Beach comic artist Ron Kasman’s Cosmic Con nominated for prestigious Pigskin Peters award

By JOSHUA McGINNIS

For lovers of the arts, comics, and writing, Ron Kasman is another excellent example of talent found in the Beach community.

Kasman has lived in the Beach for more than 41 years, and has had several comics published over his long career, with notable titles such as The Tower of Comic Book Freaks, The Geek of the Gods, and a graphic biography detailing the life of William Lyon Mackenzie. The biography received a commendation from then-Toronto Mayor Art Eggleton and James K. Bartleman, a longtime Canadian diplomat and later the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, who distributed the biography across Ontario schools as part of a large-scale education program.

Kasman’s most recent book, Cosmic Con, released in October 2024, takes readers back to Toronto in the late 1960s, a time of cults, divisiveness, and the hippie movement. It follows Herbie Weingarten, a high school senior attempting to save his uncle, Jeffrey, a Holocaust survivor, from a cult known as “Exalted Consciousness.”

Kasman, 71, has based much of his work on his experiences living in Toronto. He incorporates elements of the supernatural and weaves witty quotes into serious discussions about life and the human condition. 

Known for his scintilating humour and keen observations on human nature, Kasman’s comics often fuse the fantastical with real-world struggles, offering readers a glimpse into the deeply personal and often humorous way he views the world

Outside of his own published titles, Kasman has contributed to more than 100 comics since starting his career as a teenager.

“This story that I wrote I created in Toronto, about Toronto when I was about 15 years old. The things that were happening with the hippies, the cults that were downtown, I care about the stuff I write about; it’s meaningful to me. I’ve been a high school teacher for 31 years and taught about 6,000 kids. None of them ever asked me what it was like during the hippie days,” he said.

“It was the era of weird religions. People searched for something—religion, community, identity—and some fell into dangerous groups.”

The release of this book led to his nomination for the Joe Shuster Award as Canada’s Best Micro Cartoonist. Kasman stated that getting nominated was a thrill.

“I first started creating comics when I was 14 years old. I was drawing comic book-type characters, but I was 16 when I started getting them published in fan magazines. I remember being published in a local fan magazine called Comic Crypt,” said Kasman.

“I started to get paid at the age of 25. I was doing work for science fiction magazines; the money was thin and only came occasionally, but it gave me a thrill. Getting paid for something I loved doing felt great.”

Kasman’s career began to take off in the 1980s after years of low-paying freelance work and time spent designing furniture. He decided to go hitchhiking across Canada, figuring the timing wouldn’t improve. He was young, uncommitted, and looking for an adventure. Little did Kasman know, this decision led to his part in creating artwork in Canada’s most famous superhero, Captain Canuck, created by Richard Comely and Kalman Andrasofszky

“I was young and was doing alright. I had an air-conditioned office, but I didn’t like the job at all. I told the guys working there that I wanted to hitchhike across Canada. I had teachers’ college in September, and after four days of hitchhiking and travelling through Ontario, I ended up in Winnipeg, said Kasman.

“After four days, you can imagine what I looked and smelled like. I met Richard Comely, and he told me he was going to church. He said, ‘If you like, I’ll pick you up, and we can go to church together.’ I stayed with Comely for four days, and when I left, he gave me a bunch of Captain Canuck stuff. After something like that, you make friends for life. Once I got back from hitchhiking, I was able to work on some Captain Canuck comics, assisting with some of the drawings.”

The latest issue of Captain Canuck, released in November 2024, features a cover illustration of the famed Canadian superhero grabbing U.S. President Donald Trump, reminding him of Canadian sovereignty.

Outside of comic books, Kasman was a high school teacher for 31 years in Oakville. He always worked on his craft during his teaching career because it was his passion.

“I’ve had a lot of little bits of luck along the way, but being part of this world—whether it was drawing comics or writing stories—has always felt like the right place for me. I never really stopped working on comics. Even when I was teaching full-time, I always had a project going. I love holding a world, inventing characters, and seeing where they take me.”

The Tower of Comic Book Freaks, another title in Kasman’s published works, follows five comic book enthusiasts from Toronto heading to New York City for a comic convention. They soon find themselves in the underbelly of New York in the 1970s, for a weekend that changes their lives.

During this time, comic books and fandom were a small, relatively unknown scene in Canada and the United States, often dismissed by many, The Tower of Comic Book freaks shines a spotlight into the unknown world of comics of that era.

The Tower of Comic Book Freaks delves into themes of coming of age, cultural change in the United States after the divisive 1960s, and the search for identity in a place filled with scandal and vice. Like The Cosmic Con, it mixes personal experiences with fiction.

“I wanted it to reflect what it was like back then—when comic books weren’t cool, and being a fan was kind of a weird, underground thing. The character in the book isn’t me, but he thinks like me and has the same experiences I did. I really wrote it for people who remember that time and for people who are curious about the early days of fandom before it exploded into pop culture,” said Kasman.

“In this one, it’s a coming-of-age story. The kid’s finishing high school… What’s he going to do? Become an artist? Become an engineer? He goes down to New York, and it’s a whole different place. It’s a much bigger world than Toronto was at that time.”

Recently, Kasman was nominated for a Doug Wright Award, a national award ceremony celebrating Canada’s best cartoon artists. Kasman’s book The Cosmic Con was nominated for the “Pigskin Peters: Doug Wright Award for Best Small- or Micro-Press Book.” 

While Kasman has published several of his works and is a known name among Canadian comic book enthusiasts, he creates his work for his passion for comics and artwork.

“So, do I do it for the money? No, I do it because, you know, it’s something that I love to do,” said Kasman.