Sheldon "Shel" Dorf

Dick Tracy, Charlie Brown and the entire comic strip pantheon lost a friend yesterday, with the death of a Comic-Con founder. Sheldon "Shel" Dorf succumbed to diabetes-related complications at Sharp Memorial Hospital. He was 76.

Mr. Dorf, a resident of Ocean Beach, spent 15 years as a leader of the annual convention, serving on its organizing committee. But even before and after his time with the Con, Mr. Dorf was a tireless promoter of comics, their creators and fans.

"The guy just lived and breathed comics his whole life," said Mark Evanier, a TV and comic book writer. "The Con was built on his passion and his cheerleading."

Mr. Dorf, a Detroit native, attended the Art Institute of Chicago and worked as a freelance art designer in New York. But his life was changed early in 1970, when he helped his parents move from Detroit to pursue their retirement in Southern California. "He took one look at San Diego and said, 'I'm staying here!'‚" recalled his brother, Michael Dorf.

A prominent collector of "Dick Tracy" comics and memorabilia, Mr. Dorf had run Detroit's "Triple Fan Fest," a convention dedicated to comics, sci-fi science fiction and movies. When he met Ken Krueger, owner of Alert Books in Ocean Beach, they and a band of teenaged enthusiasts began planning something similar for San Diego.

This unpaid, ragtag group organized the first Golden State Comic Con, at the U.S. Grant Hotel, Aug. 1-3, 1970.

"He was a completely generous person who was wholly devoted to furthering the comic arts, bringing the fans and the professionals together," said J.M. "Mike" Towry, a computer programmer who was a young comics dealer at that first Con. "He never made a dime off Comic-Con."

In fact, Mr. Dorf walked away from the Con in the mid-1980s, as it was beginning to become the nation's foremost pop-culture extravaganza. Today, Comic-Con is San Diego's largest convention, annually drawing 125,000 attendees.

"We had no idea it would get this big, Mr. Dorf told The San Diego Union-Tribune in a 2006 interview. To me, it's just become an ordeal. I don't know of any way to make it smaller, though. I guess in some ways it's become too much of a success."

But he remained a friend of comic creators, and often attended the Con to cheer them on.

They returned his affection, sometimes with graphic bouquets. In his "Steve Canyon" strip, Milton Caniff turned Mr. Dorf into "Thud Shelley," a football player. Jack Kirby drew Mr. Dorf into his "Mister Miracle" series, as the hero's mentor, "Himon." When Warren Beatty filmed "Dick Tracy" in 1990, Mr. Dorf was hired as a consultant.

Diabetes gradually robbed Mr. Dorf of his mobility and diminished his eyesight. In 2008, he left his Ocean Beach cottage and checked into the hospital. He never returned home.

On Oct. 17, Towry and five other members of the first Comic-Con organizing committee visited Mr. Dorf at Sharp Memorial. Each man wore a homemade badge.

The patient couldn't speak and had difficulty seeing. But he could hear his visitors, and even grabbed one by the shirt.

"He pulled the badge close so he could see it," Towry said.

The badge read, "Shel Dorf Fan Club."

Yesterday, Comic-Con International's Web site was topped by a black-bordered photo of the founder. "Shel Dorf's love of comic books and their creators had no equal," the tribute states. "It was his appreciation of this art form and his keen foresight that helped to create what is Comic-Con."

Mr. Dorf, who never married, is survived by his brother.

Funeral services are scheduled for 1 p.m. today at the Home of Peace cemetery, 3668 Imperial Ave.