{"id":43481,"date":"2024-07-03T07:57:36","date_gmt":"2024-07-03T11:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/?p=43481"},"modified":"2024-07-03T09:21:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-03T13:21:42","slug":"confronting-destiny-in-a-comic-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2024\/07\/03\/confronting-destiny-in-a-comic-book\/","title":{"rendered":"Confronting Destiny in a Comic Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

I’m not sure whether this is a public service announcement or an advertisement for a graphic arts position at the company that published this comic book. There are no specifics about applying for a job so I am leaning towards PSA<\/em>. I guess that the company thought that it was never too soon for grade schoolers to ponder their prospective careers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The unusual ad appeared in a 1971 issue of Mod Wheels<\/em> published by Gold Key. The comic looks to be an attempt to cash in on the wildly popular Hot Wheels<\/em> line of toy cars manufactured by Mattel. I was among the generation that these toys were initially marketed towards. The shelves of toy stores at the time were a riot of plastic model kits and die-cast vehicles with mile upon mile of plastic tracks. Everybody was trying to get a piece of that craze for souped-up miniature automobiles. There was a Saturday Morning cartoon based on Mattel’s toy line which begat a comic book which begat imitators and Mod Wheels<\/em> was among them.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mod Wheels<\/em> tells the tale of Wheels Williams<\/em> and his Modnik<\/em> pals, Lump Logan, Li’l Bit Bannon<\/em> and Scott McCall<\/em>. The stories are all based around cars and racing. They are kind of like a number of Elvis Presley movies that came out in the 1960s which all had some racing element about them. Apparently, the Modniks<\/em> even had a band which I read about but didn’t see in the few issues of Mod Wheels<\/em> I have perused. Apparently the gang had given up the guitars and groupies for carburetors and mag wheels. Toy cars probably sold a lot better than record albums at the time so it seems like prudent switch.<\/p>\n

I wonder if the Modniks reconsidered their decision upon meeting Joe Urth.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m not sure whether this is a public service announcement or an advertisement for a graphic arts position at the company that published this comic book. There are no specifics about applying for a job so I am leaning towards … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":43484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[335],"tags":[204,5703,869,312,726,5781,3923,5852,5853,5851],"class_list":["post-43481","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-what-i-miss-about-comics","tag-204","tag-career","tag-cars","tag-comic","tag-comic-book","tag-gold-key","tag-graphic-design","tag-hot-wheels","tag-mod-wheels","tag-racing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Graphic-Arts-future.jpg?fit=800%2C571&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1ed1x-bjj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":42249,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2024\/01\/04\/you-cant-keep-a-good-vampire-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":43481,"position":0},"title":"You Can’t Keep a Good Vampire Down","author":"Joe","date":"January 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Although the TV series ended in 1971, vampire Barnabas Collins continued to haunt the comic book racks of newsstands and convenience stores well into the 1970s. The comic above was published by Gold Key in 1974 -- 50 years ago! If I had seen the cover of werewolf Quentin battling\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "What I Miss About Comics"","block_context":{"text":"What I Miss About Comics","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/what-i-miss-about-comics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dark Shadows","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53441202637_ab28b4462c_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53441202637_ab28b4462c_c.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/53441202637_ab28b4462c_c.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46596,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2025\/12\/04\/hangin-on-the-telephone\/","url_meta":{"origin":43481,"position":1},"title":"Hangin’ on the Telephone","author":"Joe","date":"December 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"A modern toy aimed squarely at the wallets of Baby Boomers","rel":"","context":"In "Curious Clutter"","block_context":{"text":"Curious Clutter","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/curious-clutter\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/hot-wheels-close-up.jpg?fit=640%2C318&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/hot-wheels-close-up.jpg?fit=640%2C318&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/hot-wheels-close-up.jpg?fit=640%2C318&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":40278,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2023\/03\/19\/hells-virtue-signalers-on-wheels\/","url_meta":{"origin":43481,"position":2},"title":"Hell’s Virtue Signalers on Wheels","author":"Joe","date":"March 19, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This was a cartoon I did a year ago but put away because I didn't think the trend would last. The joke was stale so why bother? I decided to dig out the sketchbook it was in and finish it off when I saw two of these guys whizzing down\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "It Came From the Sketchbook"","block_context":{"text":"It Came From the Sketchbook","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/it-came-from-the-sketchbook\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Hell's Virtue Signaler on Wheels","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/52757353775_737aa7dbd4_z.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17105,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2014\/08\/19\/double-shot-of-o-j\/","url_meta":{"origin":43481,"position":3},"title":"Double Shot of O.J.","author":"Joe_Williams","date":"August 19, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"If the boot doesn't fit, you must...oh, never mind. The 1970s and '80s must have been pretty good for Orenthal James \"O. J.\" Simpson because he seemed to be the king of all media back then. He was all over television and movie screens while his cartoon image adorned comic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "What I Miss About Comics"","block_context":{"text":"What I Miss About Comics","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/what-i-miss-about-comics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/dingo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":37080,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2022\/01\/12\/a-hundred-horrific-pages-for-half-a-buck\/","url_meta":{"origin":43481,"position":4},"title":"A Hundred Horrific Pages for Half a Buck!","author":"Joe","date":"January 12, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"A buddy of mine chased down a well-worn and well loved comic that he had once owned and lost to the vagaries of time and fortune. It's DC Super Spectacular No. 4 and was published by DC Comics in 1971. It features a number of reprinted horror stories along with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "What I Miss About Comics"","block_context":{"text":"What I Miss About Comics","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/what-i-miss-about-comics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/COMICS-HEAD.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/COMICS-HEAD.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/COMICS-HEAD.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36764,"url":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/2021\/11\/04\/a-familiar-face\/","url_meta":{"origin":43481,"position":5},"title":"A Familiar Face","author":"Joe","date":"November 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"As is usually the case, I was looking for something else when I came across an old stash of comics books. I immediately forgot about whatever I was originally looking for as I gleefully thumbed through my four-colored, battered beauties. I was leafing through a well worn copy of Conan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "What I Miss About Comics"","block_context":{"text":"What I Miss About Comics","link":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/category\/what-i-miss-about-comics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/A-Familiar-Face.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/A-Familiar-Face.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/A-Familiar-Face.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43481","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43481"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43481\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43481"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43481"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willceau.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43481"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}