With the autumn convention season now in full swing it’s time for the spotlight to shine on England’s Second City once again as flocks of comics fans and cosplayers descend onto Birmingham City Centre for the annual International Comic Expo known as ICE on Saturday 15th September.

Held at the shiny new Birmingham Conference and Exhibition Centre, which is next door to the city’s historical comic shop Nostalgia & Comics and only a stones throw from Birmingham New Street station, it seems to be perfectly placed for a comic convention.

As well as everything you’d expect from a comics event, such as nearly 100 exhibiting publishers, dealers and traders selling all manner of comics, collectables and original art, the event has welcomed an array of superstar comic creators from across the globe to share their wondrous artistic talents with lucky show visitors

Top on the list has to be Italian superstar artist Alessandro Vitti who has worked on many titles for Marvel and DC including Iceman and Red Lanterns respectively. Flying in from America is also top Marvel and DC artist and inker Rodney Ramos, who is looking forward to meeting his UK fans and signing books for free. There will also be an exclusive interview with the acclaimed artist at the show, hosted by renowned pod casters Geek Syndicate.

The wealth of talent in the UK is also well represented at ICE. World famous artist John McCrea will be there signing and sketching along with legendary creator of Judge Dredd, writer John Wagner who will not only be taking part in an exclusive interview during the event, but will also be taking part in a very special screening of the Dredd movie at the Electric Cinema on Saturday night.

And the list goes on and on with over a dozen more top international and UK creators responsible for bringing us comics like Doctor Who, The Beano, X-Men, Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Predator, to name just a few.

There is also an almost unlimited opportunity to discover something new at ICE with a wealth of independent and small press comics publishers exhibiting their work, showcasing the full diversity and breadth of the comic art medium.

Of course, no comic convention would be complete without the colourful presence of cosplay and the event promises to be a great family day out with costumed characters offering photo opportunities and a full programme of free events throughout the day.

Doors open to the public at 11.00am but of you pre book for just £15 you can gain entry at 10.00 am – a full hour before the doors open to the public to snap up all of those bargains from the comic stalls and get first in the queue to meet you favourite comic creators.

• To book tickets and to find out more about this fantastic event visit the main website at: www.thecomicsshow.co.uk

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.

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Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events

Tags: Birmingham, Comics Events, downthetubes News, ICE, John McCrea, John Wagner