Joe Field, owner of Flying Colors Comics of Concord, CA is retiring from the Board of Directors of ComicsPRO, the retailer organization he helped to found. You can read his whole statement below, but Field has been at the forefront of making comics better for over two decades, both with ComicsPRO and as the originator of Free Comic Book Day and inumerable other behind the scenes actions. After all he’s done for comics, he’s certainly allowed to step back and watch how things unfold.
ComcisPRO will continue with executive director Marco Davanzo, president Peter Dolan, and the rest of the current board.
Read the rest of the statement below:
On a post to the ComicsPRO members’ forum, Field said that “It’s a good time to retire” and mentioned he would continue being an active participant in ComicsPRO. “I’ll continue my ComicsPRO membership and continue to be active, but it’s now time to leave the day-to-day board work to others.”
The Board of Directors and Executive Director would like to thank Field for his long service to the comics’ industry and to ComicsPRO.“Joe Field is one of the great ones,” said Marco Davanzo, Executive Director of ComicsPRO. “As Founding President of ComicsPRO, he helped build this organization into an effective and successful voice for retailers. I will miss his participation on the board,“ said Marco Davanzo, Executive Director of ComicsPRO.
The Board of Directors and members are effusive in their support for Field. “I know I speak for the membership and for the Board of Directors when I say how much we appreciate ALL that he’s done for ComicsPRO,” said Peter Dolan, President of the ComicsPRO Board of Directors. “Joe’s contributions to the organization are countless. I’ll miss his input to the Board, but I’m happy he’s going to remain active within the org.”
Field expressed his feelings that the organization would continue to thrive without him being on the board. “I’ve remained on the board under subsequent ComicsPRO presidents Thomas Gaul and Peter Dolan and I’ve been impressed with their leadership. The org is in good shape with Marco as ED, Pete as president and the current remaining board members,” said Field.
Field was also very proud of ComicsPRO’s growth over his board tenure. “We’re doing a lot of good with ComicsPRO, including ten years of the industry’s only trade event for retailers run by retailers, the founding and excellent second year growth of Local Comic Shop Day® and our various advocacies with industry partners that have been beneficial for all comic specialty retailers,” said Field.
Field is the owner/operator of Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff in Concord, California. Field is a recipient of the Will Eisner “Spirit of Comics” Award and his shop has been recognized with numerous local awards.
Field graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Broadcasting/Marketing and was formerly the Marketing Director for KJOY-AM/KJAX-FM in Stockton, California. In that role, Joe spear-headed a drive to get Marvel Comics to recognize Stockton as “the Official Birthplace of Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four.” The successful effort led to Joe doing free-lance public relations work for Marvel Comics’ publisher Stan Lee, which in turn led to Field working with, then becoming co-owner of WonderCon, Northern California’s largest comic book convention. Field and his WonderCon business partner Mike Friedrich sold the convention to Comic-Con International in April of 2001.
Field has served as a director for the Direct Line Group, the Northern California Comic Dealers’ Association (NCCDA), Bay Area Comic Retailers (BACR) and Comic Book Retailers’ International (CBRI) trade associations, and he served as President of ComicsPRO for eight years, dating back to the organization’s inception. Field is also the founder of Free Comic Book Day, the largest comic book related event in the world. www.FreeComicBookDay.com
ComicsPRO is a non-profit trade association dedicated to the health and progress of direct market comic book retailers. ComicsPRO allows retailers to speak with a unified voice on important industry issues, provides educational and mentoring opportunities to current and future retailers, and provides ways for members to reduce some common fixed costs.
