Topic summary
Chicago Comicon
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Fan Expo Chicago.
Chicago Comicon
In 1975, Warner approached local comic book store owner Joe Sarno and his associate Mike Gold to produce the show. Their job was to overcome Chicago's reputation of being a sub-par convention city. Early in the process, George Hagenauer and comics retailer Larry Charet were brought in. Although Sarno wanted to name the show the Chicago Comic Art and Nostalgia Convention, he was voted down and the name Chicago Comicon was adopted. The first Chicago Comicon was held in the Playboy Towers Hotel on August 6–8, 1976. Special guests were Marvel Comics figurehead Stan Lee, DC Comics publisher Jenette Kahn, seminal cartoonist/editor Harvey Kurtzman, artist Mike Grell, and illustrator Tim Conrad. The show featured a comic auction benefiting Chicago's Alternative Schools Network (later auctions benefited the Literacy Volunteers of Chicago). The first Chicago Comicon attracted 2,100 attendees.