Illustration Friday: Cars

Since the word this week is "Cars" (plural) i'm gonna spice up this entry with a bit of historic hero hyperbole!

Nearly every hero in comics has some mode of transportation for situations where long distance travel is needed. perhaps the most famous vehicle in comicdom is the Batmobile. over the years it has evolved in comics, television and films, but my favorite has always been the customized Lincoln Futura from the classic campy TV series from the 1960s.

Another classic car from that era, Green Hornet's Black Beauty (a 59 Cadillac) with its green headlights was a rolling arsenal. driven by the Hornet's faithful sidekick (played by the martial arts legend Bruce Lee) Kato.

Another "car" which has only now made its way from the comic page to the big screen is the Fantastic Four's classic Fantasticar. the original design had it looking like a flying bathtub, but thankfully the design was later changed.

the Fantasticar will make its big sreen debut in Rise of the Silver Surfer.

possibly the least likely and most useless vehicle in the garage of the superheroes (with the exception of Superman's vehicle, which we won't go into) would have to be the short lived Spidermobile. basically a dunebuggy it served no useful purpose for a hero who could sling webs.

those are but a few of the many superhero cars, but for some groups a car was not enough. the Xmen, for example have the Blackbird, and the Avengers have the Quinjet when they need to be on the other side of the world in a hurry.

now on to this week's entry...

Disclaimer: the following illustration may be offensive to some Catholics. it was not intended to be and if you are offended i humbly apologize.

further let me say that if Pope John Paul II were still the pope i would have gone a different direction. i have nothing but respect for him and his many accomplishments as a spiritual leader. there was even a comic put out by Marvel Comics which chronicled his life.

with that being said, the first idea to come to mind when i heard of this week's topic was the "popemobile", and yes, it really exists. at first i considered going all out and doing an actual comic page just so i could use the phrase "quickly, to the popemobile!" but i didn't feel like putting that much time and effort into the piece. i was, however, able to work in the "popesignal" on the cover, which was another reason i had considered doing an actual page.

one thing i did do beyond the usual was attempt another "aged" look to this cover, which i think turned out pretty well. so without any further ado, i present for your viewing pleasure (hopefully)

Popeman and his ponterrific Popemobile:

click on image for larger view

created mostly in Adobe Illustrator specifically for this IF challenge.

as always, thanks to everyone who posted comments last week, enjoy the show and have a groovy week ahead.