Cool Stuff Winners Are Here!

Maybe you've seen the TV commerical featuring Jenny and inviting everyone to enter FLYING COLORS' Cool Stuff contest. We've been seeing a number of new faces visiting FLYING COLORS, here to check out all the great stuff going on across the comics' spectrum.

Pictured here are the lucky winners of the Cool Stuff contest (so far!).

Each winner was the recipient of a $100 FLYING COLORS Shopping Spree,
so you can see some of the cool stuff each chose on their
Shopping Spree.

Congratulations to Tiffany (top photo),
who chose a nice assortment of Rogue and Mystique back issues among her Spree prizes.

Marcelle (pictured at left in the middle photo) made it a family affair, taking home some comics,
Marvel Legends action figures
and a Daredevil t-shirt!

Tyler (bottom photo) chose a Dragon action figure from McFarlane Toys, STAR WARS Clone Wars Adventures,
some cool Godzilla books
and a few volumes of the mega-poular
manga NARUTO.

The Cool Stuff contest is continuing,
so if you haven't yet filled out an
entry form, please make sure to
do so the next time you visit
FLYING COLORS.

Remember--- When it Happens in Comics, it Happens in FLYING COLORS!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Top 50 Graphic Novels for 2006!

Thought you might like to see the list of top-selling graphic novels here at FLYING COLORS during 2006. This chart is based on number of copies sold from January 1-December 31, 2006.



1. GIANT KILLER TP

2. BONE VOL 1 OUT FROM BONEVILLE

3. PRIDE OF BAGHDAD

4. V FOR VENDETTA

5. BONE VOL 3 EYES OF THE STORM

6. HOUSE OF M

7. CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL 1 WINTER SOLDIER

8. WALKING DEAD VOL 1 DAYS GONE BYE

9. RUNAWAYS VOL 1 PRIDE AND JOY

10. Y THE LAST MAN VOL 1 UNMANNED

11. ASTONISHING X-MEN VOL 1 GIFTED
12. WALKING DEAD VOL 4 HEARTS DESIRE
13. IDENTITY CRISIS
14. STAR WARS CLONE WARS ADVENTURES VOL 5
15. Y THE LAST MAN VOL 7 PAPER DOLLS
16. BATMAN HUSH VOL 1
17. BONE VOL 4 DRAGONSLAYER
18. Y THE LAST MAN VOL 6 GIRL ON GIRL
19. SERENITY
20. BATMAN HUSH RETURNS
21. STAR WARS CLONE WARS ADVENTURES VOL 2
22. ASTONISHING X-MEN VOL 2 DANGEROUS
23. BATMAN HUSH VOL 2
24. BATMAN SON OF THE DEMON
25. EX MACHINA VOL 3 FACT V FICTION
26. WATCHMEN
27. FABLES 1001 NIGHTS OF SNOWFALL
28. Y THE LAST MAN VOL 4 SAFEWORD
29. Frank Miller's 300
30. Y THE LAST MAN VOL 3 ONE SMALL STEP
31. SUPERMAN BATMAN VOL 1 PUBLIC ENEMIES
32. Y THE LAST MAN VOL 2 CYCLES
33. BONE VOL 2 GREAT COW RACE
34. NEW AVENGERS VOL 2 SENTRY
35. Y THE LAST MAN VOL 5 RING OF TRUTH
36. DMZ VOL 1 ON THE GROUND
37. NARUTO VOL 1
38. NARUTO VOL 6
39. BATMAN FACE THE FACE
40. FABLES VOL 1 LEGENDS IN EXILE
41. STAR WARS CLONE WARS ADVENTURES VOL 4
42. SUPERMAN BATMAN VOL 2 SUPERGIRL
43. Y THE LAST MAN VOL 8 KIMONO DRAGONS
44. BATMAN UNDER THE HOOD VOL 2
45. JOHNNY the HOMICIDAL MANIAC
46. NARUTO VOL 2
47. NEW AVENGERS VOL 1 BREAKOUT
48. WALKING DEAD VOL 3
49. CAPTAIN AMERICA WINTER SOLDIER VOL 2
50. DC UNIVERSE THE STORIES OF ALAN MOORE

A few highlights from the list:
* The graphic novel of the year is most definitely Brian K Vaughn & Niko Henrichon's PRIDE of BAGHDAD, a gripping story of the flight of the animals from the Baghdad zoo at the outbreak of the Iraq war.

* All four volumes released to date of Jeff Smith's BONE colors series from Scholastic Books finished in the Top 33! Consider that FLYING COLORS has been supporting this series since its start as a black & white comic book back in '91, it's simply amazing that a 15 year-old "indie" comic like BONE continues to find legions of new readers. Quality wins again!

* Besides writer Brian K Vaughn finishing with an astounding 16 titles in the FLYING COLORS Top 100, ALL volumes of his (and Pia Guerra's) Y the LAST MAN series from DC/VERTIGO landed in the Top 50!

* Other strong series with multiple entries in the Top 50 include the zombie epic WALKING DEAD (Image), the twisted fairy tales of Bill Willingham's FABLES (DC/VERTIGO), last year's #1 ASTONISHING X-MEN (Marvel), and the mega-popular manga NARUTO.

We have posted a list in the store of more than 150 of the top-sellers from 2006, and we hope you'll take the time to discover something new to explore among the wide selection of graphic novels FLYING COLORS stocks every day of the year.

And thanks for your support in 2006. We look forward to big things in the coming months of 2007!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Get Ready to Read Something Great!

In the next week or so, I'll be compiling FLYING COLORS' 2006 List of Top 100 Graphic Novels.

As a small point of reference, here are the TOP 10 entries from our 2005 list:
1) Astonishing X-Men VOL 1 GIFTED (MARVEL)
2) Ex Machina THE FIRST HUNDRED DAYS (DC/WILDSTORM)
3) Frank Miller SIN CITY VOL 1 HARD GOODBYE (DARK HORSE)
4) Bone VOL 1 OUT OF BONEVILLE COLOR ED (SCHOLASTIC)
5) Superman/Batman VOL 1 PUBLIC ENEMIES (DC)
6) Batman HUSH VOL 2 (DC)
7) Life & Times of SCROOGE MCDUCK (GEMSTONE)
8) Star Wars CLONE WARS ADVENTURES VOL 3 (DARK HORSE)
9) Batman YEAR ONE DELUXE EDITION (DC)
10) Runaways VOL 3 GOOD DIE YOUNG DIGEST (MARVEL)

What I'd like to hear from you---the Flying Colors' Faithful and other casual readers of this blog--- are your thoughts on the best graphic novels and comic books of the past year. Simply go to the end of this entry and hit the link on the word 'comments'. It's just that easy.

Let everyone know what you loved from the World of Comics in 2006--- and then we'll all get ready to read some great stuff all through 2007!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Happy New Year---

and, a day late, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Stan "the Man" Lee!

Stan had his 84th birthday yesterday---so it was a case of great timing when Mark Parsons (the first FlyCo staffer back in October '88) sent me this link to YouTube.com featuring Stan Lee as a guest on the old TV game show "To Tell the Truth"!

Check this out!



Happy Birthday, Stan---and Happy New Year to everyone!


Hours for New Years' WeeK:
Sunday 12/31/06--- 12pm-5pm
Monday 1/1/07--- CLOSED
Tuesday 1/2/07---11am-7pm
Wednesday 1/3/07--- 11am-7pm
Thursday 1/4/07--- 11am-8pm (NEW RELEASES DAY for this week!)
Friday 1/5/07--- 11am-7pm

Thanks for making 2006 the best ever here at FLYING COLORS!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Cindy's Song

OK, it's proud papa time.

That beautiful smile you see to the right is on the lovely face of my youngest daughter, Cindy.

Last Friday evening, I had the huge honor and pleasure of being there for Cindy's first live music performance at the Velo Rouge Café (Arguello at McAllister) in the City.

Take a look at a video of her original song called "Deeper Look" HERE!

***Caution: this was shot on a small digital camera in a mood-lit café, so the conditions were not optimum for either sound or video. But this is something I've been busting to share, so I hope you enjoy it!***

Edited to add Cindy's lyrics to "Deeper Look"...

Peace!

FlyCoJoe
(Lots of new comics and other cool stuff hit the racks Wednesday morning at FLYING COLORS!)

More Gift Ideas: Your New Favorite Shirt!

FLYING COLORS is now featuring the stunning line of Poly-Wicking High Performance Technical T-Shirts from the fine folks at Pure Hero.


Heat and moisture wicking should be the foundation of everyone's apparel for play, work, and living.

This is serious technical stuff, but combined with classic and classy super hero designs, it's also really cool stuff.


Once you own one, you'll make these High Performance Crew Shirts the mainstay of your casual wardrobe.

You don't have to play hard to wear them, but they are designed to!

Engineered for athletes and die-hard comic fans alike.

Now's the time to learn something about the virtues of performance apparel by slipping into these cool shirts from Pure Hero!


Flying Colors has the four Pure Hero styles pictured here in stock right now. Adult sizes S, M,L, XL & XXL. $27.99 each.


Come in soon for the best selection!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

More Cool Gift Ideas!

Here's a nice gift suggestion for the sports fans in your life!
FLYING COLORS is featuring a limited edition Sportscards' Gift Pack.
Each box contains more than 20 (yes, twenty!) different packs of Major League football, baseball and basketball cards, along with a pack of 100 card sleeves, a Guide to Collecting Sportscards, and a few surrprise cards of limited availability--- all in an 800 count card storage box, gift-wrapped for the holidays. And it's only $19.99! We only have a limited number of these, so hurry in soon!

One more thing: here's our last new Christmas commercial. This one features Brian (FLYING COLORS' resident New Comics' Genius) and Jenny (Girls' Comics Guru). I'm in there, too...



Come see us soon!
Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Happy Holidays!

Come in soon, OK?

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

The SPIRIT of the season...

Huge recommendation coming---- Darwyn Cooke (DC New Frontier) and Jeph Loeb (TV's Heroes and LOST) have co-produced the newly released BATMAN/SPIRIT comic book and it is a ton of fun. Featuring most of the Rogues' Gallery from both heroes, with plot twists, turns and sight gags, this is a story everyone can read, re-read and enjoy many times over.

With several artistic nods to the Spirit's creator, the late great comics' pioneer Will Eisner, Loeb and Cooke have come up with an action and humor filled romp that will go down as one of the year's best releases. Don't miss it!


Last weekend's Thanksgiving Sale was well-received by everyone around here, but I realized a lot of folks left town for the long holiday weekend and didn't get a chance to score some of the deals we offered.

So I decided to extend our sale prices in two categories through the end of this week. Right now, a special selection of LIMITED Edition Statues and Busts (all highlighted with red dots)--- featuring many of your favorite comics' characters---are 50% OFF! That's well below our original cost! And DC Direct Action Figure Sets, each set with five figures, are on sale through this week--- regularly $85/set, now only $65/set. Supplies are limited, so come in soon. These prices will be good through Sunday December 3.

Peace!

FlyCoJoe

Two-Day SALE Friday & Saturday!

We'll be going all day Friday and Saturday (11am-7pm both days) with some terrific deals for those doing some early Holiday shopping (anything before Christmas Eve is early for me!)

Besides some special sales prices on trade paperbacks, manga, graphic novels, back issues, t-shirts, calendars and action figures, here's a brief look at some very special sale prices:

*We'll have a nice selection of limited edition statues and busts on sale far below cost at 50% off!
* Marvel Essentials trade paperbacks are Buy Two, Get One FREE!
* DC Direct Complete 5-figure Action Figure Sets--- reg. $85, only $65!
* DC Archives & Marvel Masterworks hardcovers--- buy two or more, get 30% off!

Plus, everyone gets a FREE 2007 Marvel Comics/Flying Colors Poster Calendar with exclusive art by John Romita Jr!

Be here for the best selection.

And HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Peace!

FlyCoJoe