For more than fifty years, PulpFest has celebrated mystery, adventure, science fiction, and much more. In the pulp magazines of the early twentieth century — which gave PulpFest its name — the hard-boiled detective, science-fiction, and sword-and-sorcery genres developed and flourished. They gave us Buck Rogers, Conan the Barbarian, Cthulhu, Doc Savage, Hopalong Cassidy, John Carter of Mars, Sam Spade, The Shadow, Solomon Kane, Tarzan, Zorro, and many other pop culture icons.
But PulpFest isn’t just about pulps. It’s also home to three other conventions, including Doc Con, a convention centered around Doc Savage — the pulp character created by Lester Dent for the Street & Smith line of pulp magazines in 1933. The convention was founded in 1998 by Rob Smalley, who thought of it as “a chance for fans to get together to celebrate the heroes of the pulp era.”
Taking place at the Ramada Inn in Scottsdale, Arizona, during the fall of 1998-99, the first two Doc Cons were smallish affairs, attracting just a few of the many “Fans of Bronze.” Later conventions — also staged in Arizona — saw the convention grow substantially. Eventually, 90 fans were drawn to Glendale, Arizona, for Doc Con 2015. The last Doc Con was held two years later — until its successful revival in 2025 at last year’s PulpFest.
Thanks to the efforts of several enthusiastic Doc Savage fans, the 22nd Doc Con returns in 2026 as part of PulpFest. By holding the convention alongside PulpFest, these fans of bronze get a variety of programming and a room full of pulp and book dealers to enjoy.
Watch for the Doc Con 2026 tables, right across from the entrance to the main dealers’ room for PulpFest.
This year’s Doc Con will feature a pair of programming presentations. We’ll begin on Thursday, July 30, at 8:40 pm with “The Amazing Adventures of Doc Savage,” a look at the science fiction adventures of the Man of Bronze and his fabulous assistants. Covering the topic will be Daryl Morrissey, a Doc Savage fan since he was a kid. Daryl’s “Refractions in Bronze” have been featured on the Hidalgo Trading Company and other websites for several years.
Our Doc Con programming continues on Saturday, August 1, at 12:30 pm with a look at the founding and the history of The Bronze Gazette. Longtime Doc Savage fan, Anthony Rais, will be joined by Howard Wright, the founding editor of the fanzine published for the “Fans of Bronze,” for our presentation. The fanzine continues to be published by Canada’s Chuck Welch. Each issue features thoughtful essays, archival discoveries, comic book retrospectives, and deep dives into pulp publishing history written by fans, for fans.
But that’s not everything taking place at Doc Con 2026. For early arrivals on Wednesday, July 29, Doc Con will hold a meet-and-greet in the Ember & Vine lounge at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. It will begin shortly before 10 pm, following the conclusion of Henry G Franke’s and Mark Wheatley’s presentation, “A Century of Robert K. Abbett.”
The festivities continue on Thursday, July 30, at 11:10 pm with an after-hours social event in the hotel lounge at the DoubleTree. Join other Doc Savage fans there for our 2026 “Bronze Bash.”
And on Saturday, August 1, starting at 4:45 pm at Bravo Italian Kitchen Cranberry, fans who sign up beforehand can enjoy a Doc Con Dinner with other Brothers and Sisters of Bronze. There will also be a raffle drawing for several door prizes. To be part of the Doc Con Dinner, you must sign up by noon on Saturday, August 1, at the Doc Con tables in the foyer.
Later on Saturday night, following the PulpFest business meeting and Munsey Award presentation, there will be an auction, starting at 8 pm, that features several early issues of Doc Savage Magazine. The Doc Savage lots include #11-13, 82 – 91, 119, 120, and 143 – 155. The auction also features quite a few lots of Bill Barnes, Captain Future, and Shadow pulps.
After the auction, Doc Con 2026 will be co-hosting a night “At the Cobalt Club” in the Ember & Vine lounge at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. All Brothers and Sisters of Bronze are welcome to join the Agents of The Shadow for this after-hours social event in the hotel lounge at the DoubleTree. More details will follow in our July 22 post about The Shadow Con 2026.
To learn more about Doc Con and Doc Savage, and to sign up for the Doc Con Dinner, stop by the convention’s tables in the foyer, right across from the entrance to the main dealers’ room for PulpFest. Show that you’re a proud “Fan of Bronze” by wearing your Doc Con 2026 T-shirt. You can order one here.
Manning the Doc Con 2026 table will be Ron Hill, the producer and director of We Are Doc Savage: A Documentary on Fandom, a feature-length documentary that explores the history of Doc Savage fandom; Jen DiGiacomo, a digital technologist who founded The Savage Society of Bronze in 1982; Scott Cranford, who created the first Doc Savage website in 1994 after fruitlessly searching the web for information on Doc Savage; and stalwart aide Anthony Cardno.
All this and more will be part of Doc Con 2026, the convention for all things Bronze. It will take place from July 30 – August 2 at this summer’s PulpFest.
Click the 2026 Schedule button to learn more about our Doc Savage-centric events or take a gander at the mini-schedule below.
Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Hotel Lounge
10:00 pm – ?? am — Doc Con — 2026 “Meet and Greet” — Socialize at Ember & Vine
Thursday, July 30, 2026
Dealers’ Room
9:00 am – 4:45 pm — Dealers’ Room Open for Early-Bird Shopping
Evening Programming
8:40 pm – 9:25 pm — Doc Con — The Amazing Adventures of Doc Savage (Daryl Morrissey)
Hotel Lounge
11:05 pm – ?? am — Doc Con — Bronze Bash — Socialize at Ember & Vine
Saturday, August 1, 2026
Afternoon Programming
12:30 pm – 1:25 pm — Doc Con — The Bronze Gazette (Anthony Rais and Howard Wright)
2:30 pm – 3:25 pm — Writer’s Panel — Working with Licensed Characters (John C. Bruening, Win Scott Eckert, William Patrick Maynard, and Will Murray, with Jim Beard)
Dinner
4:45 pm – 6:45 pm — Doc Con — Dinner at Bravo Italian Kitchen Cranberry
Evening Programming
8:00 pm – 11:00 pm — PulpFest 2026 Auction
Hotel Lounge
11:05 pm – ?? am — The Shadow Con — At the Cobalt Club — Socialize at Ember & Vine, co-hosted by Doc Con
Sunday, August 2, 2026
Hotel Lounge
7:30 am – ?? am — Doc Con — Informal Farewell Breakfast to Our Brothers and Sisters in Bronze
The general public is welcome to attend our programming free of charge. To learn more about our presentations, please click the 2026 Schedule link found on our website.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the register link found on our website. If you’re from outside the area, don’t forget to book a room. Due to cancellations, our host hotel, the beautiful DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry may have a few rooms left. Please call our host hotel at 1-724-776-6900 or 855-610-8733. Unfortunately, the deadline to get the convention rate was 11:59 pm on Tuesday, July 7.
You can click here for nearby hotels if all of the rooms at the DoubleTree are no longer available.
If you’re at a loss as to what to wear to Doc Con 2026 and PulpFest 2026, click the link on our website and order a PulpFest t-shirt or pick one up at the convention. They’re available in a variety of sizes in black or royal blue with the PulpFest logo across the chest.
Or, if you want to keep your wardrobe centered around The Man of Bronze, you can get your Doc Con t-shirts by visiting https://sprd.co/EMakV0X. They’re available in a wide range of colors. Mugs and caps too!
Remember, in addition to your membership in PulpFest 2026, you’ll also be a member of Doc Con 2026, FarmerCon XXI, and The Shadow Con 2026. That’s four conventions for one price! You can’t beat that deal.
Our featured image was excerpted from Walter M. Baumhofer’s cover for the March 1935 issue of Doc Savage Magazine, illustrating W. Ryerson Johnson’s & Lester Dent’s “The Land of Always Night.” Our lead image was adapted by William Lampkin from James Bama’s cover for the same novel, reprinted in 1966 as #13 in Bantam Books’ “The Fantastic Adventures of Doc Savage.” 1966. A science-fiction adventure about an underground civilization, the story was Ryerson Johnson’s first of 3 Doc Savage novels that he ghosted for Lester Dent.
Lampkin also adapted Baumhofer’s cover for the April 1934 issue of Doc Savage Magazine, illustrating Lester Dent’s “The Monsters,” a story about fifteen-foot-tall monster-men who are committing robberies. Finally, Bill adapted Tim Faroute’s cover for the 75th issue of The Bronze Gazette. It was published by Howard Wright in January 2016 and was the final issue of his run of the fanzine that he founded in 1990. That’s Howard holding Habeus Corpus on the cover. Lampkin also designed the PulpFest logo featured on our T shirts.
Detective fiction fan Pete Collins joined our staff in September 2024. That month, he contributed an overview of Detective Fiction Weekly to salute the magazine’s centennial. He also wrote our profile on Edgar Wallace in March 2025. We look forward to Pete’s continuing contributions to our website.
Visit our YouTube Channel for Craig McDonald’s look at the “Science Fiction Super Sagas of Doc Savage!”
And while you’re there, please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel.
