Comic-Con attendees at the San Diego Convention Center (Booking Mentor)
Comic-Con, Convention Center

Did You Know…

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

…that San Diego’s first Comic-Con was held in the basement of The US Grant in 1970 under the name San Diego’s Golden State Comic Con? The event attracted less than 200 people.

The mini convention was spearheaded by a gaggle of local sci-fi fans who conducted sporadic meetings at an Ocean Beach bookstore. By most accounts, the idea to hold the event was put forth by a cash-strapped Sheldon L. Dorf from Michigan, who helped organize comic-book events on the East Coast.

Dorf was visiting his parents in San Diego. He befriended a few local comic book collectors and dealers to eventually present a comic convention in San Diego. The team made a splash by recruiting eminent comic creator Jack Kirby as the event’s special guest.

Comic-Con had homes at the UCSD campus and the El Cortez before ultimately finding its way to the San Diego Convention Center, where it attracted 135,000 attendees in 2019.

Covid put the kibosh on the convention for the last two years, although it’s scheduled to return in all its colorful glory July 21-24.