Shel Dorf, 76, a comic-book collector who founded the pop-culture showcase in San Diego now known as Comic-Con, died Tuesday from diabetes. He was a 37-year-old recent transplant from Detroit when he rallied a group of teenagers to stage the first convention in 1970 that 300 people attended. The annual gathering has grown to be the largest of its kind in the United States -- more than 125,000 attended the 40th convention in August. From the beginning it highlighted science fiction and fantasy literature, TV and film, in addition to comic books. For about 15 years, Dorf was actively involved in the convention but then pulled away. He complained that it was an ordeal to oversee an event that had grown so large. He also harrumphed that "Hollywood had hijacked it," a reference to the show broadening to include anime and video games. LOS ANGELES TIMES
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