Pros at Cons

These days, if you wanted to, you could probably attend a scifi or pop culture convention just about every weekend.  Sure, you'd have to travel but probably not as far as you'd think.  The act of standing in line to get a $40 autograph from someone who did something you liked has gone completely mainstream as conventions are popping up everywhere, all the time.

But not so long ago these kind of cons were a lot rarer to find.  They were grass roots initiatives by and for hardcore fans that are now the stuff of legend.  One such convention was HoustonCon.  I stumbled across program for the 1974 HoustonCon and today we're going to check out some of the highlights.

Celebrities

If you found yourself cast in a scifi or superhero show today you'd probably have a clause in your contract necessitating a certain number of convention appearances per year (or at least an incentive for those appearances).  That's why you might find half the CW Network in Lexington, KY or Bozeman, MT on a particular weekend.

But in the good old days, actors had to make their own way to cons and it was usually well after their show was off the air.  And if they charged for autographs, it wasn't anywhere near today's prices.  There was a bit of a negative connotation to these appearances back then as it was sometimes seen as a desperate choice for someone whose acting work had dried up but we've thankfully gotten past that today.

HoustonCon '74 had two primary focuses:  old movie serials and Star Trek.   With those themes, these two were pretty good gets.  Kirk Alyn was the first ever live action Superman on film in the original serials and Walter Koenig served his tour of duty on the U.S.S. Enterprise on the original Star Trek TV series and movies.  There were other actors that were willing to brave the Houston humidity that year but these two are probably the best known today.

Artists

There were a couple of artists listed in the program but I picked Fred Fredericks to feature on the blog because of his contributions to the program itself.  You can see his two page spread above as well as his work on the cover.  At first I wasn't sure if that character was meant to be the Lone Ranger or not because of the weird netting on his mask, but after some quick research, it looks like it is.

Apparently that's the type of disguise the masked man wore in the first Lone Ranger movie serial.  With the convention's movie serial theme, it makes sense that Fredericks would use this design.  He also seemed to be known for his work on the comic strip for pulp hero Mandrake the Magician as well as several cartoon character comics.

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First up is an ad for the "All American Book Store" in Hurst which features what I can only assume is a non-authorized appearance by Captain America.  I'm not sure which artist drew him but I'm gonna guess...the store's owner?  I can't find any confirmation that this place is still open but thankfully the ad includes a handy "map" if anyone wants to try and track it down.

The next ad is a great sign of the times.  This was well before the age of Netflix or video on demand, so if a fan wanted to catch their favorite episode of "I Dream of Jeannie" or 'The Flintstones" they'd have to wait until the rerun was rerun.  These bootlegs were presumably for sale on VHS but in 1974 I can't imagine too many people had VCRs.  Like any good page from a decades old convention program, this brings up more questions than answers. 

In addition to the gems I've posted, the program included con rules and schedules, with an emphasis on their screenings of Star Trek episodes and movie serials as well as bios of the other actors, writers and artists that were appearing.  It's a great window into a different time when fandom was a lot more work than it is today...but it looks like it was worth it.