Saturday, November 14, 2015

Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew! Classified

  • Captain Carrot: Roger Rodney Rabbit of Gnu York; a rabbit. The leader of the team, whose real name is Roger Rabbit (or Rodney, as the latter comics named him to avoid confusion with the title character of the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit). After consuming one of his "cosmic carrots" (as Rodney called them), Rodney gains superpowers for roughly 24 hours, although major exertion could exhaust the powers sooner. His powers 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 him for such a need in emergencies. The source of these carrots was initially a windowbox in which he grew carrots, 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 was the writer and artist of the comic book Just'a Lotta Animals, until its members sued for copyright violation and prevented any further reproduction of their adventures.
  • Alley-Kat-Abra: Felina Furr of Mew Orleans; 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. She has a crush on Rodney/Captain Carrot, and was relieved to see Wonder Wabbit (of Earth C-Minus) return to her own world due to her attraction to him. She was imprisoned by Feline Faust, unknown to her teammates, during which time an evil counterpart, "Dark Alley," impersonated her and murdered Little Cheese.
  • Pig-Iron: Peter Porkchops of Piggsburgh; a wild boar. 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 is also nicknamed the "Swine of Steel" and "Porcine Powerhouse". Pig-Iron died in the Final Ark comic book series against Starro to save his friends.
  • Rubberduck: Byrd Rentals of Follywood, Califurnia; 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 is also nicknamed the "Malleable Mallard" and the "Ductile Duck".
  • 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 Okey-Dokey swamp in the American South; a turtle. While trying to catch a bus to Kornsas City, Timmy was struck by a meteor fragment and gained the ability to move at superchelonian speed. Fastback is also nicknamed the "Reptilian Rocket." Timmy Joe is not the first fast-moving turtle 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."
  • 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 not to 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), as well as the first non-founding member. He soon revealed his secret identity to the public and left the Zoo Crew to become a lawyer. "Dark Alley", an evil counterpart of Alley-Kat-Abra, later killed him.
  • American Eagle: Replaced Little Cheese on the reconstituted Zoo Crew after the latter's death. In his civilian life, the Eagle is Johnny Jingo, "the talk radio host with two right wings". He is the only member who does not have powers, though he does use gadgets similar to those used by Batman.
In the story in Teen Titans vol.3, #30-31, deceased Earth-C meta-animals named (other than Little Cheese) include Carrie Carrot, Giant Giraffe, Marvel Bunny Jr., Ballistic Baboon, Amazing Ant, and Power Panda. These may or may not have been former Zoo Crew teammates.

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