The co-founder of the Comic-Con pop culture convention has died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 59.
Richard Alf was diagnosed with the disease last month (Dec11) and lost his fight for life on Wednesday (04Jan12), according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Alf is credited with helping to develop Comic-Con in the 1970s by investing a few thousand dollars to kickstart the event.
The annual meeting in San Diego, California now draws more than 125,000 people every summer.