The Cosmic Con

Toronto, 1968. Herbie Weingarten, a teenager in his last year of high school, finds that his uncle Jeffrey, a holocaust survivor, has been taken in by a new religious movement called, “Exalted Consciousness”. The young man tries to extricate his uncle from the group even while his uncle tries to pull him into it. Visit Toronto’s downtown core when Yorkville was a hippy haven, Rochdale College was a centre of the illicit drug trade and bands had names like Intercontinental Ballistic Grapefruit. Watch as personalities are broken down and moulded in the pursuit of power and money by the mysterious Baron Gerhard Von Albrecht. Take a walk along “cult row” from Davenport and Avenue Road through to Yorkville, as pernicious gurus create ugly alternatives within the Age of Aquarius.

This propulsive plot is matched by Kasman’s meticulous and lavish illustrations capturing a bygone era of Canada’s largest city and the seedy characters within.

RON KASMAN is a Canadian comics creator. He was one of the four coordinators of Cosmicon, Canada’s first major comic convention. He created William Lyon Mackenzie, the first graphic novel of Canadian history, honoured by the mayor, displayed in a major gallery, published in two editions, reviewed by the Toronto Star and distributed by the Lieutenant Governor. He edited Peter Hsu’s Quadrant. He hand lettered comics for D.C., Image and Eclipse. He wrote and drew for Image. His educational comic strip Bruce Barnaby won an award for Educational Journalism. He penciled, inked and lettered Captain Canuck and inked pages featuring Fleur-de-Lys; both characters are on Canadian postage stamps. Parts of his comic collection have been displayed in the Royal Ontario Museum. Ron has been nominated for the Shuster Award as Canada’s Best Cartoonist. His forthcoming graphic novel will be released by At Bay Press in 2024.

RON KASMAN is a Canadian comics creator. He was one of the four coordinators of Cosmicon, Canada’s first major comic convention. He created William Lyon Mackenzie, the first graphic novel of Canadian history, honoured by the mayor, displayed in a major gallery, published in two editions, reviewed by the Toronto Star and distributed by the Lieutenant Governor. He edited Peter Hsu’s Quadrant. He hand lettered comics for D.C., Image and Eclipse. He wrote and drew for Image. His educational comic strip Bruce Barnaby won an award for Educational Journalism. He penciled, inked and lettered Captain Canuck and inked pages featuring Fleur-de-Lys; both characters are on Canadian postage stamps. Parts of his comic collection have been displayed in the Royal Ontario Museum. Ron has been nominated for the Shuster Award as Canada’s Best Cartoonist. His forthcoming graphic novel will be released by At Bay Press in 2024.