The convention featured a large range of pop culture elements, primarily comic books but also radio and television serials, science fiction/fantasy (particularly Star Trek), film/television, animation, toys, and horror, as well as a costume contest.
Nostalgia for times past played an important role:[2] all Southwesterncon events featured screenings of classic science fiction films and old television serials.
Longtime science fiction fan personality, collector, and literary agent Forrest J Ackerman came from Los Angeles and served as the convention's banquet toastmaster.
[3] On the last day of the convention, as part of Southwestercon VI's business meeting, the members of the DFS disbanded their club (due to much behind-the-scenes intrigue and politics).
[3] Meanwhile, in 1965, Houston-based enthusiasts Ray Bonario, Marc Schooley, and Jerry Poscovsky formed the Houston Comic Collector's Association (HCCA).
[12] The Friday night "non-stop theater" advertised screenings of Münchhausen (1943), The Thief of Baghdad (1940), The Vampire Bat (1933), and a couple of Laurel and Hardy films.
Movies shown at the con included King of the Rocket Men (1949), Island of Lost Souls (1932), Steamboat Willie (1928) & Plane Crazy (1928), "World is Born" (The Rite of Spring portion of Fantasia, 1940), Dead of Night (1945), and The Good Humor Man (1950), as well as "shorts, cartoons, and amateur films.
[26] The teenage comics dealer Bud Plant drove from San Diego to attend the show;[27] he was nearly arrested for selling "pornography" due to the underground comix he displayed at his table.
The Houston Comic Collector's Association staged Houstoncon '71 on June 17–20, while the Dallas contingent put on "D-Con '71" — billed as the 6th annual Southwesterncon — on July 8–11; Robert Bloch was the guest of honor.
[30] With Houstoncon going out on its own and by 1973 becoming an annual event, the other legs of Southwesterncon — Dallas' D-Con and Oklahoma City's Multicon — continued the tradition of rotating convention sites (though not always every other year).
[32] "D-Con '73", held June 27–July 1,[34] featured guests such as Harlan Ellison, William Gaines, Burne Hogarth, Andrew J. Offutt, and Jerry Bails.
"[35] Movies and serials shown at the convention (often running into the early-morning hours) included Barbarella (1968), Marooned (1969), Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970), Ghost of Zorro (1949), Zorro Rides Again (1937), Cowboy and the Prizefighter (1949), Bulldog Drummond Comes Back (1937), Cat-Women of the Moon (1953), Dangerous Mission (1954), Devil's Canyon (1953), The Vampire Lovers (1970), The Assassination Bureau (1969), Planet Outlaws (a 1939 Buck Rogers serial), Mars Attacks the World (a 1938 Flash Gordon film), Transatlantic Tunnel (1935), Tales From the Crypt (1972), Gone Fishin', King Kong (1933), King of the Rocket Men (1949), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972), Jack and the Beanstalk (1952), Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952), "Demon with a Glass Hand" (1964 episode of The Outer Limits), Silent Running (1972), The French Line (1954), Outlaw Territory (1953), Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe (1953), Invaders From Mars (1953), Beginning of the End (1957), and the complete 13-chapter serial Red Barry (1938).
Other films, serials, and TV shows included Undersea Kingdom (chapters 1-12, 1936), Philo Vance's Secret Mission (1947), California Gold Rush (1946), Forty Thieves (1944), Our Gang shorts, Planet of the Vampires (1965), an episode of The Outer Limits, episodes from the Adventures of Superman TV show, The Thin Man (1934), Ghosts on the Loose (1943), Riders of the Whistling Skull (1937), The Hard Hombre (1931), Dead Reckoning (1947), The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947), White Eagle (1941 Buck Jones serial, chapters 1–15), Mr. Moto Takes a Vacation (1939), and an episode of Amos 'n' Andy.
D-Con 79 featured special guests Stephen R. Donaldson, Kelly Freas, Jack Kirby, Mike Royer, and Roy Thomas; and guests Kerry Gammill, Mike Presley, George Wyatt Proctor, Don Ivan Punchatz, Kenneth Smith, Roger Stine, and Don Markstein.
[39] OAF member Bart Bush later opened the first comic book retailer in Oklahoma: Down Memory Lane in Norman.
[18] In 2007, the 40th anniversary of the formation of the Oklahoma Alliance of Fans, Bart Bush created OAFcon, a comics convention held in Norman.
Focusing "on Tarzan, The Shadow, and more," author Mike Chapman was the featured special guest, along with Anthony Tollin, J. David Spurlock, Buddy Saunders, and Steve Borock of MyComicShop.com.