Shel Dorf
| Shel Dorf | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg)
Dorf in April 1988
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| Born | Sheldon Dorf July 5, 1933 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | November 3, 2009 (aged 76) San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Area(s) | comic book convention pioneer, letterer |
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Notable works
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San Diego Comic-Con International Steve Canyon (lettering only) |
| Awards | Inkpot Award, 1975 |
| http://www.sheldorftribute.com/ | |
Sheldon "Shel" Dorf (July 5, 1933 - November 3, 2009) was an American comic book enthusiast and the founder of the San Diego Comic-Con International. Dorf was also a freelance artist and graphic designer, who lettered the Steve Canyon comic strip for the last 12 to 14 years of the strip's run.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Dorf was a fan of comic books and comic strips, particularly Chester Gould's work on the daily strip Dick Tracy.
Dorf studied at Chicago's Art Institute before moving to New York and beginning his career as a freelancer in the field of commercial design. In the 1960s, Dorf had made the acquaintance of a number of creators working in the two fields, among them Jack Kirby, upon whom Dorf would occasionally call.
In 1964 back in Detroit, teenager Robert Brusch organised a convention for fans of the comics medium, which Dorf and Jerry Bails, the "father of comics fandom," attended. The next year Dorf and Bails took over the event, christening it the "Detroit Triple Fan Fair" (referring to fantasy literature, fantasy films, and comic art) and organizing it as an annual event. The Detroit Triple Fan Fair (DTFF) is credited as being the first regularly held convention featuring comic books as a major component. Dorf went on to produce the DTFF in 1967 and 1968 as well.
In 1970, Dorf moved to San Diego, California, to take care of his aging parents. Almost immediately, he organized a one-day convention "as a kind of 'dry run' for the larger convention he hoped to stage," with Forrest J Ackerman as the star attraction.
Dorf's first three-day San Diego comics convention, the Golden State Comic-Con, was held at the U. S. Grant Hotel from August 1–3, 1970. It would eventually grow into the San Diego Comic-Con International, now considered the standard bearer for U.S. comic conventions. The convention moved in subsequent years to the El Cortez Hotel; the University of California, San Diego; and Golden Hall, before settling into the San Diego Convention center in 1991.
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