I belong to a social media group that posts panels from comic books out of context for funny or weird effect. I enjoy searching early comic books (now in the public domain) because they are often inherently strange. (Seriously, there is an early hero named The Eye who is just a disembodied floating eye who’s power is to creep people out).
Along the way, I notice cars. It’s kind of like curbside car-spotting from the comfort of home. Usually, the artists depict a non-specific vehicle that doesn’t actually exist. Like this:
Or this:
But every once in a while the artist draws and actual car, and when they do it really stands out. The first one I noticed was this Tucker:
I saved the picture, and after that I just kept collecting them until I had enough for a post. So here they are, starting with this ill-fated 1952 Plymouth:
A 1951 Plymouth convertible:
A 1946-49 Plymouth:
A 1942 Plymouth. ((What’s with all the Plymouth love? Were they easier to draw?):
Maybe not a specific Packard, but definitely a Packard:
His high-powered custom-built sports car is a 1951 Nash-Healey:
A fair approximation of a 1940 Nash:
A 1940 International cab-over truck. It’s not an exact illustration, but the style of the grille and headlight placement are too specific for it to be unintentional:
A 1950 Ford and a 1957 Dodge in a race. This was from a comic named Speed Demons. Despite the number of racing stories there were fewer illustrations of actual cars than you’d expect:
Another 1949-1950 Ford:
And another. The propeller-nose Fords were pretty popular among illustrators, although some were less successful than others:
A 1941 Dodge. It’s not a detailed picture but it’s instantly recognizable:
A 1949 Chevy:
A 1951 Buick:
This one is a mystery to me. The silver steaks and other details imply that this is supposed to be a 1937 Pontiac. But the grille is wrong and they didn’t have headlights in the fenders until a few years later. Pontiac inspired, maybe? Or a Pontiac combined with the grille from something else?
I have never been punched in the eye. But if it ever happens, I will be sure to say, “Ow! My eye!”
It’s the polite, matter-of-fact “I know you do not enjoy this knuckle massage” that I appreciate. No gloating, no histrionics. Just two regular guys out for an everyday drive n’ fight.
Did you say “Eye?”
These are great .
-Nate
Seems like the Graham sharknose was usually the vehicle of choice for the most lurid of graphic novels. Given its agressive appearance, it would seem taylor-made for the role.
I found several pictures where I thought it might be a sharnose, but it also might have been an exaggeration by the artist to imply speed.
Here’s a ’59 Dodge from Dennis the Menace. I used to have a color Dennis the Menace comic book from c. 1960, and Hank Ketcham used to draw cars that resembled 57-58 De Sotos and Chryslers very well.
And a first-generation Chrysler minivan from The Family Circus.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/2e/aa/08/2eaa08d59bc9ee53d01354026a636e53.gif
Awesome! I have a Little Golden Book from 1962, featuring The Jetsons. The inside back cover looks very familiar.
These are great. I hope they catch those bad guys who were about to spray gaosline all over the campus. FI on them! Yours in mirth (and my girth), Tom
In the flanks of the blue car in the second frame I see maybe a ’51 Packard or a ’53 Pontiac two door sedan.
Nice comics!
I feel part of it.
I had a 1941 and a 1947 Plymouth when I was a teen. Both were loads but my girlfriend liked the room we had in them. Then I bought the 55 Chevy……
These are great. Thanks for sharing them withus.
The ’52 Belvedere is PERFECT. Better than any advertising pics.
I think the very first one was meant to be a ’39 Hudson.
I think you’re right about the Hudson. Nice catch! My ability to identify makes is drastically reduced on cars prior to 1940, especially on independents.
Not quite the same thing, but here’s one page of serial comic-style ad for the Mazda 5. I found it in one of those little newspapers distributed in transit stations near Geneva, Switzerland, probably sometime around 2005. Dig the graphic sound effects!
I always wondered why the Mazda 5 in North American markets got the transverse roof-rack bars, while other markets got the North-South rails shown.
I have a couple of German Tintin books, and the sound effects are marvelous. Animal noises, particularly, are very amusing.
I’m guessing this Ford came from the hand of someone who drew good streamlined trains, and just widened one.
Fun! That last one looks like a mashup of 37 Pontiac and 37 Ford.
Interesting assortment – as a child I always preferred comics with cars I could identify.
Doesn’t really count as comics, but the cars Hergé drew in Tintin were usually specific makes and models, and beautifully drawn. His Jag Mk X is a particular favourite.
Thompson and Thomson’s Citroen 2CV was always a favourite. Also, I was enthralled as a 10-year-old by Cutts the Butcher’s very realistic VW bus.
Somewhere in the deep recesses of memory, I remember reading that Plymouth provided illustrations of their cars for use by artists, with specific permission. Perhaps that is why there were more Plymouths in comics and childrens’ books and such than would have been expected.
Handsome fiend or handsome friend in #2?
The animated sitcom King of the Hill always had accurate portrayals of cars. A whole page of them: https://www.imcdb.org/m118375.html
Not the only Greenbrier I’ve seen on the show but the only one shown on the page:
Good call on most of the King of the Hill cars.
One exception seems to be Boomhauer’s car. It’s a 1968 Super Bee, as evidenced by the easily recognized taillights. But the shots of the front-end seem to be some kind of cross between a 1969 6-Bbl Road Runner and Coronet. Maybe it was just too hard for the cartoonists to get the 1969 Coronet’s headlight ‘squint’.
OTOH, the 1968 Super Bee grille would have been an easy one to draw. An odd error, considering the accuracy of the other vehicles on the show. Reminds me of teenage Homer Simpson’s 1970 Road Runner with a Superbird rear wing.
Boomhauer’s car
Rear closeup
Anyone ever seen a copy of “Hot Rod Comics” or a similar title, from the ‘fifties ? An older friend gave me a couple of car comics back then; wish I’d kept them. There were at least two different titles. One comic had a beautifully-illustrated story about a father and son who build a Jeep with Jaguar suspension and other goodies . . .
And does anyone else remember CARtoons magazine? Somewhere in the heap I have one (1) issue.
CARtoons, HotRodcartoons, Cycletons, all gone now =8-( .
Flathead McFerguson, Unk and the Varmints, etc. etc. silly but fun .
-Nate
These are great fun to see here at CC. Are there any correlations between advertising art and a comic-book appearance? (Meaning, the viewpoint is the same, so comic is sort of a “simple tracing” of the ad art.)
A WW2 taxi in 1940 Paris (spy story) below—recognizable marque? (Feel free to poach this, Fuzzyman!)
A pretty good GMC 6×6?