Recently, much attention was given to the passing of Shel Dorf, who was described as the founder of the Comic-Con International. Not to take anything away from Shel but attention must be paid to another person who, even if he never claimed that title, was as vital to the creation of that convention as Shel or anyone else. Let me say this very clearly in a standalone sentence…
Ken Krueger was as much responsible for the creation of the Comic-Con International as anyone else, alive or dead.
Sadly, Ken is now in the latter category. He passed away last night from a heart attack…and I regret that I don't know his age, but I'm guessing somewhere in his eighties. Ken had been around long enough to have attended the very first science-fiction convention in 1939 and to be a member of the exalted "First Fandom."
His experience with s-f conventions was one of many things he brought to the nascent Comic-Con when he signed on in 1970 as its first chairperson. Another was his lifelong love of comics and fantasy. Professionally, Ken operated a string of bookstores throughout this life and also dabbled in distribution and publishing. As a publisher, he gave many talented artists their first in-print experience, including Dave Stevens, Scott Shaw!, Greg Bear and Jim Valentino. (He was the Best Man at Valentino's wedding and an obvious father figure to Jim and others who came up through the San Diego fan community.)
But perhaps his greatest contribution to the early cons in San Diego was that he was the Grown-Up. The majority of those on the original convention committee were kids in need of adult supervision…someone with some experience in handling business matters. Most were too young to even sign the hotel contract so Shel Dorf and Ken did that. At the early cons, he was the go-to guy for any problem, any crisis, any decision. He didn't get or seek the attention for all he did but believe me: He did a lot. And then, as he saw others rising to the responsibilities, he quietly stepped aside and became, for the most part, a happy attendee.
As health problems permitted, he attended the con. He was there this past July for the 40th anniversary celebration…in a wheelchair but, damn it, he was there. We had a nice conversation, mainly about how much the con had grown. Ken was like a proud parent, and at the same time modest about how much he'd contributed.
I have a story about Ken that I'll post here later because I want to get this up on the web. Ken never got the credit he deserved in life. Maybe we can get him some now…better late than never.