Pulp convention features author of 'John Carter,' 'Tarzan'
Fans of the pulp magazines of the past will find a haven this weekend at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center.
The 12th annual Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention takes over the hotel Friday to Sunday, April 27-29, bringing with it a pulp art show, a festival of films adapted from the works of pulp authors and more than 100 dealers selling vintage magazines, paperbacks and other collectibles.
“As a fan of the material, it's just a great place to come and mingle with fellow collectors who don't think you're crazy when you tell them what you collect,” said Doug Ellis of Barrington Hills, who organizes the convention.
The convention's theme this year matches up with recent box office sensation “John Carter,” featuring the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, who in 1912 wrote the novel that inspired the movie, “Under the Moons of Mars.”
Burroughs also wrote “Tarzan,” and has had his story lines adapted from their original pulp magazine format into movies, TV shows, video games, comic books and newspaper comic strips, Ellis said.
“I just think he sort of hit a chord, particularly with ‘Tarzan,'” Ellis said about the adaptability and timelessness of Burroughs' writing.
“The concept of a young kid who's basically left on his own in Africa growing up to be the strongest and fastest guy around, sort of living on his own with nature, that resonates with folks.”
“Tarzan” fans can watch some rare film versions of the tale during the convention's pulp film festival, which runs throughout the day Friday and Saturday. The film that first brought “Tarzan” to the screen, a 1918 silent movie called “Tarzan of the Apes,” will be shown, as will a documentary set to be released this month about the filming of the 1918 film.
Al Bohl, producer of the documentary, “Tarzan: Lord of the Louisiana Jungle,” will be on hand to discuss his film and the history of bringing the character to life.
Fans who collect pulps, which range from magazines printed in the early 1900s to vintage paperbacks from the 1950s through '70s, will find plenty of vendor booths to browse throughout the three-day convention.
Graham Crackers Comics, which has locations in Naperville, Wheaton, St. Charles, Downers Grove and Plainfield, will be selling comics and collectibles. But most exhibitors aren't businesses, “just folks who happen to be collectors who have collected too much,” Ellis said.
About 450 people are expected to attend, and the convention draws a bit of an older crowd because pulps are a historical form of fiction, “the precursor to paperbacks,” as Ellis calls them.
Convention attendees will get at least one paperback of their own as a souvenir — a 120-page program book devoted to the 100 years of Edgar Rice Burroughs theme.
“It's bound; it looks like a trade paperback,” Ellis said. “It's a nice little thing to have.”
If you go
If you go
What: Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention
When: Friday to Sunday, April 27-29
Where: Westin Lombard Yorktown Center, 70 Yorktown Center, Lombard
Details: Features vendors, historians and experts on pulps and vintage paperbacks
Cost: $35 for all three days; $25 Friday, $25 Saturday, $15 Sunday; visitors younger than 13 free
Info: windycitypulpandpaper.com