SPIDERMAN squeezes past Poison Ivy, one of Batman's most enduring enemies, and over in the corner Robin is queuing up to meet his heroes with a female Wolverine.

Amine and Maga influenced costumes are dotted throughout the crowds, others have dyed their hair green, pink or blue and some have brought the kids along in capes and masks.

Welcome to Glasgow Comic Con; a weekend long event featuring some of the biggest names in comics as well as the best emerging talent.

Organisers of the event, which expects to attract about 4,000 fans to the city's Concert Hall over the two days, claim that the scene is throwing off its white, male super geek image and becoming more inclusive than ever before with new comics emerging that reflect the experiences of women and ethnic minorities rather than the old superhero tropes.

While established names including Dave Gibbons, who wrote Watchman, Marguerite Bennet of DC Comics Bombshells and John Wagner and Alan Grant, the artist and writer team behind Judge Dredd, featured on the line-up of guests, there were also the more off-beat names including Rachel Smith, whose quirky comics draw on personal experiences and Clare Forrest the illustrator behind the Mighty Women of Science.

Jack Lothian, editor at BHP Comics which organises Glasgow Comic Con, said interest in comics had become more mainstream, with a wider fanbase allowing more alternative voices to be heard.

"It's particularly satisfying to see more diverse comics coming through," he added.

Groups such as Team Girl, a Glasgow-based group of women comic creators, set up in 2009 also offered support to newbies, he added, while technology had helped many produce online versions.

He claimed comics had an enduring appeal and offered a unique way of storytelling. "It's a great medium to express complex ideas because of the way that the words and pictures work together to tell the story," he added. "They are so accessible and they can work on multiple levels."

Louise Saul, 27, and Martin Livingston, 38, from Edinburgh both first encountered comics through the Beano agree the scene has moved on in recent years.

Saul, who dressed as Wolverine – the iconic X-men character which Marvel Comics reinvented as a woman last year – said: "It is still male dominated but there are now more female-friendly comics like Black Widow and the BC Bombshells and that is helping to change things."

Livingston added: "I'm not sure that people would consider comics to be cool but the rise of the Comic Con certainly means that it's a much more acceptable to be into them."

Naaila Ali, 24, who was selling artwork from her Nytastic adventures comic yesterday, reflected the growing diversity of the comic scene. Her quirky comics draw on her personal experience of growing up in Glasgow as a young Muslim.

Some are light-hearted but others such as a drawing she did of a young man draping a blanket over the world, have a serious message.

Another depicts zoned out teenagers on their phones and missing the beauty of the world around them.

"Comics are for everyone, regardless of race or religion or gender," she said. "My drawing reflect personal experiences that I think a lot of people can relate to. Comics give you a strong visual message. They have an immediacy which makes them an important way of telling stories."

Glasgow Comic Con Patron Frank Quitely, a Glasgow-based artist best known for his All-Star Superman drawings for Marvel Comics, claimed the scene was transformed from when he created his first comic books in the early nineties.

He said: "When I started out it was nearly all men that making comics and at the comic marts it was all boys and men too. Now a quarter of a century later there is a stronger more vibrant and diverse scene. Interestingly it's moving a lot closer to 50/50 in terms of the gender split of who is making the comics and who is coming along to shows like this.

"I think Manga and Cosplay have helped take us further away from the male geeky stereotype that comics when known for when I was starting out."

He said an increasing number of young comics, such as Ali were expressing personal experiences through comics, perhaps influenced by the "sharing" culture of social media.

He went on: "If you still just want your monthly dose of X-men or Batman it's still out there and those comics are being produced by very good writers and artists but more and more even in the mainstream comics such as Image - the third biggest publisher in the US – are changing. The majority of their comic books are non-superhero and many of them are autobiographical.

"Comics are absolutely accessible, whether you're picking one up to read it or if you want to make one yourself and that can make them a good way to share a personal story or perspective.

"They allow you to feel a connection."