That Ron Dude

Thanks for the kind words. That one has about 250 figures in it. It took forever to draw and even longer to colour.

I put this one up a little while ago in black and white. Here is a coloured version.

Everyone starts somewhere.

Went by your Deviant gallery and it entertained me as I ate breakfast. They were all very nice but my favourite was probably young man by the river.

This is my memory of a very large convention from the very early 1970s. To do it I downloaded three photos I found on the internet which suggested the ballroom, but most of it is just the way I remember it-- hundreds of old boys and young men, no comic boxes but stacks of comics and comics in makeshift boxes, scraggly hair, clothes from the 1950s both in style and age, Maggie, Paty and the Vartinoff sisters and people having fun in their own way. It is sort of a "Where's Waldo" for comic fans. If I get a bit of time I will colour it. That's supposed to be a young Ron Kasman second from the lower left corner and up a bit, not the one with the facial hair-- the one with the acne. I left out the goitre and the hare lip. I would have been seventeen.

Nice! you captured the feel of his inks to a "T".

I skipped the mid pages so I don't know if any of my work is up there. I confess, there are a few images where I envy the ability of the artists. I don't know what happened to these guys. They may each have shows at the Whitney now, for all I know. There were four issues of Cosmic Steller Rebelers, the only comic with two spelling mistakes in the title. I kept all of them, to remind me of those Halcyon days in the 1980's where almost everything was getting published.

He looks like a regular human being, if not a little more so. I pictured him as the biggest geek at the convention plus 50 years, mixed with the guy on the street corner holding out his cup for change. Anyway, I got a letter from Frank Brunner. You're trumped.

"ON NOVEMBER 23, 1970, Lance Rentzel was arrested for exposing himself to a ten-year-old girl. Soon afterward, Joey Heatherton asked for a separation, comedians composed the Lance Rentzel Hit Parade, which included such song titles as "Easy to be Hard" or "Baby Love," and an unknown genius distributed a bumper sticker reading Keep It In Your Pants, Lance." The joke I remember was that the evidence wouldn't stand up in court.

Thanks. It shifted to the green for some reason. The other pages can be found at ronkasman.tumblr.com .

This is page one of five that I did for a woman who is getting married. She wanted to give her husband a comic that told the story of their courtship. I penciled, inked, lettered and coloured it. We plotted and wrote it together.

I was visiting Memory Lane in Toronto in 1967.

Outrageous Betrayal, a book about Werner Erhard, the founder of EST. It sure transformed him. He was once Jake Rosenberg, used car salesman until he became the leader of scheme that made him millions and gave him a coterie of nubile young wenches kneeling at his feet. I haven't reached the end yet. I think he flees the country though I could be wrong or it could be spun differently. If you liked, Inside Sceintology, you will like this.

Funny Stuff!

That's not evolution. That's a whole other drawing. I think they both have a lot of merit.

I bought twenty or thirty issues, from say, #50 to #75 about 15 years ago for $5 each at my local comic store. I got a great deal. I was at Wondercon this past April and picked about about 12 Mads, all the ones I needed to fill in from about #50 to #100 for $4 each. Again, I got a great deal. But I got them at about the cost of a copy of Mad off the newstands. I could hardly believe it. I may have mentioned that I saw a waterstained #24 on ebay passed up at $9.95 then go when it was put up a second time, for $20. I bought my #24 for just under $60 in about VG. Mad was a very influential magazine. I can hardly believe that so few people are paying attention to it these days.

Strong image. Can't wait to see it finished.

To my sons with the rest of the stuff. Seriously though, the comics are trivia when compared to the house. I have written down the values of each and every comic in the year I bought them. With that information, it is up to them.

I love Mad. Interest in them does seem to be declining though. That's OK. More Mad for me!

Thanks for the kind words. I have two more commissions for the coming year then I am at liberty. Let your president know that I am available should he want me to paint him. I heard though that some were really mad about his campaign bus being build in Canada. In the end the White House will probably choose an American for the official portrait... once again!!!

Insurance Company President. First in a series of three.

Fascinating photos. I have to tell you, I just finished watching a DVD of Bucket List, knowing that I will never see the Himilayas or the Taj Mahal. I think the filmakers wanted me to be a bit envious of that while feeling more complete knowing that I have had a good meal with my loving family. Well, after seeing your photos I know I don't need to motorcycle along the Great Wall of China of sit on top of a pyramid. Though Texas is not my neighbourhood, I have met some of the people you have met and a few others as well. I have talked to them, and even had a bit of fun with them. In my own small way, I have lived the life of the Jack Nicholson character-- in a subculture I really care about. Thanks for sharing the old photos.

Short story, but a good one.

I'm in. The blue cover has my name on it for a pin up page I did. They paid me $10 for it which was like $13.50 when you count in inflation, and $14.75 with a conversion to Canadian funds. I had most of the others but they went pretty quick when I began to sell off my collection.

It's a solid drawing. What is it for? Is it a portrait that has been horrorified? Is it a generic vampire? Is it an illustration? Is it to go on a wall? The construction is fine and imagery is sound. The technique is good too though Alphonse Mucha might have done it with more pizzazz.