Interviews

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Richard Alf

"I think that San Diego has grown with Comic-Con and I think that the people that come to Comic-Con have come to love San Diego as well as Comic-Con."

Richard Alf Interview

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Barry Alfonso

"I wanted to be a creative person myself. I didn't know in what way, but I wanted to. The idea of meeting a creator of something I loved so much meant a tremendous amount to me. It was [...]"

Barry Alfonso Interview

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Wendy All

"I like to describe Comic-Con as being like the Addams Family - We're all a little different, but we're all loved and accepted for who we are."

Wendy All Interview

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Greg Bear

"What is constantly astonishing to me going to Comic-Cons is the absolute enthusiastic energy. Everyone at these conventions is there because they love this stuff... It has been nerds getting together to celebrate the art and culture of [...]"

Greg Bear Interview

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Jackie Estrada

"One of the things that people have asked me is, 'What was it about those early 70s conventions that made you want to get involved?' I would say just the nicest people, the nicest people."

Jackie Estrada Interview

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Mark Evanier

"The early conventions were a lot of fun... Everyone knew everyone. You got a chance to see everyone... It was kind of like a party with people of like interests."

Mark Evanier Interview

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Roger Freedman

"[San Diego] was very much a city of immigrants at that time... We, speaking collectively of the society at that time, were in the process of inventing a new city that could really be whatever we wanted it [...]"

Roger Freedman Interview

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Igor Goldkind

"The distinction of the San Diego Comic Convention, certainly in the early days... is it brought together a lot of different types of fans."

Igor Goldkind Interview

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Jean & Chuck Graham

"The El Cortez was a great place. It was a lot of fun. I'm glad it's been saved as a city landmark."

Jean & Chuck Graham Interview

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Peter Jones

"I walked in and I saw more comic books than I'd ever seen in my life and I was just enchanted. It was like better than Christmas."

Peter Jones Interview

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Gary Pagel

"Comics, I can really credit, for giving me a love for reading. I don't know how life would have gone if not for getting involved in comics."

Gary Pagel Interview

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Scott Shaw!

"We were driven weirdoes and we all wound up having achieved our dreams."

Scott Shaw! Interview

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Mike Towry

"We were an entrepreneurial bunch and we didn't think that we couldn't do it. We just assumed that we could."

Mike Towry Interview

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Jim Valentino

"...it was a place where I could meet people who were in the business and on the periphery of the business and I could learn about how to get into the business because there were no books, there [...]

Jim Valentino Interview

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Philip Yeh

"...it was a place where I could meet people who were in the business and on the periphery of the business and I could learn about how to get into the business because there were no books, there [...]

Philip Yeh Interview

MADE POSSIBLE BY

This project was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, an independent non-profit state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, visit calhum.org.