See You At San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture

Thinking of making a movie, game or streaming serious about a comic? You have your starting point. This is the rigorous top-tier primary research work for the American comic book.It is indispensable.Klickstein deserves major credit for conducting long-overdue exhaustive interviews with the until-now overlooked insiders in comic books. The reader are not forced to endure yet more over-polished myths about DC's Jack Kirby or Mavel's Stan Lee. Instead, Klickstein delivers dimensional human renderings of the quirky creatives who were the basis of these business men's ideas.He then edits this massive wave of direct evidence down into clear narratives, crafted around the main event in the comic world: Comic-Con. In the process, he almost Talmudically connects what is basically a SoCal trade show to the larger social forces that shaped comics. And America.The effect is exactly what today's next generation of comic-book driven storyteller needs: A deeper understanding of exactly what it takes to turn hand-drawn images, extravagant graphics, and short bits of text into larger-than-life characters. Considering how awful the latest generation of comic-book driven movies, shows, and games are, this book is an indispensable touch point.In fact, any creative, manager, or investor considering betting on a comic-book character, owes it to themselves and their stories, to study this book. As in seriously, breaking down the interviews, connecting them to your project and placing them into the context the book creates.Because by understanding "See You At San Diego"'s often contradictory themes, lessons can be learned that will give your project the best chance to success.With some luck, Klickstein might do a reference work on your work. You could only be so lucky.Nice work, Matt.--jb

I think this book will be important as an historical document because it’s a collection of stories straight from many sources. Although it was edited by Mathew Klickstein, I think he did a great job juxtaposing differing opinions and POVs from those of us who were there. His best work, in my opinion, was how he treated the Shel Dorf “controversy” because Shel was key to the organization, but in many ways his own worst enemy. Shel is one of several people I’ve known who created with one hand while destroying with the other. See You at San Diego will be a valuable reference for historians of Pop Culture and Fandom. It is easy to pick up and read at any point. I’m not certain how mainstream it will be, but I’ve heard people are surprised this almost five-hundred-page tome is about more than just the group of teenagers, guided by a couple of unusual adults, who managed to create something that grew into a world-wide phenomenon. Klickstein created more than a vanity plate of teary-eyed reminiscence.

I liked the words and pictures. These must be present for me to even consider something a book. The enormous quantity of both words and pictures here made this a worthwhile reading experience.I am grateful to say this book is about a subject in which I am interested. It isn’t one of those impostor books that make you think it will be about something but it is not.ex: The Bridges of Madison CountyWhile reading this book I learned a great deal about the subject of the book, which was as advertised.The only problem with this book is that it covers the history of a thing. As such, the book ends before the story is over because the book does not tell the future. It is not that kind of book.All things considered, I would recommend.

Who coulda known? That a little band of comic nerds, data jockeys and anti-social misfits would climb out fandom's muck and redefine popular culture in America and around the world. In SEE YOU AT SAN DIEGO, Mathew Klickstein tells the real story of how these unlikely cultural heroes actually pulled it off, surprising almost everyone including themselves. Why has no one written this history before? It's an amazing story, previously untold. In Klickstein’s hands, it’s a massive labor of twisted love. Loaded with delicious gossip. Told in the voices of the people who really did it, damn near all of them. Packed with keen perspective and dead-on insight. Oh, and a ton of fun. Without SEE YOU AT SAN DIEGO, you’ll never know how the 21st century got this way.

This book is such a cool nostalgic ride through the evolution of Comic-Con! It's full of photos, graphics, drawings and anecdotes from the people helped to create and grow the event. Really creatively put together too. Just a really fun book to have.

This massive, engrossing, and beautifully produced book tells the story of San Diego Comic-Con and the rise of fandom from the late 1960s to the present day. If you've ever been to Comic-Con or to any other fan convention, you owe it to yourself to get this book to understand how today's fan culture came to be. Highly recommended!

I f***ing love this this book

What a fun look at the history of San Diego Comic-Con! A great companion to the podcast Comic-Com Begins. Insightful into the behind the scenes, successes, and controversies.