San Diego ComicCon is reporting the death of its co-founder, Richard Alf, on 4 January 2012 of pancreatic cancer, at the age of 59. They write “As one of the original founders of our organization, he was instrumental in creating Comic-Con as an event that sought to highlight the contribution of comics, science fiction, film, literature, and the greater popular arts and bring them to a wider audience. His achievement is even more remarkable when we consider that he was only 17 years old when he and a small group of friends undertook the great adventure that would become Comic-Con.”
His San Diego Union-Tribune obituary writes that “In 1970, Sheldon Dorf led a band of volunteers organizing San Diego’s first Comic-Con. The 35-year-old Michigan transplant had the vision and the experience, having run similar shows in Detroit. But if Dorf was the main man, Richard Alf was the indispensable teen. The 17-year-old senior at Kearny High School possessed two things Dorf did not: a car and cash.”
Co-founder Mike Towry is quoted in the Union-Tribune saying “He was a really good businessman. For the first three years, Richard would front the money—and it could have been as much as a few thousand dollars—to the convention and then get paid back afterward.” He also says that, since Dorf didn’t have his own car, Alf’s battered 1954 Volkswagen bug was also critical. “In those early days, it was all about Richard’s VW.”
Alf had money to invest in the convention from his comic book business. While most of his friends were simply enjoying and trading comics, Alf quickly turned his hobby into a business. Soon after SDCC started up, he founded the Comic Kingdom shop in North Park, California, selling the store at the end of the decade. Later he worked in advertising and stock trading.
Related articles previously published on SFScope:
San Diego ComicCon founder Shel Dorf dies (5 November 2009)