The July 4th weekend of 1971 marked the Phil Seuling New York Comic Convention—then the biggest show of its kind. And the ultimate fan experience for me.

Being in the same room with so many of my favorite artists, writers, and editors inspired me to capture as many photo memories as possible. The majority of this gallery reflects that effort—my attempt to record those moments. We were all so young then… 54 years ago, as I type this!

I hadn’t yet broken into the industry in 1971, but I did find a bit of celebrity at this event—in the costume contest! My buddy Kurt and I challenged each other to raise the bar on what passed for ‘cosplay’ back then. I’d say we succeeded, since we walked away with first and second place awards for our costumes. Scroll to the end of the gallery if you’d like to see a couple of pioneers of modern cosplay, over 50 years ago