To the world at large, The Man of Bronze is a man of mystery. He is so mysterious to be largely forgotten. Except, that is by the legions of fans who have kept Doc Savage’s legacy alive, through their lives and passions.
For over 90 years, Doc Savage has captured the imaginations and passions of generations of fans. The saga stretches from the original Doc Savage fans who bought their pulps from Depression Era newsstands through the paperback revival of the 1960s, the Doc Savage movie and the fanzines of the 1970s and 1980s, the web expansion of the 1990s and the growing number of conventions, on up to the present day of streaming rumors and more serious speculations on the legacy of The Man of Bronze, and what kind of future that may consist of.
PulpFest 2024 is very happy to announce that the wait is over. Ron Hill is finishing work on We Are Doc Savage: A Documentary on Fandom. This feature-length documentary, 2 years in production, explores the history of Doc Savage fandom by interviewing dozens of the collectors, creators, and characters keeping the legacy of The Man of Bronze alive.
We hope you’ll join PulpFest 2024 on Friday, August 2, at 12:15 pm and Saturday, August 3, at 12:15 pm for two exclusive showings of We Are Doc Savage: A Documentary on Fandom.
A brief question and answer session with the director, Ron Hill will follow each screening.
Ever since he could hold a crayon, Ron Hill has been creating images. He began with penciled copies of Charlie Brown and Pogo, then moved on to detailed paintings of heroic subjects like Doc Savage and Star Wars. Professionally, Ron has been providing caricature entertainment for private and corporate events, gift caricature commissions, and illustration services for over four decades.
Since graduating from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh in 1982, Ron has worked as a cartoonist, illustrator, caricaturist, creative director, author, and business manager. Ron was born in Cleveland, and after graduating, he moved back to Cleveland and started a long career in commercial art, working at Morgan Studio, StudioGraphics Advertising, teaching Interactive Media, and co-founding Act 3. His busy freelance career has included joyfully drawing theologians for Presbyterian Publishing Company, monsters and maidens for Dungeons & Dragons and West End Games, baseball players for the Cleveland Indians, and, currently, as conic pulpy characters for Airship 27. A past president of the Northern Ohio Illustrators Society, he is a current member of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists.
PulpFest 2024 begins on August 1 and runs through August 4 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. We’ll be celebrating “Spice, Spies, Shaw, and More” at this year’s convention.
The general public is welcome to attend our programming events free of charge. To learn more about our programming, please click the schedule button at the top of this page.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the registration button at the top of this page. And don’t forget to book a room at the DoubleTree. They’re going fast!
If you want to sell at this year’s PulpFest, our wall tables are sold out. Island tables are still available, but they won’t last long. Register soon!
Our lead image was adapted by PulpFest Advertising Director William Lampkin from James Bama’s cover art for the Bantam Book edition of Doc Savage #1 — The Man of Bronze, first published in this format in 1964. Our featured image is excerpted from Bama’s original version of The Man of Bronze. For most of the Doc Savage fans who discovered the character in the 1960s and 70s, Bama’s portrait is seared into their brains.
Kenneth Grant is a writer and popular culture enthusiast who began writing for our website in 2022. He particularly enjoys the hero pulps and has written about Ace Magazines’ Secret Agent X and Pete Rice Magazine for pulpfest.com.
