more excellent work by ink artist Chris Marrinan and colorist Jesse Heagy. Nominally, I'm the editor of this cool project, but the credit really goes to the full creative team.

There's a special Triples Alley VIP event on Sunday August 14...VIP event ticket holders will also get a bobblehead of the new SF Giants' hero debuting in GIANTS UNITE!

I've been a baseball fan even longer than I've been a comics' fan (that's a *very* long time!), so the fact the Giants trusted me to get this project off the ground feels very special.

Get your tickets and more info here:

https://www.mlb.com/giants/tickets/specials/heroes 

 Peace, Comics 'n' Baseball!

Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field

Comics & Games Retailer columns

A number of times over the years, I've been asked by different people to write a book about my experiences inside and outside of the comics world. Doubtful that will ever happen.

I did write columns in industry trade publications, starting in the mid 1980s with the late and missed fan-oriented Comics Buyer's Guide newspaper, then in retailer-focused trade magazines in the '90s and early 2000s with Comic Book Business for a year or so and then with Comics & Games Retailer for eight years or so.

Maybe because it's summer rerun season, I've decided to share several of the columns I wrote all those years ago.

For those interested in looking back to cheer me on where I was right and looking away to ignore where I was wrong, please hit these links:

1) From early 1998, with a thought about how comics retailers choose to position our shops, read
"Aesop vs Barnum."

2) From the summer of 1999...be prepared. This one gets heavy.
"Freedom vs Responsibility"

3) From the fall of 1999, columnists were asked to gaze into the future and look to
"The Strange World Beyond 2000."

4) Not a column! Here's the May 2001 text of my speech inducting Stan Lee into the Cartoon Art Museum's Hall of Fame!

5) Probably the one that made the most difference in the comics biz... my column spinning the original idea for Free Comic Book Day. Here's
"The Power of Free." 

6) One of my columns about the Zen of Retailing:
"Look, Listen and Learn"

7) Lessons learned from my Dad resonate in the comics world:
"Retailer: Son of Hero"

8) My Fortress of Solitude was a Pool Hall:
"A Tale of Two Hang-Outs"

As always, I'm ready to accept any comments and feedback.
Maybe, just maybe, there will be a time when I can do some long-form writing and please the literally dozens of people who might be interested in reading more of my stuff.
Thanks for reading!

Joe "FlyCoJoe" Field

Important Travel Advisory!

 

Liam Sharp signing event Wed Jul 6 at 11AM

Join us at
Flying Colors Comics
Wednesday July 6 from 11AM-1PM for the world debut signing event for

Liam Sharp's STARHENGE #1 from Image Comics!

LIAM SHARP (artist of Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Brave & Bold, more) will be here to sign copies and talk about his new time-spanning series, STARHENGE!

At Flying Colors, we're totally excited to bring you the world debut signing for this new series!

What's it about?

A future Merlin travels to 5th-century Britain to prevent monstrous time-traveling killer robots from robbing the universe of magic, while Amber Weaver's lively present-day narrative reveals how she becomes drawn into this war across time! The Once & Future King meets The Terminator in 30 enthralling story pages, launching this original epic inspired by the Arthurian sagas!

Flying Colors will be closed Monday July 4th

We'll be closed on the July 4th holiday... but we're open every other day from 11AM-6PM. 
We hope to see you soon!

Dads & Grads Gifts!

SHOP CONCORD 

Gift Cards are back! 
This is a great opportunity to get a FREE $50 gift card when you buy a $100 gift card. Hurry... because bonus gift cards are limited!

Details in our latest Flying Colors Infrequent E-Flyer. 

 

Check out the photos here for a couple of very cool and brand new gift ideas available NOW when you visit Flying Colors Comics!


We've Got Your Cool Stuff Right Here in Flying Colors!

 

ALERT: Shorter store hours June 2 and 3

Due to a temporary staffing shortage
Flying Colors will be
OPEN Thu 6/2 11AM - 2PM
Fri 6/3 11AM - 4:30PM

We apologize for the inconvenience.
Please visit us again soon.
Thank you.

21st Annual Free Comic Book Day event info!

 FREE COMIC BOOK DAY Event Info is Here!

Free Comic Book Day is Saturday May 7

Watch this!
Short documentary from 2012: The Origins of Free Comic Book Day

Please join us at Flying Colors Comics for the 21st annual Free Comic Book Day, Saturday May 7!

 

 

 

The Free Comic Book Day / Record Store Day Connection

This coming Saturday April 23 is the 15th annual Record Store Day. Two weeks later, Saturday May 7 will be the 21st annual  Free Comic Book Day!

 

The inspiration for Record Store Day was my little Frankenstein, Free Comic Book Day.

The resurgence of vinyl records can be traced directly to Record Store Day and the enthusiasm of locally owned independent record shops. Sure, big chains and mega-corps have horned in on the vinyl party, but it truly was the specialty market, your local independent record shops, that really made the day and set the music business up for more healthy days.

 

Free Comic Book Day is all about indie comics shops like Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff, putting our best feet forward to thank fans, call back former fans and especially introduce new fans to the wonder of comics entertainment.

As the founder of FCBD, and as a huge music fan, I'm pleased to know my little idea blossomed into a really good thing for the comics market all over the world just as FCBD's cousin, Record Store Day, has been great for indie record shops and music fans.

 

Free Comic Book Day & Record Store Day --- Pop culture events bringing happiness and exciting comics and music fans all over the world!

 

Locally, take in Record Store Day at Up The Creek Records in Walnut Creek and Tone Army Records in Concord.

And make plans to join us May 7 for Free Comic Book Day at Flying Colors Comics or any of the two thousand other shops celebrating the day all over the world!

#SupportSmallBusiness #shopindielocal

Flying Colors is OPEN Easter Sunday April 17

 

Free Comic Book Day Guests at Flying Colors Comics!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY Guests

Join us at Flying Colors Comics

Saturday May 7 for Free Comic Book Day!

These Special Guests will be signing starting at 11AM. Be here for the fun.. and for the FREE comics!

MEL SMITH
Comic Book Creator/Publisher, ACME INK, 10 TON PRESS

Mel Smith's comics career goes back to 1985 when he started as an artist and writer for Pinnacle Comics. Mel is a winner of the prestigious Eisner Award for his WildCard Ink/Acme Ink Gumby comic series.

His list of credits includes Rock and Roll Biographies and the soon to be published Becoming Frankenstein, which Mel has been developing for 10 years. Other special projects for 10 Ton Press for 2022 will be announced soon.

Mel Smith resides in the wilds of Orinda, California with his dog Mavis.

JOHN HAGEMAN

John is the mastermind behind one of Flying Colors top-selling comics of 2022... CHARLEY & HUMPHREY #1, the first comic book based on KTVU's afternoon kid's TV show puppets from days long gone. The comic book is fresh for today's market while still celebrating the fond nostalgia so many have for these iconic Northern California characters!

John is co-publisher at 10 Ton Press and one of coolest cartoonists working today!

BEN FERRARI--- Local talent makes it!

Clayton's Ben Ferrari is proud to be a part of FCBD 2022, with his CARRIERS co-creation featured in publisher Red 5 Comics FCBD 2022 free comic book!

Carriers can be described as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles except with pigeons in the New York sky rather than turtles in the sewer.

Ben's been piloting his own comics for years, having a hand in 80+ different projects. His comics career started at Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studios. Ben's Carriers comic series, which he co-created and edits, is his first to be widely distributed by Diamond Comic Distributors.

The first CARRIERS trade paperback releases in May, to be followed by more of his creations coming soon from Red 5 Comics, including the Divebomb graphic novel and Kanin the Marauder!

Masks Optional as of February 16

As of Wednesday February 16, following the guidelines of the Contra Costa Health Department, please be advised Flying Colors will be allowing shop visitors to enter without a mask.

We do ask those not yet vaccinated to continue wearing a mask, and we strongly urge anyone feeling ANY symptoms to please respect the health of the rest of us by staying home!

While lifting the mask mandate for most businesses is a very positive sign in our collective progress against COVID, we will remain vigilant with our cleaning and sanitizing to protect the health of our staff and our customers.

The county health department is following the lead of the California state health department in relaxing mask mandates in many (though not all) situations. After talking with many of our FlyCo Faithful and seeing how difficult it would be to police the wearing of masks--- demanding mask wearing even when the state and county health officials don't--- we opted to follow state and local health guidelines.

The choice is still there for anyone more comfortable by continuing to wear a mask even when it is not required by state and local officials.

Thank you for being respectful of others.

And, as always, thank you for shopping at Flying Colors Comics!