Despite being born far after the 80's, I'm quite aware there was a time when DC Comics took themselves a little less seriously and produced comic book ideas that were written to entertain rather than set up shop for a possible movie adaptation. One such fun idea was today's Z-Lister, Captain Carrot!
First appearing in "The New Teen Titans #16" in 1982-later starring in his own book "Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew"-Captain Carrot came from a world populated by cartoon animals called Earth-C. Cap's civilian identity was Roger Rodney Rabbit, a writer/artist who worked for Earth-C's version of DC Comics and the creator of "Just'a Lotta Animals", a comic starring animal versions of The Justice League. Roger's gimmick was eating "cosmic carrots" that gave him super strength, speed, leaps and senses, but he had to keep these carrots close by as their effects on him only lasted 24 hours. Keep in mind the DC Comic character Hourman got superpowers for one hour from a pill. Thus proving that carrots are healthier for you than pills. Cap's team-The Zoo Crew-included heroes like Alley-Kat-Abra (a feline magician), Fastback (a turtle with superspeed), Pig Iron (an iron-clad hog), Rubberduck (a fowl with elasticity powers), Yankee Poodle (a star-slinging canine), and Little Cheese (a size-reducing mouse).
When Captain Carrot's world was coming to an end and was deemed uninhabitable, he collected as many refugees as he could onto an ocean liner. When their universe was destroyed, he and the refugees were transported to the main DC Universe. The Justice League find the boat, but all of the refugees onboard were transformed into regular animals. The magic superhero Zatanna took Cap as a pet, unaware of his true origin. During a battle in "Final Crisis", the cosmic being known as Monitor Nix Uotan used his powers to revert The Zoo Crew back into their superhero forms, restoring Captain Carrot back to his heroic glory. In the recent event "Multiversity", Captain Carrot was chosen to join Operation Justice Incarnate, a team of heroes from all across the multiverse formed to prevent any future threats to reality.
All outbursts of giggling aside, I like the idea of Captain Carrot and The Zoo Crew. It feels very much like DC meets Looney Tunes, but that was already a comic, so it feels more like DC Comics just having fun and "taking the piss", as it were. Reading some of these character's backstories is fascinating as a lot of time and thought went into crafting these otherwise unimportant characters. Further more, the focus on their universe when accounting for the limitless dimensions of a fictional universe is astounding when you consider it's contents. Grant Morrison's "Multiversity" is a mind-whammy and a half, but the fact that this ridiculous character is one its main characters has actually won me over. A fun idea that deserves another shot at being popular, Captain Carrot & The Zoo Crew are unmatched. Well, there's always Detective Chimp. And Howard The Duck. But I'm the only person reading Howard The Duck. Thanks for reading!
Warner Bros, if you can make some "Captain Carrot & The Zoo Crew" cartoon shorts to put before your big, dumb, depressing superheroes movies, you'll have my support.
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