OPEN SAT., MAY 11 10:00 AM–2:00 PM • FRIDAY, MAY 31: 5:00–8:00 PM

2019 marks Comic-Con’s 50th event, making it the longest continuously-run comics and pop culture convention in North America. Over the past 50 years, Comic-Con has produced a series of program books (often referred to as the show’s Souvenir Book) for each year’s event. The covers of these books are a veritable who’s-who of comic art. From Jack Kirby to Bruce Timm— with talent as diverse as Dave McKean, Moebius, Steranko, Babs Tarr, and many more in between—Comic-Con’s five-decade history of creating awareness of comics is front and center on the covers of our publications.

“Cover Story: The Art of Comic-Con 50,” is a new exhibit at the future home of the Comic-Con Museum in Balboa Park. Explore the past 50 years of Comic-Con covers through striking examples of original art and process pieces that explore the creation of a cover, from thumbnail sketches to finished pencil and ink art to fully-colored finished pieces.

Plus, in 2015, Comic-Con unearthed a treasure trove of previously “lost” interior art from the Program Books of the 1970s and ‘80s. This art includes originals and reproductions by incredible creators such as Carl Barks, Ralph Bakshi, Marie Severin, Jack Kirby, and some of the top syndicated newspaper cartoonists of those decades, created especially for Comic-Con. Cover Story presents a rare opportunity to see this art up close.

The exhibition will be open Saturday, March 23 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and will run on additional select dates through August 4, 2019.

Check the Comic-Con Museum Facebook page for a schedule of upcoming dates.

Bring the kids and have them create their own Comic-Con cover with our special Souvenir Book cover template! Some of these sure-to-be masterpieces will be posted in the Museum during the show (or take yours home with you).