The Comic Art Convention (CAC)—often called the New York Comic Art Convention—was the first sustained, large‑scale comic‑book fan convention in the United States. Staged annually over Independence Day weekend from 1968 to 1983 (with exceptions and spin‑offs noted below), it grew from a purely fan‑driven meet‑up into a national marketplace, industry summit, and media showcase. The show was founded and produced by Phil Seuling, a Brooklyn schoolteacher whose later development of direct‑market distribution helped give rise to the modern comic‑book specialty store.

Beginning in New York City, CAC occasionally shifted or duplicated dates in Philadelphia (1977–1979). In its heyday, it functioned as the East Coast’s central gathering point for Silver Age and Bronze Age creators, publishers, collectors, and scholars, and it became the stage for several landmark moments in comics history.

Infobox: Comic Art Convention

Status	Defunct
Genre	Comics
Locations	New York City (1968–1976, 1978–1983); Philadelphia (1977–1979)
Country	United States
Inaugurated	1968
Most recent	1983
Organized by	Phil Seuling

Overview & Significance

CAC’s rise paralleled the late‑1960s surge in attention to comics as collectible artifacts and as a serious art form. From its earliest years the show scaled from hundreds of attendees to several thousand by the mid‑1970s, helping to normalize the idea of a dedicated, multi‑day comics marketplace in a major media capital.

“1974 New York Comic Art Convention Badge” by Mozzer Memories is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The convention mixed dealer rooms (often dubbed the “hucksters’ room”), original‑art sales, marquee auctions, film/serial screenings, and program tracks on history, technique, and the business of comics. A typical year featured signing lines, slide lectures, and late‑afternoon auctions where key Golden‑, Silver‑, and underground‑era items changed hands—activity that, in turn, fed price‑guide data and after‑action market reports in fanzines and The Buyer’s Guide to Comics Fandom.

For many professionals—especially those based around New York’s publishing hub—CAC became a reliable venue for portfolio reviews (with editors and art directors circulating the floor), impromptu tryouts for pencillers/inkers/letterers, freelance networking, and public conversation about craft and editorial direction. The proximity to Manhattan offices meant creators and editors could appear with minimal travel, giving panels a rare mix of Golden Age veterans and emerging Silver/Bronze‑Age talent.

For fans, CAC functioned as the annual marketplace where key issues, fanzines, undergrounds, imports, and original art were bought, sold, and traded. The show helped popularize grading shorthand (VG/FN/VF/NM), bag‑and‑board preservation, and a shared vocabulary for comics criticism and scholarship; it also fostered a fanzine “row,” where emerging critics and historians swapped new indexes, interviews, and scene reports.

Antecedents: Fandom Organizes (1961–1967)

Early 1960s comics fandom blossomed through mimeographed fanzines, pen‑pal networks, and the first small hotel meet‑ups organized by stalwarts such as Jerry Bails, Shel Dorf, Bernie Bubnis, and Roy Thomas. Key publications—Alter Ego (Bails & Thomas), On the Drawing Board → The Comic Reader (Bails; later Don & Maggie Thompson), Rocket’s Blast/Rocket’s Blast Comicollector (G. B. Love), and Batmania (Biljo White)—stitched the scene together with news, criticism, classifieds, and mail‑order back‑issue trading; the creation of CAPA‑alpha (1964) gave fans an APA hub to circulate essays, art, and scholarship.

Notable precursors included the 1964 Tri‑State Con (a.k.a. the New York Comicon) and the early Detroit Triple‑Fan Fair, which demonstrated that pros would attend dedicated comics gatherings in significant numbers and that multi‑day programming could succeed. Building on that momentum, the Academy of Comic‑Book Fans and Collectors (led by Dave Kaler) mounted the Academy Cons (1965–1967) at Manhattan’s Broadway Central Hotel with structured guest‑of‑honor talks, editor/creator panels, auctions, film rooms, and the circulation and presentation of Alley Awards ballots/results across the fanzine network.

Regular attendees included both fans and industry figures (e.g., Otto Binder, Bill Finger, Gardner Fox, Stan Lee, Carmine Infantino, Julius Schwartz). Collectively, these practices—program books, standardized dealer tables, auctions, awards, and early portfolio Q&As—proved that comics could sustain an annual, big‑city convention model and codified the formula Phil Seuling would scale up with the Comic Art Convention.

Founding & Early Years (1968–1970)

1968 — International Convention of Comic Book Art. Seuling’s first large show debuted in New York as a collaboration with SCARP (Society for Comic Art Research and Preservation, Inc.). Guests of honor included Will Eisner and Burne Hogarth, with featured speakers such as Stan Lee, Milton Caniff, Lee Falk, and Charles Biro. Attendance was recorded at 784, signaling immediate viability.
1969 — The first official Comic Art Convention. Held at the Statler Hilton, with Hal Foster as Guest of Honor. A three‑day badge ran $3.50 (daily admission $1.50); attendees staying at the hotel received free entry with room rental. The tone was set: a mixed fan/industry summit in the heart of New York’s publishing district.

During these years, CAC also became the awards stage for fandom: the final ceremonies of the Alley Awards (1968–1970) were presented at the show, reinforcing CAC’s role as the clearinghouse for fan consensus and industry visibility.

Growth & Signature Moments (1971–1976)

1971 — The Eisner–Iger original‑art sale. Guests of Honor Jerry Iger and Will Eisner brought pallets of Golden Age originals (notably Fiction House material). As hours dwindled, prices famously dropped to “$10 an inch,” catalyzing a new awareness of original art as a collectible category and seeding today’s vibrant original‑art market.
1973 — Fredric Wertham’s only fan‑facing panel. Seuling persuaded Dr. Fredric Wertham, author of Seduction of the Innocent, to appear, creating a rare public conversation between fandom and one of comics’ most controversial critics.
1974 — Women in comics panel. Featuring Marie Severin, Flo Steinberg, Jean Thomas, Linda Fite, and fan representative Irene Vartanoff, the session foregrounded women’s roles in a historically male industry and became a touchstone for later gender‑equity discussions.

By mid‑decade, CAC was a fixture of the July calendar, with a bustling dealer’s room, auctions, film rooms, and high‑profile panels. The convention showcased both legacy creators of the Golden Age and the new wave of Silver/Bronze‑Age talent.

Philadelphia Interlude & Two‑City Years (1977–1979)

In 1977, CAC shifted to Philadelphia for the holiday weekend, staging the show at the Hotel Sheraton and skipping a New York edition that year. In 1978 and 1979, Seuling mounted two editions annually—first a New York show (e.g., July 2–5, 1978 at the Americana; June 30–July 1, 1979 at the Statler Hilton) followed by a shorter Philadelphia weekend (July 8–9, 1978; July 14–15, 1979 at the Sheraton). The split calendar broadened the Mid‑Atlantic audience, diversified the dealer mix, and helped manage venue/logistics pressures, while programming (dealer room, auctions, film rooms, creator panels) and branding remained consistent with CAC’s New York identity.

Later Years, Spin‑Offs & Wind‑Down (1980–1983)

CAC returned to New York for its final phase. As Seuling devoted increasing energy to direct‑market distribution—formalized through non‑returnable, preorder catalogs supplied to the growing network of specialty retailers—other conventions around the country—most notably San Diego and Chicago (founded in 1975)—expanded in floor space, media programming, and national press. Rising Midtown hotel costs, unionized venue logistics, and the emergence of year‑round regional shows also pulled dealers and publishers in new directions.

CAC gradually contracted in size and emphasis, leaning more on core dealer trading, auctions, and creator spotlights than on headline media showcases. By 1984, Seuling had transitioned the July tradition into a smaller Manhattan Con held in mid‑June—essentially a boutique New York gathering for collectors, retailers, and longtime pros. Seuling’s unexpected death in August 1984 effectively ended both events and closed the book on the CAC era in New York.

Programming & Culture

Exhibit & dealers’ room: Back issues, undergrounds, imports, fanzines, and burgeoning original‑art offerings.
Panels & talks: Creator spotlights; editorial roundtables; history, technique, and business of comics; themed sessions (e.g., women in comics).
Screenings & media: Cartoons, serials, and genre films in hotel screening rooms; slide shows and portfolio talks.
Auctions & art sales: A signature draw, particularly after the 1971 Eisner–Iger sale normalized collecting original pages and covers.
Awards: Final Alley Awards (1968–1970) and, following their dissolution, the Goethe/Comic Fan Art Awards (1971–1974) associated with the New York scene.

Impact on the Industry

Direct market & retail ecosystems: Seuling’s role in developing non‑returnable, direct distribution to specialty shops reshaped how comics reached readers, enabling the rise of the comic‑shop era; CAC functioned as an annual nexus where retailers, dealers, and publishers aligned expectations and discovered product.
Creator visibility & scholarship: CAC gave Golden Age and Silver/Bronze Age creators a high‑profile public platform, accelerating oral histories, interviews, and the legitimization of comics scholarship.
Original‑art economy: The convention helped establish the market value of original art, leading to dealer representation, auctions, and the preservation of pages that might otherwise have been destroyed or discarded.

Legacy & Successors (Mid‑1980s–2000s)

After Seuling’s passing, the New York convention landscape fragmented and then re‑coalesced:

Creation Entertainment (1984–1988): Large holiday‑season shows (often Thanksgiving weekend) continued the tradition of big‑tent, mixed‑media conventions in NYC.
Great Eastern Conventions (1993–1995): Promoter Fred Greenberg mounted major shows at the Javits Center and the New York Coliseum.
Big Apple Con (1996→): Launched spontaneously when a large show was canceled late; grew from a church‑basement rally into recurring mid‑size cons (eventually at the Hotel Pennsylvania/Penn Plaza Pavilion—ironically, the same site as early CACs).
MoCCA Art Festival (from 2002): A curated celebration of alternative and small‑press comics.
New York Comic Con (from 2006): A full‑scale, modern expo at the Javits Center, now the city’s primary comics and pop‑culture convention.

These successors reflect shifts in venue economics, union logistics, and the broader mainstreaming of comics culture—yet all trace a line back to CAC’s template.

Awards Presented at/around CAC

Alley Awards (1968–1970): Final three years of fandom’s first major awards were presented at CAC.
Goethe Awards / Comic Fan Art Awards (1971–1974): Successor fan awards presented by/at the Comic Art Convention era in New York.

Notable Guests & Figures (Selected)

Will Eisner · Burne Hogarth · Stan Lee · Milton Caniff · Lee Falk · Charles Biro · Hal Foster · Jerry Iger · Neal Adams · Jim Steranko · Joe Sinnott · Carmine Infantino · Julius Schwartz · Marie Severin · Flo Steinberg · Linda Fite · Jean Thomas · Irene Vartanoff · Dr. Fredric Wertham

(This is a representative sampling; CAC hosted dozens of additional pros and editors each year.)

Dates & Locations (Chronology)

Conventions were held in New York City unless otherwise noted.

July 4–7, 1968: Statler Hilton (33rd St. & 7th Ave.) — International Convention of Comic Book Art
July 4–6, 1969: Statler Hilton — Penn Top/Sky Top Rooms — First “Comic Art Convention”
July 3–5, 1970: Statler Hilton
July 2–4, 1971: Statler Hilton
July 1–5, 1972: Statler Hilton
July 4–8, 1973: Commodore Hotel (42nd St. & Park Ave.)
July 4–8, 1974: Commodore Hotel
July 3–7, 1975: Commodore Hotel
July 2–6, 1976: McAlpin Hotel (34th St. & Broadway)
July 1–5, 1977: Hotel Sheraton — Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (no NYC staging)
1978 (two shows): July 2–5 — Americana Hotel, NYC; July 8–9 — Philadelphia
1979 (two shows): June 30–July 1 — Statler Hilton, NYC; July 14–15 — Sheraton Hotel, Philadelphia
July 4–6, 1980: Statler Hilton
July 3–5, 1981: Statler Hilton
July 3–5, 1982: Sheraton (7th Ave. & 56th St.)
July 2–4, 1983: Sheraton — International Science Fiction and Comic Art Convention (also hosted the Saturn Awards presentations)

FAQ about Comic Art Convention

What made the Comic Art Convention different from earlier fan meet‑ups?

Its scale, central Manhattan location, and annual July cadence attracted both the New York–based industry and nationwide collectors, creating a true fan‑and‑trade hybrid.

Did CAC really influence the direct market?

Yes—Seuling’s distribution innovation happened alongside CAC, and the show served as a meeting ground for retailers, dealers, and publishers who would adopt the specialty‑shop model.

Which awards were tied to CAC?

The Alley Awards (last three years) and later the Goethe/Comic Fan Art Awards were presented in connection with the New York convention scene of the era.

Why did the convention end?

Competition from expanding national shows, changing venue economics, and Seuling’s shift toward distribution drew focus away. After Seuling’s death in 1984, the tradition effectively ended, though many successors emerged.

How does CAC relate to today’s New York Comic Con?

While produced by different organizers in a different era, NYCC inherits CAC’s East Coast marquee role—large‑scale programming, big dealer presence, and global media attention—evolving the template Seuling helped establish.

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