I've written a lot here about the folks down in San Diego in the early seventies who started the convention that has since morphed into the Comic-Con International. Here's a photo that I took of some of them in 1972…at the third convention and the first of many fine ones held at the El Cortez Hotel in downtown S.D.
In the back row, left to right, we have Mike Towry, William Caron and Richard Alf. Mike and Richard were the co-chairpersons that year. The gent with the straw hat is Roger Freedman, who is now on the faculty of U.C.S.B. and is a frequent expert on science-type shows one sees on the Discovery Channel and elsewhere. In the front on the left is John Pound, a fine artist who's probably best known for his work on the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. And the guy with the hostile happy face shirt is Scott Shaw!, cartoonist extraordinaire.
All these guys get mentioned and the early days of the con are discussed over on the tribute website for their recently-departed collaborators, Shel Dorf and Ken Krueger.