San Diego Comic-Con co-founder and Shel’s pal Richard Alf passed away on January 4, 2012.

There will be a memorial service for Richard at 3PM on Thursday, January 12 at the following location:

Bonham Brothers & Stewart Mortuary and Cremation Service
321 12th St., Ramona, CA 92065
(760) 789-1678

There will also be a viewing on Wednesday, January 11 from 3PM until 8PM at the same location.

Also, although arrangements have yet to be finalized as of this writing, there is a tentative plan for Richard to be interred on Friday, January 13 at 1PM next to his father at Inglewood Park Cemetery, 720 East Florence Ave., Inglewood, CA 90301.

From left to right: Dan Stewart, Bob Sourk, Richard Alf (the tall guy with glasses), Barry Alfonso (in front), Jack "King" Kirby, Shel Dorf, and Wayne Kincaid. Picture taken on November 9, 1969 at the Kirby-family home in Irvine, California.

Shel Dorf in panel six of the "The Sky's the Limit!" mural

"The Sky's the Limit!" mural (Click for larger image.)

The new cartoon art mural titled “The Sky’s the Limit!” at San Diego’s International Airport was unveiled on Memorial Day weekend 2011 and pays homage to San Diego’s rich aviation and comic art histories. A caricature of Comic-Con Founder Shel Dorf and airborne characters Steve Canyon, Snoopy, and Phil Yeh’s Winged Tiger are featured along side cartooned versions of pilots and aircraft from Lindbergh Field . This tribute to the friendly skies and imagination is located on the Sky Bridge at Terminal 1.

(Click on thumbnail images below to view full-size images.)

It was created in Adobe Illustrator by 19 cartoonists hailing from San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, Colorado, Austin, and Hawaii. The artwork was printed and installed by Brett O’Connell and Robert Garrison at Quantum Digital Imaging in San Diego. Non-toxic, biodegradable latex based inks were screened onto vinyl to produce the final print. Inspired by the murals of friend Phil Yeh, the idea for this mural sprung from the imaginations of Greg Koudoulian and Richard Alf, founders of The Official Shel Dorf FanClub and Entourage. They contacted artist and mural art director Matt Lorentz, who enlisted 16 other cartoonists and illustrators, as well as the studios of the late comic greats Charles Schulz and Milt Caniff, to collaborate on the cartoon jam piece. The mural will be up until 2012.

Both Charles Lindbergh and Shel Dorf serve as bookends to the mural. Lindbergh is in a similar pose as he appears in the long standing Lindbergh Wall at the airport. Both Lindbergh and Dorf were born in Detroit and later called San Diego home. Lindbergh’s mother was a teacher at Cass Technical High School, where Shel later graduated with a major in commercial art. Shel founded the San Diego Comic Con in 1969 and in 1974 his good friends Charles Schulz and Milton Caniff attended as Guests of Honors.

Writer-artist Milton Caniff’s pilot character Steve Canyon appears in the mural. Steve Canyon was often described as the “unofficial spokesman” for the Air Force. Shel Dorf lettered the Steve Canyon comic strip and even appeared in cartoon form as a football player named Thud Shelly in the adventure strip, which ran from 1947 to 1988. Prior to his work on Steve Canyon, Milt drew the world famous Terry and the Pirates series. Caniff was also one of the founders of the National Cartoonists Society. Shel often referred to Milt as “the Rembrandt of Comics.”

In 1969 the Apollo 10 lunar module was nicknamed “Snoopy” and the command module “Charlie Brown” thus the two iconic characters by legendary cartoonist Charles Schulz became semi-official mascots for the mission. Schulz also drew special mission-related artwork for NASA, as well as several daily strips involving the historic moon mission. Snoopy, piloting his “Sopwith Camel” (aka his doghouse), is featured in the logo of Charles M. Schulz- Sonoma County Airport. This exact same image is the one featured in The Sky’s the Limit! mural. Charles Schulz’s Peanuts proved to be the most popular and influential comic in the history of the medium and is still widely reprinted on a daily basis.

Cartoonist Phil Yeh drew a tribute to Del Mar’s popular hot air balloons. Yeh began his professional career in 1970 in Southern California shortly after attending the very first San Diego Comic Con. In 1977 he wrote, illustrated and published one of the first modern American graphic novels, Even Cazco Gets the Blues. To date, Phil has written and illustrated over 80 published books. Phil founded Cartoonists Across America & The World in 1985 after being inspired by Wally Amos to do something about the literacy crisis on the planet. They have painted more than 1700 murals in 49 states in the United States as well as more than a dozen countries working with some of the most talented artists on the planet to promote reading and the arts.

San Diego illustrator Ari Wells created, Spacey, an alien-spacecraft toon to emphasize the sci-fi culture of Comic-Con. She included the initials of the Official Shel Dorf Fan Club and Entourage on the spaceship.

Tony Gleeson’s biplane is a composite of several classic planes that conveys the sense of fearless gusto of early aviators, complete with flamboyant scarf and attitude– something that would fit in well with the spirit of Snoopy in his Sopwith Camel, Lindy in his Spirit of St. Louis, or any of those countless fearless pioneers who leaped into the skies with bravado– for that matter, even a more modern Steve Canyon in his Air Force jet. Tony also was delighted to participate in honoring and remembering his friend Shel Dorf, a generous, giving gentleman whom he first met in the early 1990s and was proud to call his friend.

R.C. Harvey is a cartoonist and author of The Art of the Funnies, The Art of the Comic Book, and Meanwhile… A Biography of Milton Caniff, Creator of Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon. Harvey’s alter-ego Cahoots the Rabbit appears in the mural.

Encinitas cartoonist Jim Whiting (The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, and LOOK) established the Southern California Cartoonists Society (SCCS) locally in 1986. His yellow paper airplane is a tribute to the club and bears the SCCS logo designed by Shel. Jim served as President of SCCS for many years.

Hawaii based cartoonist and art educator Dave Thorne is the creator of the Thorney’s Zoo comic strip which regularly appears in the island’s Sunday Star Advertiser. Dave provided the zoo and sea life characters for this mural as a nod to San Diego’s popular attractions.
Oahu cartoonist Jon J Murakami drew his Dragon of Hawaii character along with an alien and various birds, fish, and a dolphin.

The Wee Bee plane makes an appearance in The Sky’s the Limit! courtesy of action sports artist Matt Lorentz. The all-metal Wee Bee was designed in 1948 at Montgomery Field by San Diegans Karl Montijo, William Chand, and Kenneth Coward. This American ultralight 14 foot 2 inch monoplane was designed and built locally at Beecraft Associates. The Wee Bee is known as “the world’s smallest plane!” and is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s lightest aircraft. The Wee Bee also appeared in a 1949 Sunday page of the Smiling Jack comic strip! Matt Lorentz also drew a plane from the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, popularly known as the Blue Angels. The Blue Angels first performed in 1946 and is currently the oldest formal flying aerobatic team, which promotes Navy recruitment and international goodwill.

Sony Online animator Brad Constantine’s glider is flown by John Montgomery, who made the first non-powered flight in Otay Mesa in 1884. Montgomery Field is named after him. A Gibbs biplane is shown being flown by Bill Gibbs, who founded Gibbs’ Air Tours at Montgomery Field. Gibbs flew guests from the 1935 exposition in his plane. Brad also drew Charles Lindbergh and Shel Dorf.

Local artist Dan Bois has produced graphics for the Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park. Bois drew the PBY Catalina, which was produced locally at Consolidated Aircraft. Dan’s Aunt Barbara and her sister Janelle worked there on B-24 bombers during WWII. The Spirit of St Louis is the iconic aircraft built here in San Diego. Officially known as the Ryan NYP (for New York to Paris), the single-engine monoplane was designed by Donald A. Hall of the aircraft manufacturer Ryan Airlines. Bois also drew the P-40 and the P-47-like planes to represent inline and Radial engine WWII fighters used in the area. The pink one is a nod to the women both in aviation like the WASPS and the thousands of women that were in the aviation industry in WWII. When Dan Bois was a young boy traveling down Harbor Drive, he would always see “Pelican Pete” standing on a piling by the bridge near the USS recruit at NTC San Diego.

Jason T. Reyes cartooned a Curtiss Model D Biplane also known as the Curtiss Pusher because the petrol engine and propeller was behind the pilot. The Curtiss Pusher was the first aircraft model that first took off from a ship and the first aircraft to land back on a ship. The Model Ds were purchased by the US Army and Navy as observation aircrafts.

Vista’s own David Lozeau selected the Curtis Biplane for it’s blend of being one of the last of the biplanes. It is an example of a hybrid aircraft, as it combined new and old technology.

Creative thinker and visionary Leonardo da Vinci was the first European interested in a practical solution to flight. He designed a multitude of mechanical devices, including parachutes, and studied the flight of birds. Around 1485 he drew detailed plans for a human-powered ornithopter (a wing-flapping device intended to fly). There is no evidence that he actually attempted to build such a device, although the image he presented was a powerful one. Da Vinci is shown here with his flying machine courtesy of Austin based artist Wardell Brown.

Aerospace Museum and Hall of Champions premiere artist Christopher Paluso has vivid memories from his childhood of hearing jet engines being tested in San Diego. He remembers the local TV News’ reportings of the Convair Pogo and its vertical take off and landing capabilities, which only added to the excitement of seeing its story. It was first tested in late 1954, but after determining that the plane had certain difficulties in controlling flight operations, it was abandoned by the Navy in 1956. Christopher’s choice of the Convair XFY-1 Pogo comes from those experiences and pride of Convair’s contribution to aviation history as a San Diego manufacturing company.

Orange County based children’s book illustrator and surf cartoonist JR Johnson included his tribal trigger fish and illustrator Christina Hall designed the butterflies for the mural!

The above press release and images courtesy of Matt Lorentz.

By Stephen Joseph McGlone

My brothers, David and Patrick (and our neighbors at the time, Mike Williams and Gary Pagel), and I answered an ad in the newspaper. Shel Dorf had placed it when he decided to get things rolling for what was to become the San Diego Comic-Con. At the first meetings, we met Shel, Richard Alf, Mike Towry, Scott Shaw, Ken Krueger, Barry Alfonso and a bunch of others. I was just out of High School. Mike Williams and my brothers had a few years to go and Gary Pagel was in junior high.

We were thrilled by the project and helped by being gofers and doing whatever general help was required. After the first couple of years, other things came along and we had to settle for helping out when we could or just trying to attend when we could.

We didn’t have the cash on hand to make the famous trip to Kirby’s, but we saw the pictures when they got back. And I remember one night at the El Cortez when a bunch of volunteers were asleep, I mean hanging out, in the lobby when George Clayton Johnson came by and sat down with us and regaled us with stories about Hollywood and writing.

We spent a lot of time with Shel and Ken in those days. We were treated like adults instead of the snot-nosed kids that we were. Of course, the only written memory of us is a listing of my brother David in a program, a few years later. He was the last one to actively participate in committees. Thanks to Greg Koudoulian and Will Lund, I found out about this site and the Shel Dorf Fan Club page. Thanks, guys!

Here’s a batch of scans of pictures of Shel Dorf from Shel’s negatives from the 1974 San Diego Comic-Con, which was held at the El Cortez Hotel with Bill Lund as Chairman. (I received the negatives from Shel’s friend and cartooning partner Charlie Roberts.

(Click on a “thumbnail” image below to view the full-size image. Click on the full-size image to close it.)

Aftercon 2010 co-producer Matt Lorentz addresses attendees. (Photo by Jason Reyes)

The first ever AfterCon Artshow took place on July 22nd , 23rd , and 24th 2010 at Suture Gallery in San Diego generating $1,810.00 for the Shel Dorf New Talent Encouragement Fund. Shel’s brother Michael Dorf and Comic-Con Co-Founders Mike Towry and Richard Alf were on hand as were The Shel Dorf Entourage and Fan Club Members George Clayton Johnson, Greg Koudoulian, William Clausen, and Clayton Moore. Each of them got on the microphone throughout the event to share stories of Shel Dorf and the Comic-Con’s early days with the crowd. Also in attendance were Shel’s longtime friends RC Harvey, Reed Norris, and Phil Yeh.

The show featured comic-related artworks by Ray Bradbury, Phil Yeh, Jeff Ranjo, Stephen Silver, Brad Constantine, Senti, Phil Ortiz, Rick Geary, Stephan Fishwick, Tony Gleeson , Rod Mojica, Ed Roeder, Wardell Brown, Wattana Khommarath, Mark Richmond, James Garrovillas, Jon J Murakami, Dave Thorne, Robert Watts, Sulan Dussault, Ted Washington, Rusty Sherrill, BigToe, David Lozeau, James McLeod, Stacy Pierce, Jim Whiting, John Roach, Rory Murray, Dean LeCrone, Javier Hernandez, Michael Aushenker, Robert Watts, Matt Zitman, Bee Huff, Tomo, Yuko, Jert, Mr. H, Jeremy Stock, Nate Kap, Manny Hernandez, Brian Morante, Andy Urzua, Fred Falk, Mike Peters, Tou Vue, Aiden Terry, Jared Lipscomb, Dave and Doreen Dotson, Linda Harlan White, Andy Mitchell, JR Johnson, Richie Griswold, Justin Orr, Lauren Trottier, Jason T Reyes, Chris Buckel, Don Flaws, Ari Wells, Jordan Miller, Amber Bluevelvet, Nancy Marie, Jon Esparza, Claire Altenau, Joanne Stephens, Bort Q. Rockefeller, Nick Lorentz, and Matt Lorentz.

Big thanks to AfterCon hosts Drew Rowedda, John Warner, and Tamara Bruster of Suture Gallery; Devin Ryan and Paul Tralka at Primo Beer; Mike McGill and JD Hutchings at McGill’s Skateshop; Cheryl Cabyabab and everyone at San Diego 6 News; The City Beat; The LA Times; AfterCon greeters Christine Roberts, Krista DeWolf, Steven Von Der Ahe, and Christa Lorentz; AfterCon photographers John Warner, Jason T. Reyes, Reed Norris, and Robert Sias; and everyone who attended the show and supported the cause! See you next year! Stay tooned!

AfterCon 2010 was co-produced by Matt Lorentz and Mark Richmond. The art show was held in honor of Shel Dorf and to benefit the Shel Dorf New Talent Encouragement Fund. Matt says they’re working on some great new stuff for 2011.

AfterCon 2010 Photo Gallery by John Warner. (Click on a thumbnail image to view the full-size image. Click on the full-size image to close it.)
[See image gallery at www.sheldorftribute.com]

AfterCon 2010 Photo Gallery by Robert Sias. (Click on a thumbnail image to view the full-size image. Click on the full-size image to close it.)
[See image gallery at www.sheldorftribute.com]

As the holidays begin, I was thinking of Shel and looked him up. Wish I had done it sooner. I sent him greetings last year knowing he was very ill, but did not know he had died. Wish someone had contacted me.

I am Dale Messick’s daughter. My mother created Brenda Starr and Shel was one of her biggest fans. I first met him in 1993 at The Southern California Cartoonist Society in San Diego. He put together a slide show of my mother’s artwork and she narrated.

In the late 90’s he did a series of four books about my mother and Brenda so we had a lot of contact at that time. The books are quite wonderful and I am so happy to have them. His enthusiasm was infectious. He was very thorough, presenting well researched material, inviting both me and my daughter to make written contributions.

There are things in those books that I have never seen anywhere else. As you know, years ago cartoonists gave away their art so much of their work is lost to their families and fans. Thanks to Shel I have a treasure trove of her work collected in those books.

Shel was a sweet man with a sincere interest in others and a huge appreciation of comic art. I am so glad he was given such a well deserved tribute. I know he was smiling and pleased with his legacy.

With love,

Starr Rohrman and daughter Laura Dale.

Mark Evanier has written elsewhere of the King Kon mini-convention, which was produced in February, 1974 by Shel Dorf and Ken Krueger. Thanks to Jackie Estrada and Matt Lorentz, we are now able to present a King Kon flyer for your viewing pleasure.

(Click here for a larger view of the flyer.)

Flyer for Shel Dorf and Ken Krueger's King Kon (February 1974)

(Click here for a larger view of the flyer.)

Matt Lorentz has begun to set up the AFTERCON 2010 art show and charitable auction, which will benefit the Shel Dorf New Talent Encouragement Fund. The AFTERCON show will run concurrently with San Diego’s Comic-Con International, July 22-24, from 8PM to midnight each day at San Diego’s Suture Gallery. For more about the show, visit the official AFTERCON site at aftercon.blogspot.com.

Here are some photos of Matt’s work in progress:

Matt Lorentz with art by Tony Gleeson and Don Flaws

Shel Dorf Portrait and Memorabilia Wall

"Coming Unravelled" by David Lozeau and "Herman" by Corpse Bride artist Mr. H

Custom painted Skate decks by Matt Lorentz, JR Johnson, Richie Griswold, and James McLeod

"Spawn vs. Violator" by JR Johnson

Portrait of Shel Dorf by Don Flaws Done for the AFTERCON 2010 Show

Portrait of Stan Lee by Don Flaws Done for the AFTERCON 2010 Show

Artist Don Flaws has contributed portraits of Shel Dorf and Stan “The Man” Lee to be auctioned at the AFTERCON 2010 show in Shel Dorf’s Honor. The AFTERCON show will run concurrently with San Diego’s Comic-Con International, July 22-24, from 8PM to midnight each day. For more about the show, visit the official AFTERCON site at aftercon.blogspot.com.

And to see more of Don’s great art, visit
donflaws.blogspot.com and www.socalartstudios.com.

David Lozeau's Custom-Created Cyclops Mummy Munnys for AFTERCON 2010

Artist David Lozeau has created customized “Cyclops Mummy” Munny dolls to be displayed and auctioned at the AFTERCON 2010 show in Shel Dorf’s Honor. The AFTERCON show will run concurrently with San Diego’s Comic-Con International, July 22-24, from 8PM to midnight each day. For more about the show, visit the official AFTERCON site at aftercon.blogspot.com.

A blank Kidrobot Munny Prior to Customization

Munnys are blank vinyl dolls from Kidrobot that may be painted, drawn on, and otherwise customized. Above is a “before” picture of a blank Munny. Kidrobot was kind enough to donate several blank Munny dolls to be customized by artists for the AFTERCON 2010 show.

David Lozeau has also posted a gallery of pictures showing the step-by-step process he employed in creating the Cyclops Mummy Munnys, which you can view at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dlozeau/sets/72157624315812663/.

To see more of David Lozeau’s great art, visit http://www.davidlozeau.com.