Southwesterncon was a series of regional multi-genrefan conventions held annually in Texas and Oklahoma between 1966 and 1971 (and then sporadically afterward until 1981). On a rotating basis, conventions were held in Dallas ("D-Con"), Houston ("Houstoncon"), and Oklahoma City ("Multicon"). Most Southwesterncons took place over three days in June. Southwesterncon is credited with being one of the earliest ongoing comic book conventions in the United States.
The initial plan for Southwesterncon was explained by Oklahoma Alliance of Fans co-founder Bart Bush: "Dallas held the first Southwesterncon in 1966, Houston held the second one in 1967, and then it went back to Dallas in 1968. The idea is that they would each do the con every other year."[1] Oklahoma City joined Southwesterncon in 1970.
The convention featured a large range of pop culture elements, primarily comic books but also radio and television serials, science fiction/fantasy (particularly Star Trek), film/television, animation, toys, and horror, as well as a costume contest. Nostalgia for times past played an important role:[2] all Southwesterncon events featured screenings of classic science fiction films and old television serials. The convention featured panels with comic book professionals, and floorspace for exhibitors, including comic book dealers and collectibles merchants. The show included an autograph area, as well as an Artists' Alley where comics artists signed autographs and sold or did free sketches. (Despite the name, Artists' Alley could include writers, celebrities, and even glamour models.)
History
Predecessor
There was an earlier "Southwesterncon": a science fiction convention held in Dallas on July 5–6, 1958. Organized by Tom Reamy and James and Gregory Benford of the Dallas Futurian Society (DFS) (so named after the earlier New York Futurians), Southwesterncon was the first science fiction convention held in Texas. The professional guest of honor was Marion Zimmer Bradley. Longtime science fiction fan personality, collector, and literary agent Forrest J Ackerman came from Los Angeles and served as the convention's banquet toastmaster.
The 1958 Southwesterncon was actually the sixth edition of a regional, rotating city and state series of cons which had started as "Oklacon", editions of which had previously been held in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, and Enid.[3] On the last day of the convention, as part of Southwestercon VI's business meeting, the members of the DFS disbanded their club (due to much behind-the-scenes intrigue and politics). That event spelled the end of the Oklacon/Southwesterncon series of science fiction conventions.
1966–1971: Southwesterncons I–VI
1966 Southwesterncon I (Dallas)
In 1966, Dallas-based comics enthusiast Larry Herndon (co-publisher of the fanzine Star Studded Comics)[4] revived the Southerwesterncon name as a multi-genre convention with a strong comic book focus. On July 23–24, 1966, the new Southerwesterncon (originally titled "Southwestern Con") was inaugurated at Dallas' Hotel Southland. The official guest was Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors executive secretary and Academy Con promoter Dave Kaler. There were approximately 70 attendees at the convention,[5] including Tom Reamy (of the previous iteration of Southwesterncon) and Camille Cazedessus Jr.[3] Events included a costume contest, with Howard Waldrop among the participants.[6] The 1936 British film Things to Come was shown instead of the promised 1933 film King Kong.[3]
1967 Southwesterncon II (Houston)
Meanwhile, in 1965, Houston-based enthusiasts Ray Bonario, Marc Schooley, and Jerry Poscovsky formed the Houston Comic Collector's Association (HCCA).[7] In 1967, the HCCA produced the second Southwesterncon, officially known as the "Houston Comic Convention",[8] expanding it to three days and staging it at the Houston Ramada Inn on June 16–18 of that year.[9]
The third Southerwesterncon was held in 1968 at the Hotel Southland in Dallas. Produced by Larry Herndon and Tom Reamy,[12] official guests included special guest Fritz Leiber,[13] guest of honor Harold LeDoux, and H. H. Hollis.
Meanwhile, in March 1967, Oklahoma-based comics enthusiasts Bart Bush, Paul McSpadden, John Wooley, and others had founded the Oklahoma Alliance of Fans (OAF) in an Oklahoma City garage.[18][19][2] OAF joined the Southwesterncon "team" in 1970,[20] as explained by OAF-co-founder Bart Bush. "Dallas announced that it was bidding to host the 1973 World Science Fiction Convention, so it didn't want to do the Southwesterncon in 1970. That's when OAF stepped forward to do the 1970 con. Dallas put their support behind us, as did Houston, who didn't want to do the con in two successive years."[1][lower-alpha 1]
The third leg of Southwesterncon, officially dubbed "Multicon 70," was held at the Skirvan Hotel in Oklahoma City on June 19–21, 1970. Don Maris and Robert A. Brown of OAF acted as convention chairs.[1]Buster Crabbe was the guest of honor[22] and Reed Crandall was the guest speaker.[23] Other guests included Jim Harmon. The show featured an exhibition of the world's largest private collection of Frank Frazetta's art.
Among the 511 attendees was G. B. Love.[26] The teenage comics dealer Bud Plant drove from San Diego to attend the show;[27] he was nearly arrested for selling "pornography" due to the underground comix he displayed at his table.[28]
1971 Southwesterncon VI (Dallas)
In 1971, disputes amongst the Southwesterncon members[29] led to both Houston and Dallas staging conventions that year. The Houston Comic Collector's Association staged Houstoncon '71 on June 17–20, while the Dallas contingent put on "D-Con '71" — billed as the 6th annual Southwesterncon — on July 8–11; Robert Bloch was the guest of honor.[30]
1972–1981: D-Con and Multicon continue the tradition
With Houstoncon going out on its own and by 1973 becoming an annual event, the other legs of Southwesterncon — Dallas' D-Con and Oklahoma City's Multicon — continued the tradition of rotating convention sites (though not always every other year).
1972 Multicon
Multicon returned to Oklahoma City in 1972 with Eric Groves and Don Maris of OAF producing the convention.[1] Guests included Will Eisner,[31] attending only his second-ever comic convention[32] (and illustrating the convention booklet); other guests included Spanky McFarland, George Evans, Lum and Abner, and Tim Holt. For the teenage Chuck Rozanski, the 1972 Multicon was his first national comics convention;[33] he sold $1,800 in comics in three days, at that point realizing that comics retailing could be a career. The young Robert Beerbohm also set up as a dealer at that show.[32]
According to Chuck Rozanski, Harlan Ellison "liv[ed] up to his bad boy reputation by offending practically everyone in the state of Texas with his profanity-laced keynote address, and his genuinely derogatory depiction of the Lone Star State... In any event, I understand that Harlan was officially disinvited from any further Dallas shows after that one colorful appearance."[35]
Multicon 81, the final edition of that show, was produced by OAF chairs Bart Bush and Gary & Elaine Burleson;[38] guests included John Byrne, L. B. Cole, Jim Engel, Chuck Fialla, Mike McQuay, John Wooley, and Ron Wolfe.
A "Multicon '82" for the following year was promised,[38] but never ended up happening.
Legacy
Larry Lankford, who produced D-Con '79, went on to produce the long-running Dallas Fantasy Fair.[39]
OAF member Bart Bush later opened the first comic book retailer in Oklahoma: Down Memory Lane in Norman.[18] In 2007, the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Oklahoma Alliance of Fans, Bart Bush created OAFcon, a comics convention held in Norman. "OAFcon proved popular enough that it became an annual event and drew collectors from across the nation."[18] Bush died in 2020, and "Peter Purin, organizer of Uncanny Comic Expo, took over running the show in 2021."[19] OAFcon '22 took place September 17–18, 2022, at the Embassy Suites in Norman. Focusing "on Tarzan, The Shadow, and more," author Mike Chapman was the featured special guest, along with Anthony Tollin, J. David Spurlock, Buddy Saunders, and Steve Borock of MyComicShop.com.[19]
Convention locations and dates
This section is missing information about dates and venues. Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.(February 2023)
D-Con (Dundee Convention), a defunct anime convention held in Dundee, Scotland
Notes
↑ Ultimately, Dallas was not chosen as the 1973 Worldcon host; that distinction went to Toronto, which hosted Torcon II.[21]
Related Research Articles
The Comic Art Convention (CAC) was an American comic book fan convention held annually New York City, New York, over Independence Day weekend from 1968 through 1983, except for 1977, when it was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 1978 to 1979, when editions of the convention were held in both New York and Philadelphia. The first large-scale comics convention, and one of the largest gatherings of its kind until the Comic-Con International in San Diego, California, it grew into a major trade and fan convention. It was founded by Phil Seuling, a Brooklyn, New York City, teacher, who later developed the concept of comic-book direct marketing, which led to the rise to the modern comic book store.
Philip Nicholas Seuling was an American comic book fan convention organizer and comics distributor primarily active in the 1970s. Seuling was the organizer of the annual New York Comic Art Convention, originally held in New York City every July 4 weekend throughout the 1970s. Later, with his Sea Gate Distributors company, Seuling developed the concept of the direct market distribution system for getting comics directly into comic book specialty shops, bypassing the then established newspaper/magazine distributor method, where no choices of title, quantity, or delivery directions were permitted.
The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. With an attendance of 200,000 in 2022, it is North America's most attended fan convention. The New York Comic Con is a for-profit event produced and managed by ReedPop, a division of RX and Reed Elsevier, and is not affiliated with the long running non-profit San Diego Comic-Con, nor the Big Apple Convention, later known as the Big Apple Comic-Con, owned by Wizard Entertainment.
Mile High Comics is an online retailer and comic book store founded by Chuck Rozanski.
Jerry Gwin Bails was an American popular culturist. Known as the "Father of Comic Book Fandom," he was one of the first to approach the comic book field as a subject worthy of academic study, and was a primary force in establishing 1960s comics fandom.
Charles M. Rozanski is a German-American retailer and columnist, known as the President and CEO of the Denver, Colorado-based Mile High Comics Inc., and a former columnist for the Comics Buyer's Guide.
Bud Plant Inc. was a wholesale comics distributor active in the 1970s and 1980s during the growth of the direct market. The company also published a selection of comics and zines during the same period. Starting in 1970 as a mail-order distributor specializing in underground comix, Bud Plant absorbed some of his smaller rivals in the 1980s, and then sold his business to Diamond Comics Distributors in 1988. He still, as Bud Plant's Art Books, sells quality reprints and graphic novels.
The Comic Reader (TCR) was a comics news-fanzine published from 1961 to 1984. Debuting in the pre-direct market era, TCR was the first regularly published comics industry news fanzine, and was able to secure many contacts from within the ranks of the larger publishers. As TCR increased in popularity and influence, it was able to attract professional artist to illustrate the covers. TCR also proved to be a launching pad for aspiring comic book creators, many of whom published work in the fanzine as amateurs. Contributors from the world of fandom included founding editor Jerry Bails, key editor Paul Levitz, Paul Kupperberg, Tony Isabella, Byron Preiss, Neal Pozner, Don Rosa, Carl Gafford, and Doug Hazlewood.
The Detroit Triple Fan Fair (DTFF) was a multigenre convention generally held annually in Detroit from 1965 to 1977. It is credited for being one of the first comic book conventions in the United States. The Triple Fan Fair also gave balanced coverage to historic film showings and science fiction literature, in a manner that provided a template for many future convention organizers — most of which have yet to attain the same level of equal service to this sort of linked fan base.
Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope is a 2011 documentary film on San Diego Comic-Con, directed by Morgan Spurlock.
The Dallas Fantasy Fair was an annual multi-genre fan convention held between 1982 and 1995 in Dallas, Texas. From 1989 until the show's demise in 1996, it was the home of the Harvey Award ceremonies. During its heyday, the show was one of the largest comics conventions in the country, third in attendance behind San Diego Comic-Con and the Chicago Comicon.
Houstoncon was an annual multi-genre fan convention which was held between 1967 and 1982 in Houston, Texas. Houstoncon started out as a member of the Southwesterncon series of regional conventions, but eventually became an independent con. Most Houstoncons took place over three days in June, from Friday to Sunday. The founders of Houstoncon were Roy Bonario and Marc Schooley; Houston area entrepreneur Ed Blair, Jr. was also a key member of the organizing committee.
Rocket's Blast Comicollector (RBCC) was a comics advertising fanzine published from 1964 to 1983. The result of a merger with a similar publication, RBCC's purpose was to bring fans together for the purpose of adding to their comic book collections. It also proved to be a launching pad for aspiring comic book creators, many of whom corresponded and exchanged their work through RBCC, and published work in the fanzine as amateurs.
The Academy of Comic-Book Fans and Collectors (ACBFC) was the first official organization of comic book enthusiasts and historians. Active during the 1960s, the ACBFC was established by Jerry Bails, the "father of comics fandom". A vital player in the development of comics fandom, the ACBFC brought fans of the medium together, administered the first industry awards, and assisted in the establishment of the first comic book fan conventions.
Comix Fair was a comic convention that was held annually between 1983 and 1996 in Houston, Texas. It was produced by the Houston-based company Utopia Entertainment.
A comic book convention or comic con is a fan convention emphasizing comic books and comic book culture, in which comic book fans gather to meet creators, experts, and each other. Commonly, comic conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels, or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels, with a larger number of attendees participating with cosplay than for most other types of fan conventions. Comic book conventions are also used as a method by which publishers, distributors, and retailers represent their comic-related releases. Comic book conventions may be considered derivatives of science-fiction conventions, which began during the late 1930s.
James Van Hise is an American popular culture historian and comic book author. He had a long connection with the popular fanzine Rocket's Blast Comicollector (RBCC), and was its editor/publisher from 1974 to 1983. He also had a lengthy association with Hal Schuster, owner of New Media Publishing and Pioneer Books. Van Hise is the author of more than ten books, many of them published by Pioneer Books.
David A. Kaler is an American writer. He was a primary force in establishing 1960s comic book fandom, particularly through the form of the comics convention. Later, he had a short-lived career as a comics writer for such publishers as Charlton Comics, DC Comics, and Warren Publishing.
↑ Wooley, John (December 22, 2017). "A Jim-Dandy Comic Con". Oklahoma Magazine. In 1970, following a few similar Texas-based get-togethers, a group called the Oklahoma Alliance of Fans held its first Multicon in Oklahoma City, celebrating comic books, old movies, radio plays and related material.
↑ austex23 (August 13, 2012). "Early Comic Fandom in Texas (and elsewhere)". CollectedEditions.com. I bought this copy either in 1967 at the first Houstoncon or in 1968 when the Southwesterncon, as it was briefly known, moved back to Dallas. For a very short period of time, Dallas, Houston, and Oklahoma City cooperated on the cons but territorial issues between Houston and Dallas ended the rotation and cons happened regularly in all three cities after 1970.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
