After a trip across the Irish Sea for events in Belfast and Dublin last weekend, the MCM Comic Con phenomenon returns to mainland Britain for more shows in 2017 in Manchester, Glasgow, London and Birmingham before the end of the year.

An abbreviation of "movies, comics, media", the MCM brand has grown from a single show in London in 2002 to a nationwide series of pop-culture conventions that are rapidly developing across Europe as well.

Catering to all varieties of fandoms, from video games to anime, the next convention takes place in Manchester from 29-30 July when New Zealand-born actor Manu Bennett will be the special guest.

Bennett – who starred in Peter Jackson’s Hobbit trilogy; Spartacus: Blood and Sand and its sequel series; and MTV fantasy drama The Shannara Chronicles – is perhaps best known as Deathstroke in the Arrow series, as well as the character Frankenstein in Death Race 2050, which came out this year.

Taking place at the Manchester Central Convention Complex, MCM Manchester will also feature a Comic Village, dealer stalls, plus cosplay and masquerade events.

Following on from Manchester will be Glasgow from 23-24 September, when the special guests at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre will be Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Austin St John, Walter Jones, David Yost and Karan Ashley.

Other guests include the voices of Pokemon's Ash Ketchum, Veronica Taylor, and Attack on Titan's Eren Jaeger, Bryce Papenbrook, while 1980s film legend Sam J Jones will also appear. Jones starred as Flash Gordon in 1980 classic, which also starred Melody Anderson, Topol, Max von Sydow, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed and Ornella Muti.

The MCM bandwagon then heads to Excel in London from 27-29 October and finishes up at the NEC in Birmingham from 19-20 November.

For more details visit the MCM Comic Con website.