 Creators and patrons from near and far met at 808 Commonwealth Avenue on BU's campus to share their passion for comics. The Massachusetts Independent Comic Expo, or MICE for short, returned to this new venue for the first time after a pandemic hiatus. Organizers say it feels great to be back. We're very excited about the new location. It's exciting like trying to fill the space, trying to bring comics into this building in a way that's really meaningful. Workshops, panels, seminars, discussions, everything we can possibly think of. We're trying to fill the space as much as possible and so far I'm really excited to see just how full we can get it. Crowds of people made their way to the exhibition hall on the first floor where vendors sold a variety of original comics. Neil Brido was tabling for his distribution company Radiator Comics. The artists featured were introduced to him through MICE's seed grant program. Brido says he was glad he could be a part of sharing their diverse storytelling. It's been really amazing to see like all sorts of different stories by people that were not on my radar and being able to help like get those stories out into the world. The two-day event included panels and workshops led by expert cartoonists. This one on using panels to influence storytelling inspired Alex Hall to be creative. Working on a cat, the adventures of a cat of an owner and their cat very original and the cat it's like oh my god where is my cat there he is and you can see the cat's dilemma about trying to resist the urge. Leaders say the goal of these workshops is to make designing a comic accessible to everyone regardless of age. Workshops like this are a great way to break it down and say hey it really is just about putting down an idea sharing it with people and getting excited about what comes back. And maybe MICE's first time here at 808 but organizers expect to be back next September. Here at the Fuller Building I'm Stephanie Joseph for BUTV News.