Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew

Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew in 1982. It contained their first new funny animal superheroes in decades — and with the exception of a few licensed properties, their last foray into the funny animal genre for decades to come.

Writer Roy Thomas and artist Scott Shaw!, the group's creators, had collaborated once before, on "Man-Spider" (a funny animal send-up of Marvel's Spider-Man). They originally conceived their superhero gang as "Justa Lotta Animals", a take-off on The Justice League of America — but DC's existing licensing agreements made it more feasible to go with a completely original cast. Thus were born Alleycat-Abra, Fastback, Pig Iron, Rubber Duck, Yankee Poodle and, of course, Captain Carrot himself.

The Zoo Crew debuted as a free 16-page insert in DC's New Teen Titans #16 (February, 1982). The first issue of their own comic was cover-dated a month later.

Like most superheroes, these guys had ties to other characters belonging to the same publisher. Before his transformation, Pig Iron had been Peter Porkchops, who was a DC star from 1947-60. And the speedster, Fastback (who you knew had to be a turtle), was the nephew of McSnurtle the Turtle, who goes back all the way to Funny Stuff #1 (Summer, 1944). There were also frequent guest appearances by The Dodo & the Frog, The Three Mouseketeers, Nero Fox, and other DC funny animals from the 1940s and '50s — and even, on one occasion, Marvel Bunny, who was originally published by Fawcett. Even minor characters, like Bo Bunny and Doodles Duck, sometimes turned up in crowd scenes.

One connection which was not intended was with a Walt Disney feature that came along just a few years later, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Captain Carrot's secret identity was Roger Rabbit. To avoid confusion (to say nothing of possible legal entanglements, since Disney's Roger did appear first, in the form of prose fiction), the DC character's first name was retroactively changed to Rodney.

The 1980s comic book market was not receptive to funny animals, even if they were superheroes. Captain Carrot et al. lasted only 20 issues, the last dated November, 1983. Nor did the property make the transition to TV animation, as had originally been hoped. As was the case with their contemporary, Night Force, DC promised to revisit the characters in occasional mini-series and specials. But only one, The Oz-Wonderland War (1986), ever appeared. They guest-starred with a latter-day incarnation of The Teen Titans in 2005-06, but have otherwise been ignored.

Not many people today remember Captain Carrot & His Amazing Zoo Crew, but of those who do, many have become vocal advocates of the character. DC has very little interest in its funny animal properties these days, but if their attention ever turns that way again, this will probably be one of the first they look at.

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 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 Just'a 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 living steel, with strength and invulnerability to match. Peter was originally a character from an earlier series of DC "funny animal" comics. Pig-Iron was also nicknamed the "Swine of Steel" (perhaps inspired by the Gilbert Shelton character Wonder Wart-Hog, the "Hog of Steel") and "Porcine Powerhouse".
• 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." Timmy Joe is not the first superspeedster in his family. His uncle Merton McSnurtle was secretly The Terrific Whatzit, a crime fighter during the Second Weird War. One issue mentions McSnutle's participation in "Operation Overlard". (Battle of Normandy)
• 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).
• American Eagle: Replaced Little Cheese on the reconstituted Zoo Crew after the latter's demise.