From the beginning, the founders of the show set out to include not only the comic books they loved, but also other aspects of the popular arts that they enjoyed and felt deserved wider recognition, including films and science fiction/fantasy literature. After one more name change (San Diego’s West Coast Comic Convention, in 1972), the show officially became the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) in 1973 with the fourth annual event. In 1995, the non–profit event changed its name to Comic-Con International: San Diego (CCI).

The show’s main home in the 1970s was the fondly remembered El Cortez Hotel in downtown San Diego. In 1979, Comic-Con moved to the Convention and Performing Arts Center (CPAC), and stayed there until 1991, when the new San Diego Convention Center opened. Comic-Con has been at home in that facility for over two decades.

With attendance topping 130,000 in recent years—in a convention center facility that has maxed out in space—the event has grown to include satellite locations, including local hotels and outdoor parks. Programming events, games, anime, the Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, and the Eisner Awards all take place outside of the Convention Center, creating a campus-type feel for the convention in downtown San Diego.

APE, the Alternative Press Expo, started in San Jose in 1994. Founded by Dan Vado of SLG Publishing, the Alternative Press Expo was one of many shows across the United States that year that focused on independent comics. Vado’s vision was to create an event that would spotlight small publishing companies, self-publishers, and creators working in the alternative and independent side of the comics industry. This show also allowed greater interaction between attendees and creators and added fuel to the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) comics movement growing around the world. That first APE tied into a series of like-minded gatherings around the country, coming off the “Spirits of Independence Tour” of Dave Sim, creator of Cerebus, and is one of only two conventions that survived and flourished beyond the first show.

Comic-Con International became involved with APE in its second year and ran the show until 2014, maintaining the basic concept and feel that Dan Vado created. In 2000, it moved from San Jose to San Francisco, where it was held until 2014. Under Comic-Con, APE was on the forefront of the self-publishing movement. The 2014 event featured over 350 exhibitors, including some of the leading independent comics publishers, plus hundreds of creators and self-publishers, and over 5,500 attendees. In addition to its Exhibit Hall, APE under Comic-Con featured a full programming schedule, special guests, hands-on workshops, and the Comic Creator Connection (CCC), a program featured at all of the Comic-Con sponsored events. The CCC pairs up aspiring comics writers and artists, in hopes of creating the next great comics collaboration. At the end of the show in 2014, Comic-Con returned the reins of the show to Dan Vado.

Comic-Con International took over the show in 2002 and moved it from Oakland to downtown San Francisco in 2003. After 15 years as a Bay Area event, WonderCon was forced to move to Anaheim in 2012, due to construction at its San Francisco home, the Moscone Center. Since 2012, the event—now called Comic-Con International Presents WonderCon Anaheim—has been held in southern California, at the Anaheim Convention Center. In 2016, WonderCon moved to Los Angeles for one year while the Anaheim Convention Center was undergoing construction on a new building. The show returned to Anaheim in 2017.

WonderCon is literally the sister show to Comic-Con International, embracing all the main aspects of that show, including comics, movies, TV, animation, the Masquerade, and more. The event has grown in all aspects over the years: more attendees, more exhibitors, more programming, and more fun. In its current Anaheim-based incarnation, WonderCon continues to be a must-attend event on the comic book convention schedule.

Other Events

Over the years, San Diego Comic Convention has presented other conventions and events, including Comic Book Expo, a retail trade show for the comics industry, and ProCon, a convention for comic book industry creative professionals. In 1991, Comic-Con put on a separate convention, Con/Fusion, billed as “a fusion of the best aspects of a science fiction convention with the best aspects of a comic book convention.”

Comic-Con International also runs the Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Awards, an annual event featured at the San Diego convention that allows fans to nominate their favorite comic book stores from around the world. The prestigious award goes to those retailers who have done an outstanding job of supporting the comics medium, both in the community and within the industry at large. Visionary comic creator Will Eisner approached Comic-Con in the mid-1990s with the idea for this award. It’s designed to acknowledge and celebrate the incredible contribution retailers make to the comic book industry by providing that crucial link between creator and reader in getting comics into the hands of the public. The award was named in his honor. Over the years, comic book stores from across the United States and around the globe—including Australia, Canada, Holland, Israel, and Spain—have won the award.