Portsmouth Comic Con is returning to Portsmouth Guildhall on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May 2026, and another round of celebrity guests, exciting authors and immersive experiences have been added to the programme.
Joining film and TV guests Tom Rosenthal and Anita Dobson is celebrated British actress and singer Patricia Quinn, best known for her iconic role as Magenta in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (released in 1975) and the original stage musical that inspired it in 1973. You’ll recognise her lips from the cult classic film’s opening sequence, miming the song ‘Science Fiction/Double Feature’, a moment that has become a hallmark of the franchise’s enduring legacy.
Quinn first moved to London as a teenager to pursue acting, training at the Drama Centre and working in repertory theatre, while simultaneously being employed as a blackjack-dealing Bunny Girl. Beyond Rocky Horror, her diverse screen work includes roles in the BBC’s I, Claudius; the cult film Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life; the Doctor Who serial Dragonfire; and the horror film The Lords of Salem.
Portsmouth Comic Con is delighted to announce the return of the ever-popular Star Wars Experience, with the Joker Squad creating an even more immersive entrance for visitors. Droids, displays, music and sound will set the scene, and once visitors have cleared the Imperial Checkpoint, they will make their way through Tatooine for multiple photo opportunities. Whether it’s Han Solo in carbonite, a Speeder Bike, the Ewok Drum Kit, the Ewok C3PO chair, an e-web and an Ice Cave, visitors can immerse themselves in some of their favourite scenes from a galaxy far far away… before being drawn into a back world cantina, where they can play a hand of Sabbac and pose with their favourite Outer Rim bounty hunters.
New authors have also been announced for the Bookish Block. Joining best-selling authors Juno Dawson, Maggie Stiefvater and Eliza Raine are British authors Wren James and Josh Winning.
Wren James is a Carnegie-longlisted author. Appearing on Sunday only, they are the author of many Young Adult novels as “Lauren James”, including Last Seen Online, Green Rising and The Next Together. They are a RLF Royal Fellow and the story consultant on Netflix’s Heartstopper (Seasons 2 and 3). They like writing stories where queer characters get to be messy and toxic, and exploring “bad representation”.
Wren is the founder of the Climate Fiction Writers League and works as a consultant on climate storytelling for museums, production companies, major brands and publishers, with a focus on optimism and hope. Born in 1992, Wren has a Master’s degree from the University of Nottingham, where they studied Chemistry and Physics. They currently run a Queer Writers group in Coventry.
Visitors will be able to meet Josh Winning on Saturday only. Josh writes popcorn fantasy and horror novels that are full of heart, hope and humour, with a love for 80s movie puppets, 90s slasher flicks and gay Final Girls. He identifies as queer and believes in the power of positive representation. After growing up in a small Suffolk town and struggling to find LGBTQIA+ characters to relate to, he now writes books filled with queer joy. Josh has worked as a film journalist for Radio Times and Total Film, interviewing the likes of Miss Piggy and Goldie Hawn, and he is co-host of the Charmed Chat podcast. His books include The Shadow Glass, Burn the Negative (longlisted for a Bram Stoker Award), Heads Will Roll, and Be Still My Unbeating Heart. He lives in East Anglia with his partner and their talking cat Penny.
Fans of all things comic will be able to meet their favourite artists and writers in Artist Alley – confirmed so far are Lucy Sullivan, Mike Dowling, Chris Wildgoose, Rory McConville, Sarah Graley and Sam Hart.
With a firm family-friendly focus, the weekend will also feature colourful cosplay parades, compelling panels and discussions, workshop opportunities and gaming zones, as well as one of the largest selections of comics, collectables and merch around.
