The artists featured today are people that should be studied by any artist that is a fan of the car and cartooning. When I was younger I poured through the pages of CARtoons absorbing as much detail as I could and picking up new things every time. Artists like Carl Kohler, Pat Rea and Bob Hardin all had their own distinct style. Even legends like Alex Toth contributed to the magazine. They were capable of presenting an engrossing story or made a single frame gag work equally well.
There were a handful that I would consider my absolute favorites. Each of these artists brought something unique to the magazine and in my book had as much style as the comic book greats. Dave Deal would contribute on and off to the book, but there was actually an artist whose passing I lamented before Dave's passing. Shawn Kerri was an artist that had a rock solid cartoon style. One of her biggest influences was the iconic Tex Avery. Shawn's black pen work was a very fluid and animated. She could also switch up into a very respectable painting style depending on what she wanted to say. She was plugged right into the teen psyche as she knew more about the readers than their own parents. This became more and more obvious in each issue of CARtoons that she worked on. I'm sure that I wasn't the only boy growing up in the 80's with a crush on Kerri.
Sadly she passed away much too soon and left an amazing legacy in comic and even punk rock art. Now I, like all of her fans are left to wonder how many hilarious or uncompromising pieces she would have created if she were still with us.
CARtoons was also the home of a fantastic artist named Steve Austin. Unfortunately for you he shares a name with a wrestler and the Six Million-Dollar Man, which makes finding more of his work online or current whereabouts impossible. Austin had the traits of a cartoonist and illustrator. He also had an intimate knowledge of the cars, the drivers and their personalities. If Shawn Kerri knew what teens in the late 70's and 80's were like then Austin understood the mind of the original hot rod pioneers. He was comparable to Dave Deal with his style and background. These observations were always presented in a lighthearted fashion and never snarky.
His cutaways of classic cars made me realize that the best artists don't always see the world in two dimensions. When trying to draw an object the artist should know the inner workings or at the very least imagine how much space and depth is inside the object. Even today I owe the majority of my cutaway art inspiration to Austin. The majority of his work was in black and white but when he painted in color his work had no equal. I've still yet to find a cartoonists that can color with as soft a touch while keeping his signature proportions intact.
The final contributor that I would like to mention was the one filled with tremendous potential. Joe Borer began contributing to CARtoons in the mid 80's and would appear from time to time until the final issue published in 91. Every time his work appeared it was even better than the last. He was becoming exponentially better at cartooning the automobile from month to month. I was very drawn to his style near the end more than any other artist that contributed to the magazine. I dare say that he was on his way to approaching Dave Deal greatness. If Joe had a weakness he was not as good at cartooning people as Dave was. Borer's cars were amazing nonetheless. He began tinkering with weight and motion through his illustrations. Tires were glued to the pavement while you could swear there was realistic body roll pulling his cars off the page. Sadly the magazine closed its doors and Borer was once again a freelance artist. The last things with his name on them were Tonka books from Scholastic. Those books were published a few years ago, I only wish I knew what had become of Joe and his amazing talent.
Such was the thing with a good deal of artists that appeared in CARtoons. Thankfully there is somebody from the CARtoons family keeping the flame burning, but what of the rest? The contributors might not be known outside of the magazine but they should be remembered for their dedication. The volume of work featured in the pages of CARtoons, Hot Rod cartoons, CYCLEtoons and Drag cartoons over the decades amounts to more than a footnote in comic book history. These were the annals of the comic art community as much as they were of the hot rod community. The work of the writers and artists every bit as relevant as the people writing for traditional automobile magazines.
They all followed the trends with a close eye, monster trucks, mini trucks, muscle cars, sport cars, racers, ATV's... on and on. It's a damn shame that more people, especially those into comics and cars aren't more familiar with them. The contributors might never been called up to receive an Eisner however we should never forget them and the work that they've done. Tomorrow I have the pleasure of interviewing one of the legends from the magazine.
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