Comic con returns to Bolton’s Market Place shopping centre

If you were to ask where you could find Iron Man in Bolton this weekend, many may think of this weekend’s sporting event which will see athletes swim, run, and cycle for more than 70 miles around the borough.

However, for those looking instead for the Marvel character, Bolton’s Comic Con Takeover was the place to be.

The free event at Market Place brought together those of all ages, with many deciding to cosplay for the occasion.

Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox.

Stuart Tarpey runs Canvas Creations, showcasing his own paintings and artwork (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest) Plenty of artists and creatives were in attendance, including Sora Crimmins who owns ‘Phantom Cat Creations’.

Alongside friends Damian Gould and Dominic Guile, the trio – from Runcorn – were dressed up as Dungeons & Dragons characters. They have been attending Comic Con events for more than 10 years.

Sora, 26, said: “I used to work in a cinema, and unfortunately that cinema closed down.

"Because of not being able to find jobs, I just thought: sod it, go full-time artist – and it has actually been working out better than I expected.”

Left to right: Sora Crimmins, Damian Gould, and Dominic Guile were running Sora's 'Phantom Cat Creations' stand (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

Also in attendance was Rory Hall. From Farnworth, the 35-year-old was attending alongside his partner and two children - three-year-old Logan and eight-year-old Reuben.

An anime and action figure fan, Rory believes the event could have been even larger.

He said: “It needs to be bigger – they need a stadium, like a proper, big comic con.”

Rory Hall visited comic con with his children, three-year-old Logan and eight-year-old Reuben (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

Follow The Bolton News on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), and TikTok.

Asked if he thought the event could fill a stadium, he added: “With the amount of people that are interested in this stuff, definitely.”

It wasn’t only humans attending the event.

Robot Jessy Pauletta was walking around on Market Place's upper floor, meeting and taking photos with excited children and adults.

Robot Jessy Pauletta said the best part of comic con is the kids (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

Despite being a robot, Jessy gave an emotional response when asked what was so good about comic con.

She said: “The kids – definitely the kids. They’re so happy all the time, they think you are a literal hero and make you feel so good.”

Artist Sheikh Islam – who goes by the mononym 'Fish' – took the opportunity to touch up one of his artworks. The 52-year-old from Burnley said Comic Con was his 'bread and butter'. (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

Jason Thanos – no relation to the Marvel character – has been attending comic cons for decades.

He says he has attended at least four or five thousand such events across the world, selling movie posters to happy customers.

Jason Thanos sells movie posters and has been to thousands of similar events (Image: Jack Fifield, Newsquest)

The 50-year-old from Altrincham said: “People love going to Comic Cons because it’s different from everyday life.

“We are like a travelling crew; we go around every show and we bring what we sell: various different products.

“To them, it’s unusual but it’s cool – it’s not something boring that they see every time that they go into a shopping mall, this is something new.”

If you have a story, I cover the whole borough of Bolton. Please get in touch at jack.fifield@newsquest.co.uk.