Our resident games reviewer, Maceman, is giddy with excitement about the arrival of the iconic Comic-Con event to Australia.

In his own words:

"I have watched from afar as each year ticked on by, and each year Comic-Con in the USA came and went. Seeing all the pictures posted from the event there was always one thing positively absent, my presence. For me, being there, like probably a lot of you that live here in Australia, was logistically and financially, just not possible.

Now thanks to DCA Enterprises (the people responsible for bringing William Shatner to Star Trek 2010 and Richard Dean Anderson and Chris Judge for Stargate 2010 and Comic-Con Adelaide) Comic-Con is here in Australia and it will coming to the Melbourne Convention Centre over two fantastic days June 29th and 30th.

So why travel to Melbourne if you live in other states? Well there will be more stars in attendance than the Milky Way on a clear night including the living legend Stan Lee (do I need to explain who he is? OK pretty much nearly every recognisable Marvel Super hero in existence including Spiderman and The Avengers) and Capt. John-Luc Picard and Professor X himself, Patrick Stewart, will be coming across to our shores to head up the event.

Others guests include the gorgeous Tia Carrere (True Lies, Wayne's World I & II), Mitch Peleggi (The X-Files, Supernatural and Sons of Anarchy), Ryan Robbins (Sanctuary, Stargate Atlantis, Falling Skies), Sean Maher (Firefly, Serenity), Armin Shimerman (Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the sexy Borg from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Leven Rambin ('Glimmer' in The Hunger Games) with heaps more still to be announced.

But this event isn't just headed up by starsofn the screen. There are plenty of others who, like Stan Lee, create our favourite characters between the pages of our favourite comic books and Anime series. If you are an aspiring comic book artist yourself then bring your work along to the event and have it judged by Scott Allie who is the Senior Managing Editor of Dark Horse Comics. Who knows you may be the next Stan Lee!

As with the U.S Comic-Con, it's all about facets of popular culture and not just things directly related to comics. Some of my mates from the Australian arms of the Gaming publishers will be coming in fresh from E3 showing off all the newest and up and coming releases to eager eyes. Then there will be the inevitable Cos-Players ("Costume Play" where people come dressed in full costume of their favourite fictional characters or reflecting cultural ideas and concepts).

Depending on your tastes, Comic–Con Melbourne will have something to suit everybody. If you have even a passing interest in comics or fantasy/SciFi TV then I would suggest jumping online now and booking your tickets. You will be kicking yourself if you miss out.