MALTON’S first-ever comic-con could be coming to the town under new plans.

The convention is the brainchild of Mark Brannan, owner of the Universal Geek comic shop in Malton’s Shambles.

He said things are still in the “very early stages” but he sees space in the North Yorkshire comic convention calendar, which he says locally consists of the Scarborough event in April, the York event in August and one in Driffield at the end of June.

Universal Geek is currently going through the process of being assessed as possibly the smallest comic book shop in the world.

But Mark said: “We might be the smallest comic book shop in the world but we have some big ideas, none of which can go ahead without funding.”

As part of preparations for the event Mark has set up a GoFundMe page to raise cash to help secure a venue, traders, cosplayers and a special guest or two - with a couple of possibilities already lined up.

The page is seeking to raise £5,000. This money would be for the convention but also to help secure the business itself, which underwent some hard times at the end of last year, including suffering a burglary in October.

“Hosting the comic-con would be our way of saying thank you to each and every one of you,” he said. “If successful we would be looking to book this as soon as the funds are available and if possible look at hosting it later this year.”

He added that they favour Norton bowling club as a possible venue as parking arrangements there would allow visitors to stay all day, whereas parking would be more difficult at a venue such as the Milton Rooms, he said.

For more information and to donate go to gofundme.com/help-universal-geek-make-2019-awesome.