OafCon marks 50 years of fandom
From a group of like-minded fans meeting in garages to one of the first nationally recognized organizations of fans, OAF, or Oklahoma Alliance of Fandom, celebrates 50 years in 2017.
The group will celebrate its 50th year with free admission to its annual show, Comic Book & Nostalgia Convention or OafCon, in Norman this weekend. Attendees will be required to wear name tags.
OafCon features comic books, fantasy art, toys, movie posters, old time radio memorabilia and more. OAF held its earliest meetings in March 1967, and by 1970, it was hosting Multicon in Oklahoma City and many conventions thereafter.
The hours for OafCon are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Embassy Suites Convention Center in Norman.
The show features a large dealers room and many rarities, from pulp novels to rare posters, art, comic books and more.
Guests set for the show include comics historians Bill Schelly and Roger Hill; comic strip creators Jack and Carole Bender; “Shadow” publisher Anthony Tollin; novelist and retailer Buddy Saunders; illustrator Kenneth Smith; and others.
Local comic creators, including Jerry Bennett (“Nadir’s Zenith”) and S.A. McClung (“Displacements: Oasis”), also are expected to attend.
Tollin is scheduled to present a discussion on
1970s DC Comics, where he worked as a colorist. He’ll also discuss his current publishing plans for “The Shadow” and “Doc Savage.”
Richard Garrison is scheduled to present a slideshow of art by Roy Krenkel and Frank Frazetta.
Roger Hill will present a panel on the 50th anniversary of the Squa Tront fanzine.
Schelly is scheduled for a panel about his biographies of cartoonists John Stanley (“Little Lulu”) and Harvey Kurtzman (MAD magazine).
Jack Bender will be featured on a panel about his decades-long career drawing “Alley Oop,” and will present rarely beforeseen original art.
And finally, fans and attendees can show off their own rarities at the “Collectors Show and Tell.”