Tickets for the first Northants International Comic Expo are now on sale, giving you a chance to join Alan Moore as he makes his first appearance at a UK convention in over two decades.
Taking place on the 22 - 23 September at Wicksteed Leisure Parkm, NICE - the UK'S newest and, but the look of it, most unique and family-oriented comic con - looks set to be a corker. After all, the event's organisers have managed to tempt Northampton hero Alan Moore out of his convention retirement to appear as Guest Of Honour. In their own words:
"For nearly 30 years Alan Moore has been universally acclaimed as the most ground-breaking and literate comic writer in the world. His early days in UK comics such as 2000AD and Warrior led to the creation of enduring stories such as The Ballad of Halo Jones and V for Vendetta . He redefined the idea of superhero icons in The Killing Joke , Marvelman and most notably Watchmen , which is still the only graphic novel on TIME magazine's 100 Greatest Novels list. From there he has created an eclectic body of work such as From Hell , Lost Girls and The League of Extra-Ordinary Gentleman . Renowned as both an entertaining and enlightening speaker by those lucky enough to have experienced one of Alan Moore's rare readings or talks, NICE 2012 is delighted to announce that he has graciously accepted the invitation to be Guest of Honour at our inaugural 2012 event.
On the Saturday evening of NICE 2012, Moore will give an unprecedented hour-long talk , sharing his comic-writing expertise. Visitors to the convention can then experience an hour-long Q&A session ."
While the appearance by the marvellous Mr Moore is pretty mind-blowing in itself, there are plenty more reasons to get excited about the Expo. The guestlist so far includes Charlie Adlard, Simon Bisley, Doug Braithwaite, Ian Churchill, Alan Davis, Steve Dillon, Marko Djurdjevic, Glenn Fabry, Melinda Gebbie, R.M. Guera, Adi Granov, David Hine, Shaky Kane, Dave Kendall, Clint Langley, Ben Oliver, Esad Ribic, Greg Staples, and John Watson.
And it's not just the incredible line-up that's looking good; the show will feature art workshops for children, cos-play competitions, original art galleries and auctions, live music, discussions and Q&A panels, and a large dealer area. The dealer area, cos-play and art gallery areas will all be free to access all weekend with no entrance ticket required.
Of course, you'll have to pay to get into some parts of the Expo, and the organisers have come up with a unique method of entry for those wishing to share a couple of hours with Alan Moore: a donation program on behalf of Northamptonshire Libraries.
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Throughout the weekend you'll be able to visit the Library's table and donate your old graphic novels and trade paperbacks, which will then be send to libraries to help build a better selection of graphic novels and TPB's for local communities. NICE indeed...
Tickets, contact details and further information can be found at northantsinternationalcomicsexpo.com , with prices at £15 for a Saturday or Sunday day ticket, and £25 for a full weekend ticket.
Excited? SFX certainly is, and we'll be there covering every second of the event alongside our sister title Comic Heroes .
