HEAVYWEIGHTS of the comic art world spent the weekend in Kendal, meeting fans and proving that their work is about much more than just superheroes.

Organisers of the fourth Lakes International Comic Art Festival said it was bigger and better than ever, attracting names such as Bryan Lee O’Malley, the creator of the Scott Pilgrim series and Joe Kelly, the man behind Deadpool.

With live draws, music, film, exhibitions, comic trails, workshops, festival director Julie Tait described it as the 'best festival yet'.

"The mix of local and international creators and local and international visitors was fantastic and there was an amazing buzz around the venues and the town all weekend," she said "One of the highlights for me was the Asterix vs Tintin debate because it demonstrated how passionate people are about comics, how comics appeal to all ages and both the serious and fun sides of comic art."

One duo who exemplified the director's point were the Etherington Brothers. From Bristol the brothers, Robert and Lorenzo, are behind a number of popular children's books, including The Curse of the Golden Monkey and Long Gone Don.

Talking about how the festival tackles stigma surrounding the genre, Robin said: "People have never seen stuff like this before because a lot of it's not in the shops or it's in specialist shops. But it opens their eyes and they realise there's beautiful stuff being made."

And while the festival was full to the brim with big industry names, it also provided smaller creators with the chance to reach a new audience.

Aimee Lockwood, who had travelled from Edinburgh, was at the festival with her self-published and handmade comics.

"I've been making comics for three years," she said. "It's friendly here - it's small enough that you get to know everyone and it's quite intimate in a way, compared to some of the big soulless conventions."

Opening night of the festival not only saw Asterix winning the battle against Tintin by a single vote, but the UK's Comics Laureate was also named.

Charlie Adlard, best known as the artist behind The Walking Dead series, will take up the ambassadorial and educational role for the comic genre from next year, raising awareness of the impact comics can have in terms of increasing literacy and creativity.

"The power of comics to encourage learning and develop literacy shouldn’t be underestimated," said Mr Adlard. "Comics can connect with people who may never pick up a normal book and really help encourage a love of reading. I see this as a great opportunity to bring the wonder of comics to a wider audience."

And, one cartoonist present who believes in the power of the art form and was keen to leave his mark on Kendal, was the Guardian's Martin Rowson.

Mr Rowson spent part of his time at the festival in the alleyway next to Ruskin's bar - painting South Lakes MP Tim Farron, alongside Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May.

"His (Mr Farron) eyes are quite far apart and he's got a little tiny nose and nice sort of baggy eyes," Mr Rowson said. "I have to admit I haven't drawn him very often.

"Cartoonists can do all those things which decent honest journalism can't do, like laughing at our leaders because they've got ridiculous hair. It's to enable the readers to do what I think is one of their fundamental human rights - which is to laugh at people who think they're better than them."