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OrlandoCon, also known as O'Con, was a long-running comic book and comic strip fan convention which was held annually between 1974 and 1994 in Orlando, Florida. The first comics convention held in the Orlando area, OrlandoCon billed itself as the "Central Florida comic art convention and early TV/film festival."[2][3] Captain Marvel-creator C. C. Beck was a regular guest of the show; as were many other Golden Age comics creators who lived in the Orlando area.
The founders of OrlandoCon were regional chairman of the National Cartoonists Society Jim Ivey[4][5] (1925–2022)[6][7][8] and local enthusiasts Charlie Roberts, Rob Word,[9] Richard Kravitz, and Neil Austin.[10][7][11][12] Most OrlandoCons took place over a September weekend.
Each year's show featured a banquet for attending cartoonists and the presentation to the guest of honor of a gold brick called the Ignatz Award[4] named in honor of George Herriman's Krazy Kat.[13] Recipients of the Ignatz included Don Martin,[14] Ralph Kent, Joe Kubert, Martin Nodell, Don Addis,[15] Burne Hogarth, and Dik Browne.[13] (The OrlandoCon Ignatz Award is not connected to the current award of the same name presented annually at the Bethesda, Maryland-based Small Press Expo.)[13]
Each show featured a charity auction to benefit the Milt Gross Fund of the National Cartoonists Society.[11] The OrlandoCon often featured screenings of early TV shows, as well as panels, seminars, and workshops with comics professionals. In addition, there was a floorspace for exhibitors, including comic book and comic strip dealers, and collectibles merchants. The show included an autograph area, as well as an Artists' Alley where comics artists signed autographs and sold or produced free sketches.
The first OrlandoCon was held in September 1974 at the Orlando Howard Johnson's Convention Center — guests included C. C. Beck, Roy Crane, Hal Foster,[10] Ron Goulart, Mel Graff, Les Turner, Ralph Dunagin, Bill Crooks, Harold McCauley, Scorchy Smith artist Edmond Good, and Disney artist Ralph Kent.
In 1976 OrlandoCon moved venues from the Howard Johnson Convention Center to the International Inn, where the convention stayed for most of the rest of its existence.
Even though he moved to Pennsylvania in 1974, Charlie Roberts stayed with the OrlandoCon as co-organizer with Jim Ivey until 1979,[16] at which point small press publisher Bill Black became involved with the convention.
With the collapse of the comic book speculating market in 1993, the show petered out. One of the final OrlandoCons was produced by local retailer Mike Kott on September 10–11, 1994, at the Clarion Towers; guests include show founder Jim Ivey and Martin Nodell.[17]
Locations and dates
 | This section is missing information about dates, venues, Ignatz Award recipients, and guests . (December 2013) |
| Dates | Venue | Guest of honor/ Ignatz Award recipient | Official guests | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1974 | Howard Johnson's Convention Center | C. C. Beck, Roy Crane, Hal Foster, Ron Goulart, Mel Graff, Les Turner, Ralph Dunagin, Bill Crooks, Harold McCauley, "Scorchy Smith" artist Edmond Good, and Disney artist Ralph Kent | Convention booklet featured a cover sketch by Roy Crane; the back cover was illustrated by C.C. Beck. | |
| August 16–17, 1975 | Howard Johnson Convention Center | Burne Hogarth | Harvey Kurtzman, Roy Crane, Hal Foster, and Ralph Kent | Program booklet cover by Harvey Kurtzman |
| September 18–19,[18] 1976 | International Inn | Jack Davis, Harvey Kurtzman,[1] and Floyd Gottfredson | Program cover by Jack Davis, with interior profiles of Floyd Gottfredson and Mel Graff | |
| 1977 | Walter B. Gibson, Ralph Dunagin and Scorchy Smith's Edmond Good | Program booklet cover featured The Spirit, drawn by Will Eisner; the back cover was drawn by Bob Clampett; and interior art by, among others, Les Turner, C. C. Beck, Bill Black, Morris Weiss, and Zack Mosley. | ||
| 1978 | Will Eisner, Bob Clampett, Les Turner, Ralph Dunagin, C. C. Beck, Edmond Good, Bill Black, Morris Weiss, Ralph Kent, Bill Crooks, and Zack Mosley | Show's official title was "Central Florida Comic Art Convention, TV & Film Festival." Program cover by Will Eisner | ||
| 1979 | Robert Cummings and Kirby Grant | Will Eisner, C. C. Beck, and Jack Rosen | ||
| 1980 | Jock Mahoney ("media guest of honor") | Gil Kane and Autumn Russell | ||
| 1981 | Dik Browne[a] | C. C. Beck,[19] Fred Lasswell | Program book, with a cover by Dik Browne, celebrating "Florida's 70 Cartoonists" | |
| 1982 | International Inn[20] | Bob McLeod[21] | C. C. Beck | The program booklet honored "Florida's 75 Great Cartoonists"[3] |
| 1983 | Don Wright | C. C. Beck, Harvey Kurtzman, Wayne Boring, Will Eisner, Joe Kubert, Ralph Kent, Morris Weiss, Dik Browne, and Dean Young | 10th anniversary show; program cover included a list of Florida cartoonists and featured artwork by Harvey Kurtzman, Wayne Boring, C. C. Beck, Morris Weiss, Dik Browne, and Dean Young, among others. | |
| September 22–23, 1984 | Will Eisner | |||
| 1985 | Martin Nodell[22] | |||
| 1986 | ||||
| September 25–27, 1987[23] | International Inn[23] | |||
| 1988 | ||||
| September 23–24, 1989[24] | International Inn[24] | Bob Burden[25] | 16th annual edition | |
| 1990 | Gates McFadden | 17th annual edition, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Martin Nodell's Green Lantern. Program booklet cover by Bill Black. | ||
| 1991 | Dick Ayers and Joe Kubert | |||
| 1992 | Jack Bender[26] | |||
| 1993 | Don Addis and Don Martin | |||
| September 10–11, 1994 | Clarion Towers | Jim Ivey and Martin Nodell | Produced by local retailer Mike Kott | |
The huge Orlando-based multi-genre convention MegaCon was inaugurated in 1993 and is the spiritual successor of OrlandoCon;[27] it continues to this day.
- Dik Browne was unable to attend the 1981 Orlando convention & banquet; Fred Lasswell accepted the Ignatz Award on his behalf.[citation needed]
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