Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fantasy media, Comic-Con has grown to include a large range of pop culture and entertainment elements across virtually all genres.

The convention was founded in 1970 by Shel Dorf, Richard Alf, Ken Krueger, Mike Towry, Ron Graf, Barry Alfonso, Bob Sourk, and Greg Bear.

[28] In 2017, the organization acquired a lease to the Federal Building in Balboa Park, originally built for the California Pacific International Exposition and previously occupied by the San Diego Hall of Champions, with the intention of opening the Comic-Con Museum.

It was originally scheduled to occur from July 23 to 26, 2020, to coincide with the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, which was postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic.

[35] A smaller in-person event, "San Diego Comic-Con Special Edition" was hosted in November 2021, with proof of full COVID-19 vaccination or a recent negative test required for admission, and face masks being mandatory.

[39][40] As SAG-AFTRA members would be prohibited from participating in promotional work such as panels,[41][42] multiple major media companies preemptively pulled out of Comic-Con as early as June, including Disney (including subsidiaries Marvel and Lucasfilm), Netflix, Inc., Sony Pictures, and Universal Pictures.

[43] In July 2024, San Diego Police Chief Scott Wahl cited Comic-Con as an exigent circumstance allowing him to bypass a recently enacted privacy law and fast-track the installation of "smart streetlights" and automated license plate readers in the vicinity of the convention.

"[44][45] In December 2024, a lawsuit was filed against the SDPD for improperly deploying the surveillance systems at Comic-Con and at the San Diego Pride Parade without disclosing their locations or the nature of the "exegent circumstances" in voiolation of the law.

[46][47] On the Wednesday evening prior to the official opening, professionals, exhibitors, and pre-registered guests for all four days can attend a pre-event, dubbed "Preview Night", to give attendees the opportunity to walk the exhibit hall and see what will be available during the convention.

hosted by Mark Evanier with Shaw!, Sergio Aragones and a guest cartoonist responding to improvisational prompts and games (a la Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Comic-Con also served as an excuse for the fictional characters Seth Cohen and Ryan Atwood's trip to Tijuana, Mexico in episode 7 ("The Escape") of the first season of TV series The O.C.

In season 4 of Beauty and the Geek, an episode was featured where the contestants traveled to Comic-Con 07 and were given a challenge to create their own superheroes.

In season 5, episode six, of the Showtime show Weeds, attendees from Comic-Con 2009 are seen in Silas and Doug's medicinal marijuana club.

72 of The Invincible Iron Man (January 1975) was set at the July–August 1974 Comic-Con at the El Cortez Hotel and featured cameos by a few of the special guests.

The fifth Kelly Green graphic novel The Comic-Con Heist (1987) written by Leonard Starr and drawn by Stan Drake was set at the 1983 con and depicted such regulars as Will Eisner, Milton Caniff, Burne Hogarth and Jack Kirby along with Shel Dorf; it initially only appeared in French until Classic Comics Press issued a collection of all five volumes of the series in English in 2016.

[123][124] On the Futurama episode "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences", the main characters attend the 3010 convention (with it being referred to as "Comic-Con Intergalactic" and the iconic eye logo now sporting multiple eyes), where Fry looks for approval for his own comic while Bender attends a panel from Matt Groening (creator of Futurama as well as The Simpsons) on his new show "Futurella" (a twist on the title of the show and a parody of its cancellation by Fox).

[125][126] Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock released a 2011 documentary feature film set at the convention, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope.

[130] The podcast is a six-part mini-series chronicling the birth and evolution of San Diego Comic-Con, and is told by over 50 of the original contributors.

Among the founders there are also interviews with celebrities like Felicia Day, Ho Che Anderson, Jackie Estrada, Scott Aukerman, Trina Robbins, Kevin Smith, Neil Gaiman, and Bruce Campbell.

[131] The podcast was expanded into the book See You at San Diego: An Oral History of Comic-Con, Fandom, and the Triumph of Geek Culture by creator Mathew Klickstein and published by Fantagraphics on September 6, 2022.

[132] The book includes forewords by cartoonists Stan Sakai and Jeff Smith, and an afterword by Wu-Tang Clan's RZA.

[137][139] A large number of exhibitors from art, comics, games, film, TV, and publishing make their appearance at Comic-Con.

Glazner explained the early sell-out: For 2010 the decision was made to offer an option (of whether they wanted to attend Preview Night) to those who pre-registered for four-day badges.

[158] As of October 2013, a $520 million proposed expansion to the San Diego Convention Center received approval from the California Coastal Commission.

[163] As of July 2015, convention center expansion is effectively frozen, partly because the city no longer has financing lined up for it (any financing plan would involve taxpayer money and would have to be approved by a public vote), and partly because the city lost the rights to the only contiguous parcel of land where expansion could occur.

[169] In 2012, a 53-year-old woman was struck and killed by a motorist Tuesday as she tried to cross the street in front of the San Diego Convention Center, police said.

[176] In 2024, a three-alarm kitchen fire started in a nearby steakhouse caused the evacuation of around 1200 attendees of an "Iceberg Lounge" promotional event for the HBO series The Penguin.

[180][181] Also in 2024, the "San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force" conducted a multi-agency undercover operation that arrested 14 and rescued 10 victims.

[182] According to the California Attorney General's Office, "sex buyers were using the San Diego Comic-Con Convention to seek out potential victims".

They then filed a motion in an Arizona Federal Court to strike down San Diego Comic Convention's trademark.