Left to right: Yankee Poodle, Rubberduck, Little Cheese, Alley-Kat-Abra, Pig Iron, Fastback, and Captain Carrot.
Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! is a team of Superhero Funny Animal characters owned by DC Comics. They were first published in their own comic book series in the early 1980's, though it didn't last very long. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Scott Shaw, this was the first team of Funny Animal characters to be specifically recognized as being part of the DC Universe.
In their origin story, it was explained that fragments from a strange meteor (which had been shattered by Superman before it could hit Earth) were somehow transported to the Alternate Universe called Earth-C, which was inhabited by Humanoid Animals instead of humans (specifically, it's the setting of all the Funny Animal comics DC published back in the Golden Age). The fragments gave superpowers to various animals, who decided to join together and form their own superhero team, the Zoo Crew. They are:
- Captain Carrot, who is in reality mild-mannered comic-book artist Rodney Rabbit. The fragment didn't give him powers- rather, it charged up the carrots he was growing in his windowsill, so that eating them turns him into a musclebound rabbit with superstrength—temporarily. (This is reminiscent of Super Goof's super peanuts power source, but probably owes more to the Bugs Bunny cartoon Super Rabbit.)
- Fastback, actually a Country Turtle named Timmy Joe Terrapin who had gained superspeed.
- Rubberduck, actually movie actor Byrd Rentals, who became elastic.
- Yankee Poodle, secretly gossip columnist Rova Barkitt, who gained the ability to shoot "stars" that repelled objects out of one hand and "stripes" that attracted them out of the other.
- Martial artist Felina Furr gained magic-like powers and renamed herself Alley-Kat-Abra.
- Peter Porkchops, a pre-existing DC funny animal character, was transformed into a large, living metal being with Super Strength and Nigh-Invulnerability, and thus renamed himself Pig Iron.
- Later, the team was joined by Little Cheese, actually a mouse named Chester Cheese, who had the power to shrink down to the size of... well, a mouse. A smaller mouse.
The Zoo Crew battled both their own villains and ones from the main DC Universe (Starro, the Starfish Conqueror, an old Justice League alien enemy, in their first issue; Gorilla Grodd in their last.) They also met the "Just'a Lotta Animals" ("JLA") a team of heroes from the similar "Earth C-minus" whose heroes were Expies of DC's main heroes.
After the series was canceled, the characters reappeared in, of all places, "The Oz / Wonderland War" miniseries, which was Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Decades later in the 2000s, they reappeared in an issue of Teen Titans (as part of a comic book Eddie Bloomberg/Kid Devil was reading) in a story that parodied the "Dark Age" style of modern comics: The team had disbanded after Little Cheese's death, whose murderer (seemingly) turned out to be Alley-Kat-Abra! This was followed by a 2007 miniseries, Captain Carrot and the Final Ark, where the team was reunited and Abra was cleared of the murder (it was her Evil Twin). They were joined by a new member, the non-powered crimefighter American Eagle, secretly right-wing talk show host Johnny Jingo. However, Earth-C was flooded as a result of a war between aquatic and non-aquatic animals, and the heroes had to evacuate it on a "Space Ark." They ended up on the main Earth of The Multiverse, but found themselves changed into normal animals while there. However, they were changed back to their true forms in the last issue of the Final Crisis Crisis Crossover.
Captain Carrot has now reappeared in the pages of The Multiversity, while both he and Fastback are significant characters in several tie-ins of Convergence. Captain Carrot later went on to join the Justice League Incarnate.
Fans of Terry Pratchett will have realised by now that this Captain Carrot has nothing whatsoever to do with the Discworld.
Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Tropes!:
- Affectionate Parody: Zoo Crew is a gentle ribbing of superhero comics in general. Some of the parodies included recognizable elements from mainstream DC comics; Zoo Crew headquarters was based on Titans Tower (only shaped like a Z instead of a T), one villain was a Swamp Thing-like Muck Monster, and one issue saw the team fighting the Screeching Tire, a spoof of Blackhawk's War Wheel. Funny Animal versions of Conan the Barbarian and Indiana Jones also showed up.
- American Eagle: In the relaunch, the American Eagle is a riff on Captain Patriotic superheroes.
- Animal Jingoism: Subverted, it doesn't really happen here except for Abra's murder of Little Cheese (which turned out to be the work of a magically created Evil Twin/Doppelgänger).
- Animal Superheroes
- Ascended Fanboy: Rodney Rabbit (who was already a
Promoted Fanboy as a comic artist.) - Badass Normal: American Eagle, sort of; he didn't have any super powers, and only the abilities associated with being an anthropomorphic eagle.
- Barefoot Cartoon Animal: In an odd subversion, a good portion of the Zoo Crew wear completely formfitting boots, complete with individual toes. However, some of the supporting characters play the trope straight.
- Big Applesauce: Rodney hails from "Gnu York" (Earth-C's New York City).
- The Big Easy: Alley-Kat-Abra hails from "Mew Orleans", Earth-C's version of New Orleans.
- The Big Guy: Pig-Iron is both the largest of the team and the one who does most of the tasks involving super strength.
- Bizarrchitecture: The Crew's home base, the "Z-Building", which is shaped like the letter "Z". This is an Affectionate Parody of the Teen Titans' H.Q., as their series was at the height of its popularity at the time.
- Boisterous Bruiser: Pig-Iron.
- Brick Joke: The end of Final Ark, which deliberately tossed the brick for Grant Morrison to drop in Final Crisis.
- Canon Immigrant: The Fox and the Crow, which not only had its own theatrical cartoon series but ran as a DC comic for twenty years, is considered an official part of Earth-C.
- Carnivore Confusion:
- Earth-C's animals long ago stopped being carnivores.
- Peter Porkchops used to be a regular funny animal which was reused in this series, and in the early Peter Porkchops strips, his wolf neighbour actually wanted to eat him. This is referenced in the comic with Wolfie seeking psychiatric treatment, because he is having cannibal fantasies and it worries him. It ends badly despite his good intentions.
- Continuity Nod: Several characters from DC's old Funny Animal comics make appearances, often turned into the Monster of the Week.
- Country Mouse: Fastback.
- Darker and Edgier: The revival Comic Within A Comic from Teen Titans #30 & #31. The team split apart, Fantastic Speciesism running rampant, team members dead or missing, the Super Registration Act, Rodney Rabbit in the middle of a Heroic BSoD (and a bottle)... and, of course, Alley-Kat-Abra (seemingly) turning evil.
- The New 52 comic Threshold features "Captain K'Rot", described by writer Keith Giffen as "a borderline psychotic, booze-swilling, whore-mongering rabbit," and by others as an attempted Alternate Company Equivalent of Rocket Raccoon.
- Deep South: Fastback hails from a swamp in the rural American South, and has a hayseed personality.
- Distaff Counterpart: Carrie Carrot, for Captain Carrot. She was introduced as a Posthumous Character in the 2000's Teen Titans story — her death mainly served to justify Rodney's Heroic BSOD, as well as someone whose name American Eagle could invoke to get Captain Carrot back in the game.
- Downer Ending: See next entry.
- Dropped A Bridge On Them:
- The Zoo Crew's fate at the end of The Final Ark seemed needlessly cruel and left a bad taste in a lot of long-time fans' mouths. Thankfully, this may have been a Brick Joke, resolved in Final Crisis; fan speculation has it that Grant Morrison used Final Crisis to undo what he saw as obnoxious Executive Meddling. (It has also been speculated that Final Ark ended the way it did because Morrison wanted to do a scene of them transforming back, but that would imply more co-ordination than any other Countdown to Final Crisis tie-in displayed.) Morrison later used Captain Carrot as a character in The Multiversity, where he knocked out a Captain Ersatz of The Incredible Hulk—with one punch.
- And then it happened again in Dark Nights: Death Metal, in which Perpetua's Apex Predators kill the entire Zoo Crew, with Captain Carrot as the Sole Survivor. Again, this was a set-up-and-resolve situation; all the universes destroyed by Perpetua are restored by the end of the story.
- The Zoo Crew's fate at the end of The Final Ark seemed needlessly cruel and left a bad taste in a lot of long-time fans' mouths. Thankfully, this may have been a Brick Joke, resolved in Final Crisis; fan speculation has it that Grant Morrison used Final Crisis to undo what he saw as obnoxious
- Fantastic Racism: Introduced in the Teen Titans revival. A major plot element of The Final Ark was a species war brewing between land and water animals — ducks and turtles were distrusted as Category Traitors.
- Flintstone Theming: Every possible pun you can think of that could be made involving animals was made in this series. The names of the cities were just the start.
- Foxy Vixen: One of the more popular secondary characters who showed up quite a few times was a blond vixen actress named Farah Foxette.
- Franchise Zombie: An In-Universe example in a Conan the Barbarian parody story; Ezra Hound's "Bow-Zar the Barkbarian" series has reached this point, and he's ready to finally end it. But he hires Pig-Iron as a bodyguard because of the nightmares he's been having of his anti-hero seeking vengeance. Meanwhile In The Past, a real Bow-Zar's visions of a magician (Hound) drive him to travel into future Follywood seeking vengeance.
- Full-Frontal Assault: Effectively the result when Gorilla Grodd comes to Earth-C without putting on any pants.
- Fun with Acronyms: Parodied with Brother Hood's organization A.C.R.O.S.T.I.C., which is given a different meaning in every issue featuring the organization. The word "acrostic" is itself a synonym for acronym.
- Furry Reminder: A few fans were perplexed when American Eagle, after stating that he wasn't affected by a Power Nullifier because he doesn't have any superpowers, promptly turned out to be the only bird on Earth-C who can fly...
- G-Rated Drug: In Oz/Wonderland War, Alley-Kat-Abra actually gets a catnip high, tells Captain Carrot that he is "really cute, but would be cuter if he was a cat", uses her magic powers to turn him into one, and offers him some catnip. They're playing Sickeningly Sweethearts by the next scene until the catnip cloud's blown away. No, this wasn't from Vertigo Comics...
- Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: The default for several characters, including Rodney in his civilian outfit.
- Hilarity Sues: At the beginning of Final Ark, Rodney Rabbit tells a convention of comic fans that the Justa Lotta Animals put out an injunction preventing the Earth-C version of DC Comics from publishing their adventures. This actually becomes a plot point: when the Zoo Crew is depowered and unable to call the JLA for assistance by normal means, Captain Carrot very quickly writes and draws a comic and sells it to Fastback for a nickel — and a lawyer immediately emerges from a dimensional portal with a Cease and Desist notice. (He does agree to ask his clients for help — after making Rodney go through a mountain of paperwork.)
- Hollywood California: the team's headquarters is in "Follywood, Califurnia", with two of its members being southern Califurnia natives (Rubberduck and Yankee Poodle).
- Hufflepuff House: Brother Hood created three giant villains — Frogzilla, Jailhouse Roc and Kongaroo. Frogzilla became a recurring villain while Jailhouse Roc and Kongaroo were never seen again.
- Humongous Mecha: Doctor Hoot fights the Zoo Crew in a giant robot.
- Insistent Terminology: Rova Barkitt insists that she is not a gossip columnist, but a celebrity interviewer.
- Intercontinuity Crossover: The Oz/Wonderland War.
- The second issue of that miniseries upped the ante when the Nome King accidentally summoned Wonder Wabbit, Hoppy the Marvel Bunny and his girlfriend Millie, the March Hare, the Easter Bunny, Wonderland's White Rabbit, and Bo Bunny from one of DC's old Funny Animal comics, along with his original target, a depowered Captain Carrot. The plan was to trap them all with a Quirky Miniboss Squad of Nomes turned into Fantastic Four parodies, but it goes so wrongnote the Nome King has to literally wish he never thought of the plan to keep them from ending the miniseries early.
- As well as single-panel visits (during a trip from Earth-C to Earth-C-Minus) to the Disney universe, a Tom and Jerry-like universe, the Justice Society of America's Earth-2, and Pogo's swamp ...
- It's Always Mardi Gras in New Orleans: In the team's origin story, several future Zoo Crew members visit "Mew Orleans" (Earth-C's New Orleans) during its Mardi Gras celebration. This is when Alley-Kat-Abra, who lives in Mew Orleans, joins the group.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Pig-Iron, Yankee Poodle
- Kangaroo Court
- Killed Offscreen: Armordillo was killed Captain Carrot in revenge for the death of Carrie Carrot.
- Last of His Kind: American Eagle; Alley-Kat-Abra's Evil Twin funded the species-ist group that killed his parents.
- Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: "Oklahoma Bones", among others.
- Magic Meteor: How most of the Zoo Crew got their powers.
- Magic Wand: Alley-Kat-Abra's "Magic Wanda".
- Millard Fillmore: Parodied as Mallard Fillmore (No relation).
- Mixed Animal Species Team: The original members were a rabbit, a turtle, a duck, a dog, a cat, and a pig. The two Sixth Rangers are a mouse and an eagle.
- Mutually Fictional: The Zoo Crew and Just'a Lotta Animals both considered the other to be fictional before they met up. Lampshaded by a visit to the Earth-C version of Gardner Fox to help explain the concept.
- Naked People Are Funny: When Grodd the Super-Gorilla travels to Earth-C, his biggest immediate problem is everyone's reaction to his being naked.
- Nigh-Invulnerable: Captain Carrot is shown to have nowhere near Superman's level of invulnerability, but he's still plenty tough. Pig-Iron may be even more durable, though he's vulnerable to things that damage metal.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Farrah Foxette, Byrd Rentals, and bucketloads more.
- No Hugging, No Kissing: Any romance was at most implied-Captain Carrot and Wonder Wabbit's mutual attraction, Captain Carrot and Carrie Carrot's relationship and Alley-Kat-Abra's crush on Captain Carrot.
- Now Do It Again, Backwards: Literally flying a spaceship backwards in one story—to escape an Unrealistic Black Hole. "It'll never notice the difference!"
- Oddly Small Organization: A.C.R.O.S.T.I.C. had only five members (Brother Hood, Armordillo, Frogzilla, Jailhouse Roc and Kongaroo) and crime boss Fatkat had only two henchmen.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: One story had a "wuz-wolf"— a mild-mannered wolf who turns into a monstrous, cannibalistic human at night.
- Patriotic Fervor: Averted with Yankee Poodle; the power effects dictated the gimmick. Played straight with American Eagle.
- Pittsburgh: Pig-Iron hails from its Earth-C counterpart, "Piggsburgh."
- Power-Up Food: The cosmic carrots that transform Rodney Rabbit into Captain Carrot.
- Put on a Bus to Hell: The Zoo Crew itself at the end of "Final Ark", though that seems to have been fixed.
- Raiders of the Lost Parody: The Crew meet a Funny Animal version of Indiana Jones called Oklahoma Bones.
- Recursive Canon: Earth-C is an alternate Earth-Prime. Earth-C-Minus is an alternate DC Universe. Rodney Rabbit draws Justa Lotta Animals, who are real superheroes on Earth-C-Minus who end up suing Wombat Communications (a take off on Warner Communications, DC's then-parent company) for trademark violation.
- Shout-Out: The Zoo Crew is a popular cartoon in the main DC Universe. The uniform of Stargirl of the Justice Society of America was partly inspired by Yankee Poodle; Yankee Poodle is Stargirl's favorite character, which explains the costume. Christopher Kent in Superman had a Pig-Iron wristwatch.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Yankee Poodle and Alley-Kat-Abra occasionally engage in spats. Alley-Kat-Abra also tended to be this in the original series with anyone who is a possible love interest for Captain Carrot, due to Unresolved Sexual Tension.
- Sixth Ranger: Little Cheese and American Eagle both joined the team a significant amount of time after the other members have been active.
- Sizeshifter: Little Cheese's power, to shrink from the size of a Funny Animal mouse-noid to the scale of a Mouse World scaled mouse.
- The Smurfette Principle: The Squawker was the only villainess in the Zoo Crew's rogues gallery until the reveal of Dark Alley.
- Unanthropomorphic Transformation: At the end of Captain Carrot and the Final Ark, the Zoo Crew emerge on Earth-0, where they've become normal animals. This gets reversed by Nix Uotan in Final Crisis. This happens to Cap again in the Superman (Rebirth) storyline "Multiplicity", although he still has his mask and cape, unlike the previous event.
- Wolverine Publicity: Superman in the team's origin story. Also, Changeling (the once and future Beast Boy) from the then astronomically popular Teen Titans in the last issue (lampshaded: "Alright, already! We admit it! We sold out!").
