Photo: Mike Towry
Richard Alf, at age 17, co-founded (with Shel Dorf, Mike Towry, and Ken Kreuger), chaired, financed and organized the first San Diego Comic-Con in 1970.
Above: Alf at the opening of his comic book store, Comic Kingdom, in 1975—a great year for comics. Those are Frazetta posters on the wall. One of Alf’s notable achievements was expanding Comic-Con to include the fantasy and sci-fi genres (Ray Bradbury appeared and spoke in 1970).
Below: Alf (in glasses) with Jack Kirby and fans in 1969. Shel Dorf is second from right.
I’ll post some early Comic-Con photos later today.
Photo: Mike Towry
(Photos via Inc.com and comic-con.org)
2 Warps to Neptune 
Wow! I had no idea the SD Con started in ’70!? A buddy of mine started going back in ’91 and he said back then it was a mere fraction of the size (and hype) that it is now. They were held in one of the hotel ballroom things and even then it was just rows of comics. Imagine how low key it must’ve been in the ’70s??
These days it’s ridiculous. I stopped going back in ’06 ‘coz it was just way too crowded and irritating. Way too many people and gargantuan corporate booths that were just too overwhelming.
Truth. I was so disappointed when I went.
I’m trying to recall where I know the name “Richard Alf” from. I think in the mid-late 1970’s he ran comic book mail order ads in Marvel and DC titles, and I might have bought from him several times.
The second photo above reminds me of JIMMY OLSEN issues 144 and 145, Dec 1971 and Jan 1972, and some musician characters at a night club called “The San Diego Five String Mob” that are secretly Apokalips agents. That in the letter column, Mark Evanier explains are based on a group of young fans Jack Kirby met at San Diego Comic Con. And I suspect these are the same guys in the above photo.