There's a grand old tradition of comic conventions in Glasgow, yet when Sha Nazir started Glasgow Comic Con in the 600-capacity Mackintosh Church in 2011, it was the first time a proper comic con had been held in the city in 15 years. Now, six years later, Nazir has handed the reins of a hugely expanded event over to Nicola Love, with the intervening years welcoming creators including Glasgow's own Mark Millar, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely, and moving first to the CCA and now the city's Royal Concert Hall.

'When I'm programming Glasgow Comic Con I'm not thinking about what constitutes a good con, I'm thinking about what makes ours different,' says Love, who first attended GCC in 2012 to staff a stall for the comic shop where she worked. 'There are dozens of brilliant events across the country, but we're still the only comics-focused convention with a guest list of our scale, so we still stand out in that respect. Maintaining that creator focus has been my most important consideration during the planning process – catering to comic (rather than film, television or toy) fans has always been our main concern.'

This year's biggest name guests are the writer/artist team Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, creators of the huge hit Image series The Wicked + The Divine, with international appearances from Marguerite Sauvage and Amy Reeder, and a contingent celebrating 2000 AD's 40th anniversary including Pat Mills, John Wagner, Frazer Irving, Laurence Campbell and Tom Foster. There'll also be a new kids' zone.

'We're a month away from this year's convention so I don't have much time to get introspective about the future, but I know it involves a convention in 2018 because we've got two exciting guests in the bag already,' says Love. 'We grow every year and we have an absolutely brilliant, passionate audience – as long as I'm curating a convention they think is worth coming back to, I'm hopefully doing my job right.'

Glasgow Comic Con, Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Sat 1 Jul.