The former Mirror building at Shudehill has become a giant comic book as Richardson Developments prepare their site for The Printworks, a new £85 million leisure complex.

The hoarding, the first of its kind in the UK, dominates the retained facade while new-build construction gets underway behind the 140ft comic strip.

Being created is UCI's 20 screen megaplex cinema, the North West's first giant IMax cinema, themed restaurants, bars, shops and live music arenas, all of which make the 24-hour Printworks the most technically advanced and imaginative entertainment centre in the country.

Lee Richardson, a Director of Richardson Developments, said: "We thought the comic book approach rather appropriate in view of the site's historical connections with the newspaper industry. The hoarding will inform people as to the scheme's progress in the way that it might be told in the news columns -even though we have taken a tongue-in-cheek approach to it all."