I (Mike Towry) have been scanning some of Shel Dorf’s old film negatives and came across two great pictures of Shel with guests at the 1973 San Diego Comic-Con, which was held at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel. Pictured with Shel are voice actress June Foray and D.C. comics artist and editor Carmine Infantino.
Art / Images
At the ComicConMemories.com web site, you can listen to audio recordings of many committe members and guest speakers from the first San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con, which was held August 1st thru 3rd, 1970 in the U.S. Grant Hotel. The list of those recorded includes the following: Shel Dorf, Ken Krueger, Barry Alfonso, Greg Bear, Ray Bradbury, Roger Freedman, Mark Hanerfeld, Earl Kemp, Jack Kirby, Scott Shaw!, and Morrie Turner.
Season’s Greetings From Shel Dorf (c. 1994)
Artist Matt Lorentz sent in the following two new pictures of the giant greeting card that he took around Comic-Con 2009 so that many artist friends and admirers of Shel could sketch on it for him. (See previous article “Artist Matt Lorentz Remembers Shel Dorf”.)
Southern California Cartoonist Society member Charlie Roberts detailed his friendship with Shel in another posting on this site, but here’s a follow-up to the birth of the “Baby Thid Thez” panel cartoon, which Shel inked for Charlie, in the Point Loma “Beacon” bi-weekly newspaper.
Shel Dorf was a great fan of Milton Caniff, creator of comic strips Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon. It was a fan’s dream come true when Caniff hired him to letter the Steve Canyon strip, which Shel did from 1977 to 1988. An earlier fan thrill for Shel came when Caniff modeled a recurring character in Steve Canyon after him. The character was football-player Thud Shelley. The following image is of a page Shel sent to Richard Alf. (Richard, at age seventeen, helped Shel start San Diego’s Comic-Con International back in 1969, at which time it was known as San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con.)
Here’s a portrait of Shel by Jack Kirby from June, 1989. (Scanned image of portrait provided by Charlie Roberts.)
Here’s a portrait of Shel by Dave Stevens from August, 1974. (Scanned image of portrait provided by Charlie Roberts.)
A page from the 1979 Comic-Con program book with Shel’s note to David Scroggy at the bottom. Shel’s note to David reads: “It’s wonderful how much good fun we all had in the 70’s! The work put into these drawings reflects the spirit!”
David Scroggy writes, “If you read my Guest Book entry, you’ll see I make reference to a watercolor portrait my father, Hal Scroggy, did of Shel. My dad is a prominent watercolorist – he is a member of the prestigious American Watercolor Society, for example, and has won many awards. A number of people have written me expressing curiosity to see the piece.”
Jack Kirby (left) and Shel Dorf — Nov. 9, 1969