1975 San Diego Comic Con 0

[N e r V]

It was July of 1975 and Disco was keeping everyone dancing in clubs, Fleetwood Mac got a reboot with their first new release this month and Jaws was keeping everyone out of or nervous in the water that summer. Star Wars was still 2 years away from redefining what Sci-Fi would be in the movies going forward with its mainstream breakout so for anyone collecting comics it was still very much out on the fringe with any interest they might have in the world of science and fantasy. On TV we had a bionic man and night stalker filling our small screen fantasy itches. Comics in 1975 were still in a period of format varieties with giant-size, treasury sized and magazine sized offerings along side comic sized giving the fan many ways to enjoy their comics fix’s. No internet, so no eBay, comic link, Heritage or web sites to explore. Comic book stores were a rare beast so only waiting for mail order catalogs, small shows, occasionally a used book store or comic conventions to expand your back issue collections. So in July of 1975 San Diego had another comic convention at the old El Cortez Hotel and nearly 2,500 fans showed up to a show that was becoming a standard for comic book conventions. The numbers today are laughable as to what was once concerned strong attendance numbers since today’s show now capped at around 170,000 with well over a million people trying for its yearly offerings of “Golden” tickets in. Despite its size or lack there of there was something incredibly “fun” in those early cons. It really was the Wild West of comics collecting. 

 

 

Hey, that years Con even had its own record album released by Dynapubs. Good luck finding a copy in shape today.

 

http://www.comicconmemories.com/2009/12/22/alan-lights-1975-san-diego-comic-con-lp-record-listen-to-it-here/

 

The summer of 1975 had even more offerings in San Diego than comics too. Life seemed so much simpler back then...

 

 

Enjoy the visit....

Edited November 1, 2018 by N e r V

[N e r V]

 

[silverseeker]

Very cool...thanks for sharing!

[N e r V]

 

[N e r V]

 

[N e r V]

 

[N e r V]

 

[N e r V]

 

Bill Lund shows a Flash Gordon book to little Harry Knowles, 3 1/2, of Austin, Texas, on July 30, 1975. Knowles would go on to found the website Ain't It Cool News. (Dan Tichonchuk/U-T/San Diego Historical Society) 

Alan Light, founder of the long-running "The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom" (later known as "Comics Buyer's Guide"), recorded all of the panels and speeches at this 1975 convention and put together highlights for a limited-edition 12-inch LP record that also featured an interview with Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel.

Date: July 30-Aug. 3
Attendance: 2,500-plus
Venue: El Cortez Hotel
Among the guests: Robert Bloch, Will Eisner, Gil Kane, Stan Lee, Chuck Norris, Jim Steranko

 

[Artboy99]

The collection we bought in April has all of those programs and it even had that record.

Thanks for the post!

[Wipple]

Admission tickets still in my 75 guide

[chrisco37]

Very cool!  

[jimjum12]

3 hours ago, Wipple said:

Admission tickets still in my 75 guide

That price guide was my first  GOD BLESS.....

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

[sfcityduck]

8 hours ago, N e r V said:

 

 

Now I'm really impressed!

How about some i.d. on the pictures.  Was one of those of Steranko?

[adamstrange]

I find it remarkable that the Goals of Comic Con make no reference to "comics".  (Yes, I did notice "cartooning" which isn't quite the same thing.)

 

[N e r V]

9 hours ago, N e r V said:

 

 

30 minutes ago, sfcityduck said:

Now I'm really impressed!

How about some i.d. on the pictures.  Was one of those of Steranko?

Not my photos but here’s some ID’s for you starting at the top.

Photo 1: a general view of some of the dealers tables

Photo 2: same general area but with Wendy Pini (future Elf Quest creator) dressed in chain mail as Red Sonja.

Photo 3: Kirk Alyn (40’s Superman) looking across at Grace Lee Whitney (Star Treks yeoman Janice Rand)

Photo 4: Len Wein (creator of Swamp Thing and Wolverine). At the time Swamp Thing was nothing more than a fun new little DC horror series and  fans didn’t care yet about that minor B character Wolverine who was appearing in the recently relaunched X-Men series and barely registered a blip on anyone’s radar. Issue #95 of X-Men was on the stands at this time. 

Photo 5: Jack Kirby doing what he did up until his death. Talking, drawing and signing for fans. I wish every creator I met was as nice and fan friendly as Jack was.

Photo 6: Steranko was promoting Chandler at the time. As a kid the Supergraphics stuff was big with me and the History of Comics helped me to know what to look for early on. I’ve gotten more history on comics and creators from Steranko than most. I had a Talon poster hanging on my bedroom wall growing up.

Photo 7: If you look carefully that’s Ray Bradbury out there shopping.

 

 

[N e r V]

39 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

I find it remarkable that the Goals of Comic Con make no reference to "comics".  (Yes, I did notice "cartooning" which isn't quite the same thing.)

 

I don’t want to give out any misinformation so this only a guess on my part but I seem to remember Shel Dorf having comic strip leanings in his interests so this may be why it’s worded that way. Again only guesswork on my part. I can say I met a lot of comic strip artists early on in my life thanks to SDCC. 

[adamstrange]

9 minutes ago, N e r V said:

I don’t want to give out any misinformation so this only a guess on my part but I seem to remember Shel Dorf having comic strip leanings in his interests so this may be why it’s worded that way. Again only guesswork on my part. I can say I met a lot of comic strip artists early on in my life thanks to SDCC. 

Shel was a letterer for Milton Caniff's "Steve Canyon" strip.

[N e r V]

16 minutes ago, adamstrange said:

Shel was a letterer for Milton Caniff's "Steve Canyon" strip.

I remember my exchanges with him were early on in the cons history. Can’t think of anything that stood out but just remember he had a keen interest in the strips. 

I had friends that had way more contact with him in later years including his very messy and sad relationship to the modern SDCC and it’s “heirs”.

 

Edited November 1, 2018 by N e r V

[Mmehdy]

WOW, on the TV 10 1975 report, at the very end, I am the guy in yellow looking at the paperbacks so intently...great convention by the way...LON LIVE SD

[Senormac]

12 hours ago, N e r V said:

 

 

Dealers room