Richard Alf Papers, 1955-2011
| Special Collections & University Archives

Richard Alf, a co-founder of Comic-Con, was born in San Diego, California on January 26, 1952. He was an avid comics collector and at the age of twelve, began buying and selling comics through Rocket's Blast Comicollector (RBCC). In 1968, he published and distributed his own list of comics for sale. Two years later, he sold his mail-order business in order to attend the University of California, San Diego (1970-1972), and later San Diego State University (1972-1974).
In 1969, Alf met Shel Dorf. Together with a small group of other fans (including Mike Towry and Ken Krueger), they formed an organizing committee for San Diego's Golden State Comic-Minicon. The committee produced, promoted, and ran the minicon in March of 1970 with 100 attendees. It served as a one day test run for the larger three-day San Diego Comic-Con that was held in August of that same year. Alf used income from his comic mail-order business to help finance the venture. Both conventions were held at the U.S. Grant Hotel and emphasized comic books, science fiction, and film.
Alf became chairman of the second Comic-Con, which was held at Muir College on the UCSD campus in 1971. Under his direction, Comic-Con expanded its committee base by networking with other fandoms outside of the original mandate. The third Comic-Con, held at the El Cortez Hotel in 1972, had over 1,000 attendees.
In 1974, Alf created a new collectible comic book mail-order business, and a year later he opened Comic Kingdom, one of San Diego's first comic book retail stores. In 1976, he sold it to the store manager, and in 1978, he sold his mail-order business to Mile High Comics of Colorado.
From 1980 to 1992, Alf worked in advertising for several different companies, specializing in billboards. In 1989, he began a mail order baseball collectibles business, and from 1990 to 2003, he bought and sold pre-owned video games and systems through mail-order and retail sales.
At the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con, Alf and other early Comic-Con founders spoke as part of the "Secret History of the Con" panel, commemorating the 40th anniversary.
On January 4, 2012 Richard Alf passed away.

I. Personal Files, 1965-2011
1. Correspondence,1965-2010
2. Subject Files, 1955-2011
II. Professional Files, 1967-1997
1. Mail Order Comics Business, 1963-1997
A. Advertising Files, 1969-1985
B. Correspondence, 1967-1997
C. Administrative Files, 1967-1976
2. Comic Kingdom Store, 1974-1977
3. Baseball Collectibles Business, 1989-1990
4. Other Businesses, c. 1990s
III. Convention Files, 1965-2011
1. San Diego Comic-Con Files, 1965-2011
2. Comics and Fandom Conventions, 1965-2010
IV. Audiovisual Recordings



Comics and Science Fiction Fandom Collection
Zines and Minicomics Collection
The Comic-Con Kids: Finding and Defining Fandom (interviews with early Comic-Con organizers and participants, including Richard Alf)