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GREENSBORO — Comic fans of all ages gathered at Acme Comics on Saturday to celebrate Greensboro’s first appearance on the cover of a major comic book.

The comic — “G-Man: Cape Crisis” — is a kid’s super­hero book published by Image Comics. The title character and his series have been so popular with the city’s kids that creator Chris Giarrusso created a limited edition cover featuring G-Man soaring over the Lincoln Financial building.

Giarrusso and a host of other kid-friendly comics creators appeared at the store Saturday to sign comics and do sketches for enthusiastic fans.

“You hear people talk about how they learned to love reading through comic books,” said Stephen Mayer, assistant manager at Acme. “Now, as you see comics being accepted as literature by adults, they’re encouraging kids to read them.”

Acme on Lawndale Drive is the city’s largest and oldest comic shop. Its staff works with librarians and teachers to promote reading through comics. Mayer said G-Man has been a big part of that — and students from Greensboro Day School and Pearce Elementary flock to the shop for more. The Greensboro G-Man cover — which also features Acme Comics mascot “Acme Bat” — was a nod to Acme and Greensboro’s support of the book.

“They really know what they’re doing here,” Giarrusso said of Acme. “This store just really does a great job of marketing to kids in this area. They have the books on the shelf. They do events here and create excitement about them. Not a lot of places do that.”

Also on hand Saturday were comics creators Gregg Schigiel (SpongeBob Squarepants, Pix), Jacob Chabot (Mighty Skullboy Army), Brian Smith (Stuff of Legend) and Art Baltazar, who just won the prestigious Eisner Award for his work on “Tiny Titans.”

Baltazar said cartoonists like him rarely see so much fan excitement in comic shops, which are usually dominated by older fans looking for darker and more realistic titles. Baltazar has two children, ages 3 and 6.

“I like to be able to show them something they’ll get excited about, too,” Baltazar said. “As we got older as comic fans, the comics got older with us — they got more adult. We forgot to keep it fresh for the kids.”

Parents said they appreciated the kid-friendly atmosphere of the shop and its special events.

“As a parent, you can breathe easier with some of the comics they have here,” said Samuel Hawkins, 38. “And the kids comics are better today.”

Hawkins said smart-kids comics like “G-Man,” “Batman: The Brave and the Bold” and “Tiny Titans” have allowed him to share comics with his daughter, who now at 14 is transitioning to more adult titles.

“I never think about it as doing comics for kids,” Giarrusso said. “My comics are safe for kids, but I think I make them for everybody.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com