Shel Dorf Tribute — A tribute to Shel Dorf, founder of San Diego's Comic-Con International

Season’s Greetings From Shel Dorf (c. 1994)

December 20, 2009

Season’s Greetings From Shel Dorf (c. 1994)

More Pictures of Shel’s Giant Greeting Card from Artist Matt Lorentz

December 19, 2009

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”.)

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R.C. Harvey Article About Shel

December 18, 2009

There’s a lengthy article about Shel by R.C. Harvey posted to The Comics Journal web site at http://www.tcj.com/?p=1479. It contains a lot of good biographical information and kind words of appreciation as well a some sensitive observations about Shel’s later years.

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Shel Dorf and Ken Krueger Produce King Kon in 1974

December 18, 2009

Inside Comics #2, August 1974 (published by Galaxy News Service) featured a Mark Evanier article titled “The Mini-Cons That Attacked Southern California!” The article focused on one-day mini-conventions, in particular Greg Koudoulian’s First Sunday Club and the Super Sunday convention produced by David Alexander and Terry Stroud. One other small convention that was featured was the King Kon put on by Comic-Con International’s own Shel Dorf and Ken Krueger. The following is an excerpt from that article reprinted with the author’s permission.

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Cartoonist Jim Whiting Remembers Shel Dorf as Cartoonist Society MVP

December 14, 2009

The Southern California Cartoonists Society (SCCS) web site presents some very nice things written about Shel Dorf. One example is reproduced below (with the permission of the author). It is by cartoonist and SCCS member Jim Whiting. In particular, it illustrates that Shel’s lifelong devotion to fostering community among comics fans and creators extended beyond his work with the San Diego Comic-Con.

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Shel and Jack Kirby Discuss California Living in 1970

December 10, 2009

We thought you might enjoy hearing Shel Dorf’s voice as recorded during a December 1970 visit by San Diego fans to Jack Kirby’s house in Thousand Oaks, California (where the Kirby family had bought a house after renting in Irvine). This is just a brief excerpt from the nearly three-and-one-half hours of audio that was recorded that day. In it, Shel and Jack discuss California living.

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Almost Famous, Thanks to Shel

December 8, 2009

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.

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One of the More Interesting Trips with Shel

December 5, 2009

Shel Dorf adopts a new look in the 80’s while on a trip with Charlie Roberts.

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Shel as Football Player Thud Shelley in Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon

December 4, 2009

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.)

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