MCM EXPO Manchester Comic Con Preview

By Simon Gallagher / September 6, 2011

Finally, the north of England has a Comic Con of its very own, and next weekend (July 30th) sees the inaugural MCM Expo event at Manchester Central, with a veritable smorgasbord of geek-tastic content and appearances. The broadly-appealing event will include participation by major games publishers, leading film studios, top comic artists and sport stars, sci-fi collectables and prestigious cosplay competitions. Oh and we'll be there as well. There's no indication as of yet as to what film-fans might get to see (aside from the special guests below), but with representation from Universal, Warner Bros, SyFy and 20th Century Fox, as well as anime distributors MVM Entertainment, there's bound to be enough to tantalise and entertain all tastes. Guests so far announced offer a mix from British sci-fi, with Craig Charles of Red Dwarf and Warwick Davis (Star Wars, Willow, Harry Potter) representing the biggest names on board. The additions of Kenny Baker (Star Wars, Willow & Time Bandits), and Sarah Jane Adventure's duo Daniel Anthony and Anjili Mohindra round out the on-screen talent pool. For gamers, THQ is to preview Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, while Namco will be showcasing Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 follow-up to cult shooter Earth Defense Force 2017 that we recently reviewed, and Nintendo will be bringing their NINTENDO UNLEASHED tour to the event giving visitors the chance to get up close and personal with a host of 3DS games. And it's not just about films and games of course (the hints in the Comic Con bit) with a huge raft of talent from the world of panel-based story-telling also represented at the Expo. The Comic Village tour will feature award-winning comics creators such as Antony Johnston (Wasteland, Alex Rider); John McCrea (Hitman, Judge Dredd); Marc Ellerby (Chloe Noonan, Ellerbisms) & Leigh Gallagher (Defoe, The Witching). Other talented artists and writers attending the Manchester Comic Con include Oliver Lambden; Colin Mathieson; Matt Dyson; Geof Banyard; Donna Evans; Jodie Snow; Scott Stanford; Davy Shirley; Helen Trifourki; George Beedham; K. Edgar; Dave Bulmer; Timothy Winchester; Joe List; Kate Appleton; David Goodman; Emma Cutler and Mogzilla€™s Alex Keller. The event will also showcase some of Manchester's finest sporting talent, with appearances by Bryan Robson, Denis Law, Norman Whiteside, Alex Stepney, David Sadler, John Aston, Peter Barnes and Dennis Tueart (bit of a bias there towards United, really). For more information, visit www.manchestermcmexpo.com, and check back here for further updates as and when they are revealed.

Ticket Details Early Entry Tickets (from 9.30am) £8 (inc booking fee) General Entry Tickets (from 11am) Adults: £5 Children (11-14) £3 Children (10 & under) FREE To buy tickets head here.

There's also the small matter of October's upcoming London MCM Expo, which we will also be reporting on. Look out for a preview article coming soon.