Found Footage: 1994 San Diego Comic-Con

I recently discovered that my brother had camcorder footage from the 1994 San Diego Comic-Con! Though I’ve attended the show since 1986, that was my second year as an exhibitor. It was also the 25th anniversary of the show, which feels like it was only yesterday. (Comic-Con celebrated its 50th in 2019.)

I learned (or rather was reminded) of its existence in some old notes. When I asked him about it, he told me that he had several unmarked tapes but was unable to play them since his camcorder had broken down years before. Fortunately, I still had a working camcorder in the same format and took it with me when I next visited him in Northern California. After I found the tape, I digitized it upon my return to Los Angeles.

The tape includes footage of my first appearance on a panel, about self-publishing, that included Don Simpson, Batton Lash, Jim Valentino, and myself. There is also clips of Adam West signing.

What also made the tape personally fun is that a bunch of my college buddies showed up in support. Several of them became Comic-Con regulars, including Terry Delegeane who worked at Bongo Comics for many years and Scott Brick who worked for a time as a writer for both the Comics Buyers Guide and Wizard, and has moderated panels at Comic-Con over the years (he’s since become an award-winning audiobook narrator and teacher).

Looking at the footage, since the show took place at the same location it’s been at since 1991, in the San Diego Convention Center, it doesn’t look much different than today and felt very familiar. Nevertheless, it was a nice time capsule, especially given how young I looked back then.

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