A DOWN to earth celebration of out of this world characters is heading this way.

Bringing together great comic art from across the planet, a star-studded cast (and their creators) led by Captain Peter Rabbit of Lakes International Rescue descends on Kendal, in the fourth Lakes International Comic Art Festival.

Running from Friday-Sunday, October 14-16, the fabulous festival - the only one of its kind in the UK - features more than 70 special guests from across the comic world, as well as performance, film, exhibitions, comic trails, workshops, masterclasses, live drawing and independent retailers and publishers. The events programme is bursting with opportunities to get up close and personal with some of the leading comic artists and writers and a free family zone provides drop-in activities for all ages, alongside a series of fantastic workshops for kids and teenagers.

The Comics Clock Tower takes centre stage at Kendal Town Hall, featuring a range of creators, retailers and publishers, with exhibitions at Kendal Museum, Ruskins Bar, the Shakespeare Centre and, of course, the Brewery Arts Centre, which hosts everything from a special cinema programme that includes Deadpool, exhibitions in the Sugar Store Gallery and other art spaces across the venue, and on the culinary front, a repeat of its successful Japanese themed Doraku Cafe.

The popular gathering also includes the not-to-be-missed Windows on Comic Art Trail displayed in business windows across the town.

Top of the bill this year is Beatrix Potter artwork reimagined by award-winning comic artists to mark the 150th anniversary of Beatrix Potter - with amazing results.

Contributors include Charlie Adlard, The Walking Dead artist, more akin to zombie art than fluffy bunnies; Duncan Fegredo of Hellboy fame; illustrator, cartoonist and animator Luke McGarry; and comics creator, writer, illustrator and podcaster, Hannah Berry.

The artists have contributed their artwork to LICAF in support of the Beatrix Potter Reimagined student art competition, which encouraged students to give Beatrix Potter a modern or unusual twist and create new work in a comic art style.

Festival director Julie Tait said that the artistic entries for Beatrix Potter Reimagined were "simply stunning." She added: "The creativity, skill and humour of the student artwork is just astonishing and to top it all we now have contributions from some of the most talented comic artists on the planet! Our festival is not only a celebration of the best of comic art, it’s also about encouraging the next generation of artists to explore their creative talents. Beatrix Potter Reimagined is a fantastic project to celebrate a Lake District icon and to encourage and inspire the comic storytellers of the future.”

Comic artist Duncan Fegredo - best known for his collaborations with Mike Mignola on Hellboy - explained that he was more than happy to be part of the Beatrix Potter Reimagined project: "The idea of depicting Peter Rabbit as a spaceman emerged almost immediately and fully formed - Lakes International Comic Art Festival blending with International Rescue from Thunderbirds. My aim was to retain the innocence and appeal of Potter’s Peter Rabbit, setting him against a dramatic landscape and secret launching pad inspired by The Lakes.”

Duncan was also lead storyboard artist on Darren Aronofsky’s epic Noah movie, which starred Russell Crowe and Ray Winstone.

Beatrix Potter Reimagined is an educational, artistic project organised for students aged 16 and over.

A tribute to the talents of Beatrix Potter, it is supported by the University of Cumbria with several leading comic artists selecting the prizewinning entries - Bryan Talbot, Sean Phillips, Emma Vieceli and Mary Talbot - alongside festival patron Stephen Holland, owner of the award-winning Page 45 comic shop in Nottingham.

The top three prizes have been provided with support from Wacom, the world’s leading manufacturer of interactive pen tablets and displays. Their tools have been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashion and designs around the world. A stunning selection of Designer Edition Beatrix Potter books have also been provided as prizes by Penguin Books.

Charlie Adlard has been a 'veteran' of the comic industry for more than 20 years. He's spent the majority of his time since 2004 working on The Walking Dead for which he has received several industry awards. In his time as a cartoonist he has worked on many other projects as far reaching as Mars Attacks, the X-Files, Judge Dredd, Savage, Batman, X-Men, Superman and creator-owned projects closer to his heart like Astronauts In Trouble, Codeflesh, Rock Bottom, and White Death.

Originally from Manchester, Luke Mcgarry has quickly become the most sought-after young cartoonist in Los Angeles. He has created animated commercials for clients as diverse as the IFC movie channel and VISA, and animated music videos for major label recording artists, including Jack Black and Tenacious D. Along with his twin brother Joe, he heads up design outfit Fantastic Heat Brothers, and he sings, plays bass and twiddles knobs in their indie duo Pop Noir, who have shared the stage with the likes of Doves, The Wombats, Robyn and Sebastien Tellier.

Hannah Berry's first two graphic novels, Britten and Brülightly and Adamtine, were published by Jonathan Cape to critical acclaim. She is currently working on a third graphic novel, Livestock, a political satire due out from Cape in 2017.

A crowd-pulling festival oozing 'wow' factor.

Visit www.comicartfestival.com.