CARtoons magazine is an American publication that focuses on automotive humor and hot rod artwork. Originated by Carl Kohler and drag-racing artist Pete Millar, it was published by Robert E. Petersen Publication Company as a quarterly starting in 1959. Editors over the years included Dick Day, Jack Bonestell, and Dennis Ellefson. It should not be confused with the earlier Cartoons Magazine of the 1920s. The original CARtoons went defunct in 1991. In 2016, CARtoons resumed publication under new ownership of the trademark, and is currently published bimonthly. The original CARtoonsfeatured articles, comic strips, step-by-step how-to drawing pages and more. The first issue included a comic strip, Rumpsville: The Saga of Rumpville, illustrated by Millar. In the 1960s until 1975 it carried the Unk and them Varmints strip. Through the years, some of the featured artists were Alex Toth, Tom Medley, Mike Arens, Jim Willoughby, Russ Manning, Willie Ito, Dale Hale, George Trosley, John Kovalic, Shawn Kerri, Duane Bibby, Steve Austin, Dave Deal, Joe Borer, Nelson Dewey, Bob Hardin, John Larter, Robert Williams, William Stout, Quentin Miller, Jim Grube, Errol McCarthy, and Dennis Ellefson. Publications closely related to the original CARtoons were CYCLEtoons, SURFtoons and Hot Rod Cartoons.
Publication history
Originally published quarterly, in 1962 the magazine became bi-monthly. During some years in the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine published eight issues per year. In 1975, the magazine underwent a complete overhaul with a new logo, new artists and new features. The late 1970s and early 1980s issues included iron-ons, a feature which ended in 1983, later replaced by a center poster which often was a larger print of the cover art. The original run of CARtoons magazine folded with the August 1991 issue. In 2015, Ontario artist Marc Methot successfully filed for the abandoned CARtoons trademark. He resumed publication of the magazine in January 2016 and it continues to be published bimonthly.
