Captain Carrot

Hippity hoppity, danger's on its way! A rabbit from an alternate reality of cartoon animals, Rodney was a mild-mannered cartoonist until he ate a cosmic carrot. As super-powered Captain Carrot, he joined the Zoo Crew. Over many wacky adventures, they encountered both Superman and Starro the Conqueror. When their world was threatened, the Zoo Crew took its inhabitants to New Earth, where they changed into ordinary animals. Carrot became a stage rabbit, before regaining his powers and helping fight Darkseid during Final Crisis. He is Earth-26's member in the pan-Multiversal super-team Justice Incarnate. They battled the Gentry and their Oblivion Machine, and fought the Legion of Doom when Earth's heroes attempted to repair the ruptured Source Wall. That seems like too much information for this character, doesn't it? Well, don't worry, Todd didn't copy that from a fan wiki this time: instead, it's word-for-word from The DC Comics Encyclopedia New Edition. Hope he got permission! In November 1981, DC published Teen Titans #16, which included a special introductory preview of their upcoming series, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew. When Superman finds himself and a mysterious meteor transported from his world to Earth-C (for "cartoon"), a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, the meteor breaks into chunks and bestows super powers on six random citizens, including comic artist Roger Rabbit. (They later changed his name for obvious reasons.) The comic ran for almost two full years, with its final issue cover-dated November 1983 - in a giant coincidence, the very same month that Kevin Eastman would draw a turtle standing on its hind legs and holding a pair of nunchucks to amuse his roommate Peter Laird. How about that! This Captain Carrot, however, is the more modern version, introduced in 2014. Although what little we've heard of his history seems to match what was known of the original, they've got different appearances. And we're not just referring to the fact that the Earth-C version was drawn like a contemporary cartoon, while the Earth-26 version was drawn like a standard superhero: back when he was Roger, he had brown fur, but when he was reintroduced, he was now totally white. Captain Carrot may not be able to tell humans apart well enough to immediately recognize the difference between Clark Kent and Cal Ellis, but we can certainly tell an Alice in Wonderland supporting character apart from the worst movie in the history of Cannes. Even in his "updated" costume, Captain Carrot was drawn like any other superhero - ie, a skintight suit that shows off perfect muscles, but is otherwise smooth. For whatever reason, Todd's uncredited sculptor has decided to give the yellow sections a distinct texture that makes look like waffle weave, like he's not wearing spandex or some other fancy material, but rather a suit made from regular cloth. Honestly, this is to the toy's benefit: adding a texture makes the toy more visually interesting than a featureless surface would ever hope to be. A smart choice! Captain Carrot's original suit was basically a version of Superman's: tights, boots, belt, trunks, cape, no gloves, symbol on the chest... you get it. He did wear a mask covering the top half of his head, but that was the biggest difference. The 2014 version lost the trunks, updated the style of the belt, made the boots more high-tech, and added gloves and had the cape extend in the front to form a panel behind the chest symbol. He still has the cowl, but now the eyes are white instead of having visible pupils. His logo is a carrot behind a letter C, though here it's more of a stylized, angular representation of a carrot than a real thing - a style that's matched by the carrots serving as his cape clasps and on the backs of his gloves. The palms of his gloves have a ridged texture, for unclear reasons, but they do make the hands more distinct. The articulation is equal to what McFarlane always gives us these days: hinged toes, swivel/hinge/swivel ankles, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, swivel/hinge hips, a balljointed waist, balljointed chest, swivel/hinge/swivel wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, balljoint/hinge shoulders, and a barbell head. Then there's a surprise bonus, in the form of balljoints for both ears! What fun! The figure includes six hands: right hands that either have the trigger finger extended or a thumbs up, left hands that are either a fist or pointing, and a pair of relaxed hands. In a really nice move, McFarlane included a clear stand with Captain Carrot, so this flying character can actually fly. What a concept! Can anyone explain how Todd can afford to include a flight stand with a standard-priced figure, but other companies can't? Do you have any idea how many Marvel Legends or various NECA lines would shoot up the desirability scale if they weren't fated to forever stand on the ground? This is just a disc, an arm, and a clamp, but it's enough to shove a figure that was just kind of a fun thing to get into one that's definitely worth the price. [he didn't: the inclusion of a trading card and stand marks this as part of the "Collector Edition" line, which costs a couple dollars more --ed.] You even get your choice of what figure you'd like to get. All three figures in this assortment get "Platinum Edition" variants - you know, like Brown Scarecrow. Captain Carrot's is a "classic" version, which doesn't change the sculpt at all but gamely tries to paint it like the original character - including giving him brown fur. If I'd seen that one at the store, I probably would have gotten it instead of the standard version, because the green trunks suit him well. Or heck, maybe both versions, and then I'd have a second flight stand I could use for other toys. During the 1980s story, Superman mused that "a three-foot talking rabbit" would probably cause some panic if he showed up in Metropolis; by the time the character was reintroduced in the 2010s, he referred to himself as "an eight-foot-tall rabbit." It's possible he was including his ears in that measurement, but the point is, this figure whose head (not ears) just breaks the 7" mark will look fine even in a 1:12 scale collection. And he's definitely never had any toys before. In a sea of repeated Batmen and the ugliest Superman toys you've ever seen, Captain Carrot is a true standout action figure, and a fun thing to add to your collection. -- 03/31/24

Tweet