Short answers, pulled from the story.
San Diego Comic-Con was founded in 1970 by twelve people including Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger, Mike Towry, Ron Graf, Barry Alfonso, Bob Sourk, Scott Shaw, John Pound, Roger Freedman, David Clark, and Greg Bear. The first multi-day convention was held August 1-3, 1970 in the basement of the U.S. Grant Hotel in San Diego and drew 300 attendees.
Since 2010, San Diego Comic-Con has filled the San Diego Convention Center to capacity with over 130,000 attendees annually. An attendance cap has been in place since 2007 due to overcrowding. In 2023, approximately 135,000 attendees were reported despite major studio pullouts during the SAG-AFTRA and writers' strikes.
San Diego Comic-Con has an estimated annual regional economic impact of more than $140 million. The figure has varied year to year: the 2009 convention was estimated at $180 million, the 2014 convention at $177.8 million, the 2016 convention at $150 million, and the 2023 convention at $161.1 million. In 2018, it was estimated that nearly 200,000 people would be in downtown San Diego due to Comic-Con related exhibits and events.
The Eisner Awards recognize creative achievement in American comic books and are hosted by San Diego Comic-Con. They are often described as the comic industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards in film.
The 53rd convention was cancelled on the 17th of April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and two stay-at-home orders issued by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The 2021 convention was also cancelled, announced on the 1st of March 2021. A smaller in-person event called San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition was held in November 2021, requiring proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test. The full-scale convention returned in July 2022.
SAG-AFTRA approved a strike on the 13th of July 2023, marking the first concurrent actors' and writers' strike since 1960. Major studios including Disney (with Marvel and Lucasfilm), Netflix, Sony Pictures, and Universal Pictures pulled out ahead of the convention. Hall H, the convention's largest screening room at over 6,100 seats, was not used at all on the final Sunday of the 2023 event.