GUELPH—A downtown comics and gaming store is gathering renowned and local comic book artists for a signing Saturday.

The event will be held at The Dragon from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will feature artists Stuart and Kathryn Immonen, Dale Keown, Lar DeSouza, Scott Chantler, Jay Stephens and Nick Postic. The authors will be sketching, as well as signing copies of their work.

The event’s purpose is to celebrate the store’s eleventh anniversary, as well as its recent move to a new location, which is almost twice as big as the old one. The store moved to Quebec Street mall from its old location on Wyndham Street on Sept. 3.

Jenn Stewart, the store’s owner, said she is excited to have big-name artists like Keown and Stuart Immonen attending. She added Keown does not often come to these kinds of events, and that Immonen rarely sketches, and credited those artists with generating much of the interest in the event.

The signing has created a buzz among collectors not only locally, but in Toronto and across southern Ontario, and will draw fans from those areas, said Amy Chop, the store’s manager.

The store is preparing to host between 40 and 50 people for the event, Stewart said. Though previous events haven’t drawn this many people, Stewart said they did not have the big names attending that are coming this time.

Immonen has worked on Fantastic Four and Ultimate Spider-man, among others, and Keown has worked on the Hulk series and created Pitt.

Stewart said she is also pleased to have local artists take part in the signing. “It’s nice to see that the vibrant community that Guelph has in terms of comic artists come together,” she said.

A smaller event with a relaxed atmosphere like Saturday’s is also more enjoyable for the artists than bigger events, Stewart said. “Often when they go to conventions they don’t really have a chance to talk to each other, they don’t have a chance to relax and do their art for fun.”

Chop said The Dragon aims to create the same welcoming atmosphere in its normal operations, including for women and kids, which she believes is part of the reason for the store’s success.