Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew
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| Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, September 1982 |
Hi Guys!
Some of you comic buffs out there might know that DC was the first big comic-book publisher to get in on the ground floor of the "funny animal" craze way back in the 1940s! Judging by all of the different funny-animal titles they put out through the mid-1950s, DC must have done really well with this genre. Remember those Rudolph comics? Those went on into the 1960s and even into the '70s and '80s! Of course, Rudolph was trading heavily on Christmas -- it wasn't like kids were naturally drawn to anthro or anything. Still, DC would occasionally try to relive its funny-animal glory days with offbeat anthro titles like Angel and the Ape... and Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew!
Captain Carrot and his Crew first appeared as an insert story in The New Teen Titans for February 1982. This sixteen-pager paved the way for the Crew's own book just a month later! The first issue featured a Superman cameo, which doubtless got the interest of mainstream comic fans. Revolving around humor-adventure stories set in the alternate-universe world of "Califurnia," Captain Carrot ran for a respectable 20 issues before closing down in 1983. Since then, the Zoo Crew has made occasional guest appearances in several other DC titles as well as getting their own comeback miniseries in 2007!
So these Captain Carrot stories are pretty lengthy and because I don't want to waste your time or give DC a reason to sue me, I'm just going to give you a rundown of the title's main characters. This was published in the end pages following the "Bow-Zar the Barkbarian" story that featured in the September 1982 issue:
The leader of the Crew is none other than Captain Carrot, whose secret identity is Roger Rooney Rabbit, a "mild-mannered" comic book artist who looks uncannily like Robert Crumb. If Robert Crumb were a rabbit, that is.
Next, we have Pig Iron, who seems to be a combination of Ben Grimm and Ironman. His origin story is pretty horrific, yet the guy has a good sense of humor anyway.
Here's Alley-Kat-Abra, a feline version of the Scarlet Witch. She's not all magic and voodoo, though; her life on the streets has led her to develop some impressive kung-fu skills!
Rubberduck is our Plastic-Man lookalike. I guess his super power comes in handy for all kinds of stuff.
With his super-speed, Fastback gives The Flash, well, a run for his money! He is also eerily prophetic of Donatello, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphael. Not the artists, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, who wouldn't appear for at least another two years!
Finally, we've got my personal favorite, Yankee Poodle! She's kind of like Captain America with a little bit of Green Lantern and Silver Surfer thrown in for good measure!
As expected from DC, all of these guys are well-drawn. The writing is pretty clever, too -- You can tell that the people behind Captain Carrot really had fun with it. At a time when so many hero titles were ponderous and self-importantly pretentious, the Zoo Crew was a breath of fresh air. Better than that, it's 100% anthro!
Let me know if you dig this as much as I do and maybe I'll wade into one of the stories. Until then, stay cool!
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| Who wants to be a man? I'd rather be an animal! |
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Barry Bostwick as your lead action hero? Seriously? I have a few comics with this ad in it, the costumes were designed by Mattel and I knew a stinkeroo when I saw one.
ReplyDeleteKudos for shining light on the neglected Captain Carrot, I am afraid my prejudice against D. C. kept me away from him.
Course I don't like Marvel at all, not anymore.
Ha ha! I am impressed that you know think stink-bomb movie, much less its star. Years ago I had a glossy 8 x10 promo photo of Bostwick in this very pose -- I gave it to a friend as a joke and have regretted it ever since! Needless to say, "Megaforce" is one of the few movies that I have actually seen. And, uh, more than once, too!
DeleteMy pleasure on Captain Carrot -- I had seen him around, but never really focused on him until now. DC was ahead of the curve as far as anthro goes -- This would have played very well in the 1990s furry scene.
"and no less its star..."
DeleteWell, I guess I must see it. I never met anyone else who has.
DeleteHeh, it will put you to sleep after about five minutes. As I recall, Persis Khambatta was also in that movie. You might remember her from "She Wolves of the Wasteland," which came out a few years later.
DeleteI seemed to have missed that one as well. I am just no educated!
DeleteI remember this comic! I think there was a Indiana Jones type character in one that was a gopher or groundhog
ReplyDeleteCool -- I've only read this particular (September 1982) issue, but it seems that there are a lot of pop culture references throughout. Raiders of the Lost Ark would have been huge at that time.
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