Pulps like "The Shadow" were predecessors to more well-known superheroes like Batman, said Steve Dotterer, a visitor to the Pulp Fest event on Friday. Julia Maruca/Butler Eagle

CRANBERRY TWP — When Jack Cullers was a young boy, he often watched his father reading tales of cowboys and Westerns printed on thin, rough paper.

“It’s the stuff my father used to read, and he told me that they came from pulps, so I started figuring out what pulps were,” Cullers said.

That childhood interest drew Cullers to his longtime passion for collecting pulp magazines — fictional periodicals named after the cheap pulp paper on which they’re printed. Today, Cullers is chairman of PulpFest, a convention that celebrates fans of pulp magazines and offers collectors a chance to get their hands on rare titles.

PulpFest is currently running at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Cranberry, and will continue through 2 p.m. Sunday. Single-day tickets on Saturday are $20 apiece.

The event is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and its fifth year being held in Cranberry Township, Cullers said.

“We’re probably going to get something around 400 to 500 (people),” Cullers said. “We have dealers from all over the country.”

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