Ron Kasman, an author and artist, has followed the evolution of comic books from a corner store commodity to an art form that now attracts thousands of people.
The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) drew 25,000 people in 2016 and the same number of people had been expected to attend this year’s festival, which ran from May 13 to 14.
Kasman, who was a presenter at the event, helped organize its precursor, CosmiCon – Canada’s first major comic book convention, which ran from 1972 to 1974 and attracted 2,000 people each year.
He pointed out that the 1970s conventions took place at a pivotal time, when comic books were evolving into a new art form. His graphic novel, The Tower of Comic Book Freaks, is set in that era.
The book is a coming-of-age story about five Toronto teens who go to a comic book convention in New York City in 1971.
The convention draws fans of both comic book characters, as well as the illustrators. Kasman explained that The Tower of Comic Book Freaks depicts the transitional years of the comic book industry, which encompassed the fan scene.
The book’s protagonist is Harold Friedman, a recent high school graduate. He has just won a scholarship for engineering school, but he’s more interested in becoming a comic book artist.
Kasman, 63, who is also a retired art teacher, has been a fan of the comic book medium for most of his life. “I didn’t stop reading them when I was 12. I tried to do my own drawings,” he said.
At the time, comic books were a mass media product. “People had them in their houses. But comics don’t sell nearly as well now as they did when I was a kid,” Kasman explains.
He said you could buy them at corner stores, but now comics are mainly sold at speciality shops, like the Silver Snail and Beguiling Books & Art in downtown Toronto.
The Tower of Comic Book Freaks can be purchased at these stores, or on Amazon. “The book is 16th in its category on Amazon and that category has thousands of books. I’ve been very happy with sales,” he said.
Kasman said he’s been involved with the industry, working as a letterer for DC, publisher of Superman, and as a writer and illustrator for Image Comics, which is best known for Spawn. “I’ve been published 85 to 90 times as a comic book artist.”
Getting The Tower of Comic Book Freaks published was a challenge, he said. “I was very happy when I found a publisher. Caliber is a very respectable company.… I had five stories written. We had to look at which would have the broadest appeal.”
In 1979, Kasman completed a graphic novel about the 1837 Upper Canada Rebellion led by William Lyon McKenzie.
The Market Gallery later gave him an exhibition of full-page images of the comic. “Mayor Art Eggleton attended the opening. The show got a review in the Toronto Star. It was a big thing for me,” said Kasman.
The Mackenzie Printery, which is dedicated to Mackenzie’s memory, printed a comic book-style, leather-bound edition, Kasman recounted. “Thousands of copies were printed and distributed (between 2004 to 2005) during (Ontario) Lt.-Gov. James Bartleman’s crusade to promote literacy” among First Nations children.
“People didn’t know if comic books would exist after 1970. There were about 500 young men who continued to buy comics – the good and the bad,” he said. “I think of myself as someone who helped turn comic books into an art form, at a time when the industry was losing readership and dying.”
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Blake Griffin saw 6-foot Jonny Flynn plant his feet near the basket, trying to draw a charge near the end of the first half. So Oklahoma's bullish power forward changed his plans.Oh, he still drove through Flynn, flattening the point guard. The change came as Griffin switched from another thundering dunk to a simple layup — and when a blocking foul was called, he got the added bonus of a free throw."I was hoping it went in our favor," Griffin said.Griffin scored 30 points and had 14 rebounds in his usual dangerous game for Oklahoma. This time, he got some help as Tony Crocker added a career-high 28 points, and the second-seeded Sooners beat Syracuse 84-71 Friday night and advanced to their first regional final since 2003.Oklahoma (30-5) started pulling away midway through the first half and moved on to play either top-seeded North Carolina or Gonzaga in the South Regional final Sunday looking for their first Final Four since 2002. The last time the Sooners made it this far, Syracuse beat them en route to their own national championship.And all that talk of an All-Big East Final Four?That's over with now. Syracuse was the league's lone representative left in the South Region. The Orange (28-10) finally ran out of the magic that helped them pull off such wins as their six-overtime marathon over Connecticut in the Big East tournament."Oklahoma's a very, very good basketball team," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "And when Griffin's been healthy, they've been very difficult to beat."Griffin once again put on a show despite being double-teamed. He dunked so hard in the second half that he came away from one shaking his left hand and banged his noggin against the bottom of the backboard while driving along the baseline for a rim-rocking dunk."That's the first time in a game," Griffin said of scraping against the backboard, a remark that drew a laugh from Crocker. "It took me by surprise. I got too close."Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel had told Griffin he needed to wrap his arms around his teammates and help carry them through this NCAA tournament. He's not worried about Griffin, not after watching the 6-foot-10, 251-pound sophomore dive over a table for a ball coming off a concussion."He's going to play. He's going to be himself, and he's going to attack. ... That's who he is. He's a really, really physical player and with that, there's going to be some ... physical exchanges. I'm not that concerned about it anymore. We've seen it for two years," Capel said.Flynn thought he had gotten his feet set to draw the charge with Griffin already having one foul. But Flynn appeared to flinch at the sight of Griffin barreling in on him, movement that may have betrayed him."A guy like that running you over is definitely going to hurt you, and it hurt a bit and my back has a bad bruise," Flynn said. "But I just saw an opportunity there for a game-changing play. ... The official thought otherwise."Flynn writhed around for a couple of minutes before getting up. The Orange never did, not with Griffin and Crocker leading the way.Crocker, the junior guard who went scoreless in the Sooners' second-round win over Michigan, who helped shred Syracuse's vaunted 2-3 zone. He shot right over the zone, hitting six of his first eight 3s. Crocker had spent extra time working on his shot coming into this game.Flynn led Syracuse with 22 points despite playing the second half with a bruised back after that crunching collision with Griffin. Andy Rautins added 12.Oklahoma denied Boeheim his career 800th victory in a game that never really was close as the Orange never found their outside shot or the scoring balance that had five players averaging in double figures. Eric Devendorf and Rautins went a combined 1-of-13 in the first half."We have to make shots to win, and when we were 0-for-10, we were in a lot of trouble," Boeheim said of the Orange's totals from 3-point range in the first half.The Sooners grabbed the lead from the start off a 3-pointer from Crocker from the top of the key over Devendorf's outstretched hand, and the Sooners' rout was on. They scored eight of the first 10 points, and Griffin had as many points by himself (nine) as the Orange through the first 10 minutes.Crocker said that first shot meant a lot after his struggles."That zone gave us a lot of spots to have open shots, so we just tried to take advantage of that," he said.Griffin was happy to see the production."It makes our job so much easier when he's playing like he did today. They can't sink down in the zone. They had to respect him all game long because he was hitting shots all game long. It takes our team to another level when he plays like he did today," Griffin said.Flynn tried to rally the Orange. He scored six straight points starting with a running one-hander, then a drive and finally a jumper to pull them within 18-17 with 7:15 to go.That was as close as they would get as Oklahoma led 39-26 at halftime and put together a 20-2 spurt spanning the halves.