Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew
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Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew is a DC Comics comic book property about a team of funny animal superheroes called the Zoo Crew. It was published from 1982 to 1983, and was created by Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw!. Although the series, which was the last original funny animal property created by DC Comics, proved shortlived, lasting only 20 issues, it is still fondly remembered in furry fandom and the characters still appear occasionally in cameos in the DC Universe.
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Location
The various members of the Zoo Crew lived on a parallel Earth that, during DC's pre-Crisis multiverse system, was named "Earth-C." Earth-C consisted of a world where various anthropomorized talking animals existed; the series featured a lot of pun names for real-world aspects. For instance, the Zoo Crew operated out of "Los Antelopes, Califurnia," a parody of Los Angeles, California; similar puns included places with names such as "Gnu York" (New York City), "Tallahatchee" (Tallahassee, Florida), "Cornada" (Canada), and the "United Species of America" (United States of America).
The president of Earth-C's version of the U.S. was "Mallard Fillmore" (a reference to 19th century U.S. president Millard Fillmore); other famous figures of Earth-C included "Liz Whaler" (Elizabeth Taylor), "Marlin Brando" (Marlon Brando), and "Byrd Rentals" (Burt Reynolds)---the latter of whom became a member of the Zoo Crew.
Historical figures and events on Earth-C included the "Second Weird War" (World War II; Earth-C's version featured the U.S. and the Allies fighting the "Ratzis" (Nazis)) and President "Abraham Linkidd" (a goat, Earth-C's version of Abraham Lincoln), who was immortalized in the nation's capital ("Waspington, D.C.") at the "Linkidd Memorial."
Earth-C's population also consisted of the various "funny animal" characters that appeared in DC Comics over the years, particularly those in such Golden Age and Silver Age DC titles as Funny Stuff, The Dodo and the Frog, Real Screen Comics, and so forth. Indeed, several characters from these series made cameos during the run of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew.
Eventually, readers (and the Zoo Crew) were introduced to the parallel Earth of "Earth-C-Minus," which turned out to be the home of the "Justa Lotta Animals" (a parody of the Justice League of America) and whose world was an all-animal reflection of the mainstream DC Universe.
Origin
The origin of the team came about when Superman was investigating a strange phenomenon causing the citizens of Metropolis to begin acting like their primate ancestors. He soon found a ray streaking at him from a strange barrier surrounding the Earth, which prompted him to use a meteorite as protection. When the ray struck the meteorite, Superman and the meteor's fragments were sent from Superman's native dimension into Earth-C. There, Superman met several of the world's residents, who had gained superpowers when they were struck by the various meteor fragments.
The animals and Superman soon teamed up to stop the source of the ray (which was also causing the denizens of Earth-C to behave like their non-anthropomorized animal ancestors), which turned out to be the old Justice League villain Starro, a sentient starfish, who was launching his de-evolution assault from the Earth-C universe's Pluto. After defeating the villain, the animals decided to stick together and form the Zoo Crew, and Superman returned home.
Team Members
The members of the Zoo Crew include:
- Captain Carrot: Roger Rodney Rabbit of "Gnu York"; a rabbit. The leader of the team whose real name is Roger (or Rodney, as the latter comics named him to avoid confusion with the Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) Rabbit. He would eat one of his "cosmic carrots" (as Rodney called them), Rodney would gain superpowers for roughly 24 hours although major exertion could exhaust the powers sooner, which include super strength, endurance, heightened hearing and vision senses and a super-powerful leap. As such, he is the only member who has to constantly replenish his powers and keeps a a pair of carrots holstered on his person for such a need in emergencies. The source of these carrots was initially a windowbox which he grew carrots in, which one of the meteor fragments had struck. Later he arranged a grow-op at the team headquarters to ensure an adequate continuous supply. In his alter ego, Rodney is the writer and artist of the comic book "Justa Lotta Animals."
- Alley-Kat-Abra: Felina Furr of "Mew Orleans" (a parody of New Orleans, Louisiana); a cat. A martial arts instructor and student of the mystical arts, Felina uses her "Magic Wanda" (a magic wand) to cast various types of spells.
- Pig-Iron: Peter Porkchops of "Piggsburgh" (a parody of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania); a pig. Struck by a meteor fragment, the diminutive Peter fell (along with the meteorite) into a vat of molten metal in the steel mill where he worked. The consequent chemical reaction transformed his now-enormous body into a form of steel, with strength and invulnerability to match. Peter was originally a character from an earlier series of DC "funny animal" comics. Pig-Iron, nicknamed the "Swine of Steel" and "Porcine Powerhouse", was perhaps inspired by the Gilbert Shelton character Wonder Wart-Hog, known as "the Hog of Steel".
- Rubberduck: Byrd Rentals of "Follywood, Califurnia" (a parody of Hollywood, California); a duck. Byrd, a movie star, was given the power to stretch his body into any shape and length when a meteor fragment struck his hot tub. Byrd Rentals' name is a parody of actor Burt Reynolds. Rubberduck was also nicknamed the "Malleable Mallard."
- Yankee Poodle: Rova Barkitt, also of "Follywood"; a poodle. Rova, who worked as a gossip columnist, was interviewing Byrd when they were both struck by meteor fragments. Rova gained the ability to project a repelling force (in the form of blue stars) with one hand and an attraction force (in the form of red-and-white stripes) with the other. Rova Barkitt's name is a parody of gossip columnist Rona Barrett.
- Fastback: Timmy Joe Terrapin of the fictional "Okey-Dokey" (a parody of the Okefenokee) swamp in the American south; a turtle. While trying to catch a bus to "Kornsas City" (Kansas City, Missouri), Timmy was struck by a meteor fragment and gained the ability to move at superchelonian speed. Fastback was also nicknamed the "Reptilian Rocket."
- Little Cheese: Chester Cheese, a student at Follywood High School; a mouse. Chester had the ability to shrink from the comparable size of his teammates to a size of only a few centimeters, and was the only team member to not gain his powers from a meteor fragment (rather, he gained them from eating a piece of experimental cheese brought back from Earth-C's moon).
Villains
Enemies of the Zoo Crew included:
- Dr. Hoot: an owl who used various scientific gadgets to commit crimes.
- A.C.R.O.S.T.I.C.: a secretive organization that plotted to over throw the American government.
- Jailhouse Roc: a giant flying vulture who had been in jail since the late 1950s until he was released to work for A.C.R.O.S.T.I.C.
- Digger O'Doom: a mole who gained tremendous strength after eating one of Rodney's carrots.
- Frogzilla: formerly Fennimore Frog, who was turned into a giant frog by A.C.R.O.S.T.I.C. as a means of seeking revenge against his old foe, Dunbar Dodo. Both Fennimore and Dunbar originally appeared in DC's "funny animal" title The Dodo and the Frog.
- Feline Faust: a cat sorcerer from Earth-C-Minus, and a counterpart of DC Comics villain Felix Faust.
- Kongaroo: A giant kangaroo, very similar to the Macrofurry Duncan Roo.