Random Panel of the Day #8

Testing. Testing.

Okay, this blog still works. Hope to have some new content soon!

Random Panel of the Day #7

Convergence: Harley Quinn article

So I just want to thank Mon Prime for alerting me to this piece of news. Comicbook.com has just posted an interview with Convergence: Harley Quinn writer Steve Pugh. Convergence: Harley Quinn, for those of you living under a rock lately, is the two issue Convergence tie-in where Harley fights Captain Carrot. And probably ends up teaming up with him, too.

The interview is great, so check it out by clicking here. I'll have to admit, though, the thing that got me the most excited was this image that was posted on the interview page:

Looks like we're getting the old-school appearance for Captain Carrot this go around! YES!! It's about bloody time! Although it looks like he's losing the fight in that pic (which I'm assuming is a cover for one of the issues). Don't know how I feel about that, as I'm pretty sure the good Captain could kick Harley's ass. But it is her book, so you know how that goes.

Convergence: Harley Quinn by writer Steve Pugh and artist Phil Winslade, hits stands April 8th, 2015.

BUY IT!!!!

Captain Carrot vs. Harley Quinn in CONVERGENCE mini

Not sure about the rest of the Zoo Crew, but it looks like Harley Quinn is going up against Captain Carrot in her Convergence mini-series. No art of the good Captain yet, but here's the cover:

HARLEY QUINN
Writer: Steve Pugh
Artist: Phil Winslade and John Dell
Harley Quinn is enjoying her normal life under the dome until Catwoman and Poison Ivy draft her to fight Captain Carrot.

Sounds like fun. More on this as the news comes in. Thanks to Mon Prime for bringing this to my attention. You can get more information on what other mini-series are coming out for Convergence by clicking here.

Random Panel of the Day #6

Convergence Promo Picture

Wait! Who is that I see over on the right? Yup, it's the Zoo Crew! Wish they'd pick a look and stick with it though. Still, this version looks to be closer to the actual Captain Carrot we all know and love than the Multiversity one, so I'm happy.

Dragon Con 2014 Cosplay Crossover

A blog crossover, you ask? And Captain Carrot's Burrow is actually getting to participate for once? Yes. Yes it is true. How did this come to pass? Well...

Apparently there was this little shindig down in Atlanta recently called DragonCon. I think it's a comic book convention or something like that. Okay okay, I know what DragonCon is, but being poor AND living in Canada doesn't allow me to attend such things. I do, however, keep my eyes on them. Writing your own comic and running three different blogs, you kind of have to.

This year, due to a lot of personal issues (breaking up with my fiance, having to move AND being in a car accident that has left me with some crazy form of amnesia), I wasn't paying any attention to anything around me. So imagine my surprise when John Godwin sent me this X 3:

I was all "Holy crap! Somebody actually cosplayed as Captain Carrot!? And it's a pretty girl to boot?"

Then Shag from over at Firestorm Fan sent me these pics:

The model's name is Krystle Starr and you can head on over to facebook and LIKE her page here. She has a lot of very good cosplay pictures as various different super-heroes posted on her page. So go check them out.

She's also Chief of Staff for Samaze Magazine and there are tons more DragonCon 2014 pictures featuring Krystle and a lot of others, posted on their website. So check that out as well by clicking here.

Dragon Con Cosplay Crossover Links

As mentioned, several different blogs have teamed-up today to cover some of the amazing cosplayers at Dragon Con 2014! Visit these other character-specific blogs to see how they spotlight their own favorite heroes today. Visit them now, visit them later, and visit them often! (Shag wrote that, not me. I lifted it from his site because I am lazy.)

*Aquaman & Mera @ The Aquaman Shrine
*Black Canary & Arrow @ Flowers & Fishnets
*Blue Beetle @ Kord Industries
*Firestorm @ Firestorm Fan
*Flash @ Speed Force
*Hawkman/Hawkgirl @ Being Carter Hall
*Legion of Super-Heroes @ Legion of Super Bloggers

Looks like a fun time was had by all, and hey, maybe next year we'll get the whole Zoo Crew.

Keep on Crewzin', folks!

Wizard Magazine Captain Carrot April Fool's Article (May 2004)

Well, look what I finally managed to track down. It took quite a while, but I finally found a scan of the article that goes with the Phil Jimenez art I posted on the blog a few months back. The article, contained in the May 2004 April Fool's issue of Wizard Magazine (sorely missed) tells of a supposed 6 issue mini-series, written by Geoff Johns with art by Phil Jimenez. The series would star Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew, with guest appearances by the Swamp Thing, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny, and Green Lambkin from the Justa Lotta Animals. The basic storyline is one that is familiar to all Captain Carrot fans, as it later appeared in issues 30 and 31 of the 2003 run of Teen Titans.

The Teen Titans story, was of course, a much truncated version of what is outlined in the article below. I really wish that they would have made THIS series, instead of the small couple of pages we ended up with. This series would have been fantastic, and I would have loved to see the Swamp Thing team up with the Zoo Crew. I think it would have been cool if they brought back the Zoo Crew's swampy villain Mudd from issue #4 of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew (June 1982), to go up against Swamp Thing. Alas, it was not to be. Just another cruel April Fool's joke on the part of Wizard Magazine.

I hate April Fool's unless I'm the one playing the jokes.

Enjoy the article, and thanks to Shag Matthews from over at Firestorm Fan for bringing this the thing to my attention way back when. Yes, it took me this long to track it down, but I didn't forget.

Oh, and before I forget. The issue number of Wizard for this article is #151. Now go read it, enjoy it, and wish longingly for good things that never happened.

Keep on Crewzin', folks!

Random Panel(s) of the Day #5

Sorry to muck up a Random Panel entry with words (gasp), but I'm confused by Multiversity's Captain Carrot. Is this supposed to be the actual Captain Carrot? He says he's met Superman before (New Teen Titans # 16 and Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew #1).

Anybody know? If he is supposed to be the real, true one and only Captain Carrot, then WHY DIDN'T THEY JUST DRAW HIM CORRECTLY??

New Captain Carrot MULTIVERSITY image!

Found a new Multiversity image today featuring Captain Carrot. While not what I was hoping for when an internet friend e-mailed me to tell me about it (I was hoping for an actual panel or two from the story), it's still a great image.

Love the homage to Action Comics #1. Can't wait to read this book.

Multiversity #1 hits comics stores this month. August 20th to be exact.

Captain Carrot in Grant Morrison's MULTIVERSITY

Well, it's been confirmed. Captain Carrot is in Grant Morrison's Multiversity limited series. And he even made the cover!

Although, I'm not sure why he looks like that. The solicitation says 'Captain Carrot like you've never seen him before'. Great, just damn great! Hey DC? How about you just put the classic version in there? Didn't you learn anything from the whole K'Rot fiasco? I guess not.

Oh well. I'll pick up the first issue at least.

Multiversity ships in August 2014.

THE MULTIVERSITY #1
Written by GRANT MORRISON
Art and cover by IVAN REIS and JOE PRADO
1:10 B&W Variant cover by IVAN REIS
1:25 Variant cover by CHRIS BURNHAM
1:50 Variant cover by BRYAN HITCH
1:100 Variant cover by GRANT MORRISON
Blank variant cover available
On sale AUGUST 20 • 48 pg, FC, $4.99 US • RATED T
Retailers: This issue will ship with six covers. Please see the order form for more information.
The biggest adventure in DC’s history is here!
Join visionary writer Grant Morrison, today’s most talented artists, and a cast of unforgettable characters from 52 alternative Earths of the known DC Multiverse! Prepare to meet the Vampire League of Earth-43, the Justice Riders of Earth-18, Superdemon, Doc Fate, the super-sons of Superman and Batman, the rampaging Retaliators of Earth-8, the Atomic Knights of Justice, Dino-Cop, Sister Miracle, Lady Quark, the legion of Sivanas, the Nazi New Reichsmen of Earth-10 and the latest, greatest Super Hero of Earth-Prime: YOU!
Comprising six complete adventures – each set in a different parallel universe – plus a two-part framing story and a comprehensive guidebook to the many worlds of the Multiverse, THE MULTIVERSITY is more than just a multipart comic-book series. It’s a cosmos spanning, soul-shaking experience that puts YOU on the frontline in the Battle for All Creation against the demonic destroyers known as the Gentry!
In issue #1, pencilled by superstar artist Ivan Reis (AQUAMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE), President Superman of Earth-23 uncovers a threat to all Reality so apocalyptic it will take a team of incredible heroes from across the Multiverse to face it – including Captain Carrot, like you’ve never seen him before!
But even with a multitude of alternate worlds to choose from, where every variation is possible, can anyone hope to prevail against the onslaught of ultimate evil and undying hatred – in the unstoppable form of a one-time cosmic defender with unimaginable powers?! Join us, if you dare, for the beginning of THE MULTIVERSITY!

(About damn time!)

Random Panel of the Day #4

Random Panel of the Day #3

My next Funny Animal purchase

That's right, it's Power of Shazam #29, August '97. Can anybody guess why?

I've never read an issue of Shazam in my life, so I have no idea if this is gonna be any good. But Hoppy's in there, so I'll probably like it.

If you think this is the worst (or best) thing you've ever read in your entire life, let me know. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Another Yankee Poodle Sighting, Ambush Bug: Year None #1 - Sept. 2008

So, I was sitting around today. I was supposed to be sleeping, not on facebook, but who can sleep these days? Not me, that's for sure. Anyway, I WAS on facebook, and noticed I had a new message from facebook friend and fellow Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew fan, Carl Gibson. I know you're dying to know what it said, so here it is:

"I was just flicking through my comics collection and noticed Yankee Poodle appeared in Ambush Bug: Year None. Not sure if you already knew this but as a fellow Zoo Crew fan I thought you may be interested!"
Am I interested? Oh hell yeah, I'm interested. I had no idea that Yankee Poodle had made an appearance alongside Ambush Bug, who has long been another one of my favorite DC characters (Seeing a pattern? Yes, I love all the weirdo characters). Strangely enough, I had been looking to pick up all the Ambush Bug comics just a few weeks before, but the comic shop I was at was missing a few issues of each series, so I decided to hold off until my next online purchase. (I ended up buying some Jonah Hex mini-series instead.)

Quickly, I looked up Ambush Bug: Year None over at mycomicshop.com. Six issues, written by Keith Giffen and Robert Loren Fleming, with art by Keith Giffen and Al freaking Milgrom??? Yeah, sign me up. So I quickly placed an order for all six issues.

Yankee Poodle appears in issue one of the series. This is the synopsis for the first issue, taken from Wikipedia (I'm at work, and don't have time to write it up myself, so I'm taking the lazy way out).

From the wiki:
The first issue, "Hey, You Sank My Battle-Ax!", revolves around Ambush Bug trying to solve the murder of Jonni DC, a female version of Johnny DC. Through the course of the story, Ambush Bug encounters such DC Comics characters as Yankee Poodle, Egg Fu, Ace the Bat-Hound, and 'Mazing Man. Through the course of his investigation, he is pursued by his evil sock, Argh!yle!, and his minions bent on Ambush Bug's destruction. Also pursuing him is "Go-Go Chex", a mysterious being whose face is completely covered with the checkerboard pattern that appeared at the top of DC comic covers during the 1960s; he constantly speaks in 1960s phrases and slang, and refers to everyone around him as "Wonder Chick". Occasionally, the Source Wall, as a sentient slab of concrete, appears vacationing across time and space in places where Ambush Bug passes.

And here are the two pages of the book that pertain to Yankee Poodle:


She tells Ambush Bug to F.U??? SWEET!

Yankee Poodle! 'Mazing Man! Egg Fu! Al Milgrom! And of course, AMBUSH BUG! How can I go wrong with this mini-series? So happy I ordered it! Unfortunately, I can't say anything recommending the series to those of you who haven't read it, as I have yet to read it myself. But if you're an Ambush Bug fan, I'm sure you'll probably like it.

Thanks again to Carl Gibson for pointing me in the right direction. You totally made my day. And if any of you out there know of any other cameos by the Zoo Crew that I may have missed, don't hesitate to yell at me.

Zoo Crew ala Fred Hembeck

'Nuff said.

The New Teen Titans #16 - Feb. 1982

That's right, folks. It's review time! Finally! And what better place to start than at the very beginning. New Teen Titans #16 from February 1982 featured the very first appearance of Captain Carrot and the gang in a 16-page story preview and I'm gonna run through it with you. Please note that I will NOT be covering the Teen Titans portion of the comic (Which is a great story, by the way. Check it out!). That being said, let's get to it.

STOP! COVER TIME!

New Teen Titans #16 cover, and "This Bunny Unbound" cover.
"This Bunny Unbound" by Roy Thomas, Scott Shaw!, Gerry Conway (story), Scott Shaw! (pencils), Ross Andru (pencils on the Superman portions), Todd Klein (inks), and Carl Gafford (colorist).

Guest-starring Superman.

Our story starts off on Earth-1 with WGBS-TV reporter, Clark Kent, informing the television audience about a recent press conference during which the President of Mammoth Motor Company leaped over his podium and started to act as if he were an ape or a monkey. We soon find out that this is just the latest in a long line of similar occurrences all over the world. For some unknown reason, people are exhibiting signs of simian behavior and to date, nobody has recovered from the mysterious ailment.

This looks like a job for...Superman!
After finishing his report, Clark decides he needs to investigate as his alter-ego, Superman. Pulling open his shirt in the classic "Look at me, I wear my longjohns under my street clothes" action reveal pose thingy that Superman always does, our hero takes to the skies. While flying over Metropolis, he sees a strange ray of light shoot down from the sky and hit a man walking on the street. The man starts acting like a monkey and jumps in front of a car. Superman, of course, saves him. Realizing that nobody else saw the light beam, Superman determines that the beam originated from the planet Pluto. Deciding to head there to investigate, Superman discovers he can't leave the Earth. GREAT KRYPTON! There is some sort of energy barrier encircling the entire planet and it is weakening Supes, almost as if it were partly made of Kryptonite.

Suddenly a meteor appears. It had no problem getting through the barrier, so Superman grabs it and hurls it back towards space. Holding on for dear life, he manages to ride the meteor through the barrier. The barrier continues to make him feel strange and as they pass through the barrier, the meteor begins to glow. And then this happens.

POP goes the meteor!
Superman is nearly blinded by the sudden explosion. Spots dancing before his eyes, he can barely make out five fragments of the exploded meteor as they make their way back down towards the Earth. He tries to follow them back down to the planet, which, according to Superman's innermost thoughts "looks different somehow--even through these blasted spots!" But luckily, his senses are SO keen that Superman just has to use his Super Automatic Pilot power to zero back in on the Daily Planet building. Realizing he has a sixth chunk of the meteorite in his hand, he throws it away, because apparently having it in his hand as Clark Kent would reveal his secret identity to the world or something like that.

Making his way into the Daily Planet, he changes back into Clark Kent, revealing that all his civilian clothes are kept in a handy pocket in his cape. Nice! I'll have to ask Michael Bailey if this is the first time this fact was shown in comics. Anyway, Clark stumbles around for a bit, still having problems with his vision, and feeling a bit dizzy. He also realizes that the hallways and doors he is stumbling through seem smaller than they should be, causing him to wonder if he has turned into a giant. "Lord knows, it's happened before!" he thinks to himself, which is a reference to Superman #38's "Seven-Foot-Two...and Still Growing!" by Elliot S! Maggin (August, 1978). He decides to sit down and nearly crushes a...RABBIT! And not just any rabbit, but a talking rabbit! With glasses, to boot!

Silly rabbit, chairs are for...yeah okay. I got nothin'.
The next page reveals that Clark isn't in Kansas anymore. And also not in the Daily Planet. Or in Metropolis. (Guess his Super Autopilot Power doesn't work so well after all.) He is on Earth-C, a planet inhabited by funny animal people. Spying a newspaper outside on the street with his super-vision, he figures out he is in the city of Gnu York (later changed to New Yak, I believe, in the Captain Carrot series proper) and is currently in the Wombat Communications building. (Check out the cameo on this page by Hugo Hornspred, the "muscular marvel from Moon Mountain". He's the moose on the bottom of panel one of this page, and is a character that used to appear in old issues of DC's Leading Comics.)

The rabbit, a comic book writer/artist named Roger Rabbit (this would be changed later to Rodney, to avoid confusion with that other Roger Rabbit), is rather bothered by having a huge, pink gorilla in his office. Clark relates his story to Roger, and the rabbit reveals to Clark that the same strange things have been happening in Gnu York. Munching on a strange, glowing carrot, Roger tells Clark about how, just that morning, he saw a guy walking down Bark Avenue. This guy, a human-like dog, was hit by a strange glowing light from the sky, and promptly began acting like "a throwback to his prehistoric canine ancestors." Clark, once again in his guise of Superman, decides it's time to investigate further. As he heads to the window, his x-ray vision spies one of the meteor chunks in Roger's window box. The window box that Roger keeps his carrots in, one of which he is currently crunching away on. Superman swats the glowing carrot out of a startled Roger's hand and tells him not to eat any more of it. He accidentally knocks Roger off his feet, which makes the rabbit angry. Roger coldcocks Superman, and to the surprise of everybody, sends our intrepid hero crashing through a series of walls. The meteor-infused carrot has given Roger super-powers.

Suddenly, Roger, with his new super-hearing, hears sounds of distress coming from the U.N. Building (that stands for 'United Nature' on Earth-C). Supermac, as Roger calls Superman, decides that even though Roger now has powers, it would be better for all involved if he went to help by himself. Superman flies out the window in the direction of the U.N. Building, leaving a slightly ticked off Roger behind. The rabbit quickly decides he's not having it, and donning an old super-hero costume he had worn once to an office Halloween party, Roger stands revealed as...CAPTAIN CARROT!!!!

Captain Carrot...suddenly, muscles!
Captain Carrot bounds out the window after Superman. Quickly catching up to Supes, and after some more witty banter, the two arrive at the U.N. Building and discover that everybody inside are acting like...well, animals. Our two heroes quickly round up all the afflicted folk, in the process revealing to the audience a bunch of Captain Carrot's newly acquired super-powers. Afterwards, Superman hears a report on the television about five more super-powered heroes that have suddenly cropped up around the United Species of America (that's one for each of the other five meteorite fragments, in case you weren't paying attention). The second to last page of the story shows all the future members of our beloved Zoo Crew, although the coloring on Alley-Kat-Abra is way off.

THE ZOO CREW!
As you can see from the above page, Superman deduces that the other heroes were all located in areas of the US that are 'precisely' where he saw the other five fragments of the meteor land. I don't know how he saw this happen so 'precisely', considering he was practically blind at the time and could barely see, but whatever. It's a comic book, right?

Anyway, the story ends with Superman and Captain Carrot deciding to head (finally) to Pluto to figure out the source of the mysterious devolution ray. We are treated to an image of the Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew #1, "The Pluto Syndrome", on sale December 24th, 1982. Don't know how I'm going to survive having to wait for this issue! I WANT IT NOW!! Oh, hold on. Riiiight. It's out already. Forgot it isn't 1982 any more.

Overall, a fun story and a great introduction to Captain Carrot. There's not much I can say about it, as I had NO problems with anything in the story. Art was great, story was great, everything about it was great! I can remember reading this for the first time, and loving it just as much back then as I still do today. I had picked up the comic because, frankly, I had been picking up The New Teen Titans on a regular basis at the time. And thus began my love affair with a rabbit.

So that's the review. Again, FINALLY! And the first post of 2014! Wow! I hope it convinces at least one person to go rooting through the back-issue bins to find some Captain Carrot comics.

One last thing. If you want an even more in-depth look at this story, I highly recommend that you go here:

Captain Carrot New Teen Titans #16 Annotated.
I wish I could take credit for all the hard work and research that obviously went into those annotations, but I can't. It's just a page that I stumbled across a long time ago. I'm not even sure WHOSE page it is. The author, I believe, refers to himself as Doc Quantum. If anybody has any information about him, please let me know.

That's it for this time. Be sure to tune in January 2015 for the review of issue one of Captain Carrot! Oh, all right. I'll try not to take that long.

No promises, though. :)

Random Panel of the Day #2

Scribblenauts Unmasked: A Crisis of Imagination

So, this is coming out.

And Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew will be in it.

The 9-issue comic series (or is it an ongoing? I'm getting conflicting reports), Scibblenauts Unmasked: A Crisis of Imagination by writer Josh Elder and artist Adam Archer, debuted December 4th as a digital-only release, and will hit shelves in print form sometime in January 2014. The series is a sequel to the video game, Scribblenauts Unmasked that came out recently (and that I blogged extensively about just a post or two below this one). Max and Lily, from the game, will be back in the comic.

I don't usually buy comics like this, but I liked the game, and the Zoo Crew is going to be in there somewhere, so I'll be checking it out. Don't know if I'll commit to an ongoing, but if it's just a 9 issue mini-series, I'm on board. Why not, right? Looks like fun.

You can read an interview with Josh Elder over at Comic Book Resources right now.

And before anyone asks, Scott Shaw! is not involved. (Taken from his facebook page.)

New 52 Captain Carrot!!!!

Okay. Not really. They are fictional characters again, but at least they've graduated to animated series this time. No more comics for the Zoo Crew!!! (In the New 52 and real life, apparently.)

This pic is from today's Justice League of America #9. Seems that Stargirl is a fan of Yankee Poodle. Go figure.



It's a nice little Yankee Poodle cameo, but come on, DC! Get 'em back to to interacting with the rest of the DC characters. Enough of this 'They're only comic/cartoon characters' malarkey.

Don't make me come over there!