8 Scans of Solstice - Childhood comic - Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew.

[kamino_neko]

I had 2 favourite comics as a child. One was Legion of Superheroes. The other was the first one that I collected literally every issue - Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew. Well, every issue of the title itself...I never read the preview in Teen Titans until I was an adult. Which makes it kind of ironic that that's what I'm posting from (since it's a lot easier than trimming one of the main issues down). >_>


We start in the Metropolis of Earth One, where there is...an odd epidemic happening...

A man jumps on a car, eeking and ooking and...


(Yeah, the physics here are pretty borked, even by comic book standards.)


There's actually a sixth meteor bit in Superman's fist, which he tosses as he heads for the Daily Planet, to change back to Clark and take his desk... Or, uh, so he thinks.



Roger would be renamed to Rodney (well, Roger Rodney Rabbit) as of issue 12. Apparently Gary K Wolf cleared his throat in DC's direction. (This was 1982, so it's too early for Disney to have been the reason. [Edit - or maybe not. As tcampbell1000 pointed out below, Disney had already started working on Roger Rabbit in 82 - in fact they seem to have bought the rights almost immediately after the book came out.])

So, Superman figures out that the barrier he passed sent him to another world, populated by cartoon funny animals. (Would be a few years before the term 'furry' was coined.)





Superman explains to Roger that the meteor bit that had landed in his window box had irradiated the carrots, giving him super powers, then heads to the UN (United Nature), where the general assembly is going feral...alone, because this is the pre-Crisis Earth One Superman.



So, Roger joins him and they beat up subdue the feral diplomats (it's a fairly entertaining fight, but I had to cut it for space, sorry). And an entirely convenient news report comes up on the TV screens behind the speaker's podium...


Alley-Cat-Abra's colours would be totally different in the series proper. Since her fur is white, here, I'm inclined to think that's a colouring error, and not a retcon.

The story concluded in the first issue of the main series - turned out it was all a plot by Starro (of Earth One) to take over Earth C.

Comments

[alicemacher]

This is all very Silver Age (especially the bit with the meteorite) despite having come out much later. Looks like fun, though!

[kamino_neko]

It was a very fun series. So many puns.

[alschroeder3]

I always liked that the President was called Mallard Fillmore. And that Pig-Iron was an old DC Funny Comics character called Peter Porkchops. Or when the Zoo Crew met the Just'A Lotta Animals on Earth-C-Minus.

[kamino_neko]

I always liked that the President was called Mallard Fillmore.

Yes...and unlike 'Roger Rabbit', Thomas and Shaw! got there first. (Also with 'Captain Carrot'...Bunny, not dwarf!)

And that Pig-Iron was an old DC Funny Comics character called Peter Porkchops.

And McSnurtle the Turtle/The Terrific Whatzit is Fastback's uncle. (It's definitely a Roy Thomas book.)

[beyondthefringe]

Agreed. I was going to point out the ties to the old funny animal comics of yesteryore. It's a nice nod to the early days.

The Zoo Crew were always fun.

[tcampbell1000]

I have made no secret of my love for this series, so seeing it here just as I head for bed is a good omen for the new year.

A few observations and points of obscure trivia:

Although this story did predate the Disney movie, it did not predate work on the movie. In the second issue, Roy announced that there was "a possible film in the works" and that they'd therefore start phasing in Roger's middle name ":"Rodney."

So it's entirely possible that it was the Mouse who was pushing for that name change. Supporting evidence for this comes from issue #12 in the series, which introduces a new character with this gag: "I call myself Little Cheese, the Micro-Mouse! I was going to go with 'Mini-Mouse,' but I didn't want to get any phone calls from Wart Grizzly Studios! I hear their lawyers are tougher than ANY super-villain!"

Aside from that "R-o" connection, the main reason you can tell this is a Roy Thomas comic is the term "mystery-mammals." Even these days, only dyed-in-the-wool comics historians know that super-heroes weren't always called super-heroes, and Roy made hay of the 1940s term "mystery-men" in the contemporary All-Star Squadron.

The biggest difference between Roger and Roy (aside from the cosmic carrots and comical exaggeration) is that he's a double-threat, a writer who draws his own material, like other rising stars in the field such as Frank Miller and John Byrne. This was a suggestion from Roy's sometime writing partner and soon-to-be wife, Dann.

In this story, Roger's a fairly loose cannon, discovering his powers in a fit of pique and using them in open rebellion against Superman's authority, and indirectly against his bosses. Within a couple of issues of his own series, he will be a beleaguered team leader trying to hold onto his authority while his teammate Pig-Iron is openly rebelling and abusing his powers in a fit of pique. A bit later than that, Roger's co-worker will discover and sample Roger's carrot supply and attempt to murder Roger's bosses in a fit of pique.

[penguinzero]

This was one of the first of my childhood comics, too. My dad had a big Carl Barks collection, which I'd practically learned to read on, but this was the first comic I bought for myself when he'd take me to the comic book store. Others followed, but this will always have a special place in my heart.

[bradygirl_12]

Always loved this book! Clever, funny and entertaining. :)