CAPTAIN CARROT AND HIS AMAZING ZOO CREW No. 5
July 1982
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Cover Credits
?Artists: Scott Shaw! (penciller) and Chad Grothkopf (inker)
STORY
"The Secret of Easter Bunny Island!" (25 pages)
Credits
?Editor: Dave Manak
?Writer: Roy Thomas
?Penciller: Scott Shaw!
?Inker: Chad Grothkopf
?Letterer: Janice Chiang
?Colorist: Tom Ziuko
Feature Characters
?Captain Carrot, Pig-Iron, Alley-Kat-Abra, Fastback, Yankee Poodle, and Rubberduck
Villains
?Doctor Hoot (owl; name based on BBC's science fiction hero DOCTOR WHO; first appearance; appears next in issue #14)
?Baron Von Vermin (rat; first appearance; also appears in flashback)
?Several unnamed Hamazon River "savages" (dogs?), Unnamed Ratzi pilot (rat), Several unnamed "yolk-monsters" (all appear in flashbacks only; first and only appearance of all)
?Ralf-124C4U (extraterrestrial rabbitoid; named in next issue), Several unnamed Ratzi soldiers (rats) (appear in flashbacks only; first appearance of all)
?Unnamed "yolk-monster" (extraterrestrial egg-yolk; is destroyed in this issue; first and only appearance)
Supporting Character
?Mallard Fillmore (last seen in issue #3)
Other Characters
?Oklahoma Bones, Jr. (prairie dog; first appearance)
?Whipley (snake; first appearance; also appears in flashback)
?Oklahoma Bones (prairie dog; father of Oklahoma Bones, Jr.), Several unnamed Easter Bunny Island natives (dogs) (all appear in flashbacks only; first appearance of all)
?Two unnamed U.S. government agents (monkeys), Several unnamed university students, Several unnamed extraterrestrials from an alien planet (rabbitoids), Several unnamed sailors (all appear in flashbacks only; first and only appearance of all)
?Two unnamed Secret Serpents agents (snakes; first and only appearance)
Cameo Appearances
?Super-Squirrel, Wonder Wabbit, Green Lambkin, the Crash, Batmouse, Aquaduck (all members of the Just'a Lotta Animals; as ideas in Roger Rabbit's imagination)
?Unnamed version of a DC Comics villain (pig; as idea in Roger Rabbit's imagination)
Synopsis
As the individual members of the Zoo Crew (in civilian clothing) prepare to watch the world-premiere of Byrd Rentals' new movie, a huge, metallic, owl-like robot arrives and wreaks havoc in the middle of Gnu York. Roger and Felina change into their heroic identities and battle the robot, which is being mechanically controlled by the villainous Doctor Hoot from within. Alley-Kat Abra summons Fastback and Pig-Iron to the scene, and together they defeat the menace and capture Hoot, the self-proclaimed "greatest inventive genius of all time." An angry Byrd Rentals and Rova Barkitt arrive on the scene, having missed the entire battle due to the movie, which was, in turn, attended by no one else because of all the action outside.
A new figure then arrives to seek the Zoo Crew's help, introducing himself as Oklahoma Bones Junior, son of the famous archaeologist, accompanied by his father's bullwhip snake, Whipley. Oklahoma had recent found and read his father's journal, telling of his last great adventure just before Weird War II. Two government agents sought his help in 1938 against the Ratzis (of Ratzi Verminy and their "New Odor" led by Adolph Hippo), who had suddenly and inexplicably become interested in Easter Bunny Island. Okie then traveled to that place to find that Baron Von Vermin and his Ratzis were digging up the great, ancient, stone bunny heads. Beneath them were buried Easter eggs that had within in them a "horror" left there by alien bunnies from a faraway planet for whom the stone statues were built as a warning not to open the eggs. Okie defeated all the Ratzis, but not before they got away with all but one of the eggs as well as the alien bunny who had been resting in a cocoon of his own making for centuries now. Okie brought the egg he had home and wrote everything down in his journal (although Whipley had promptly forgotten about the adventure due to being "wiped out by the experience").
As Okie Jr. finishes his tale, and the he with the team begins to decode the alien bunnies' language, the always-hungry Pig-Iron leaves in search of food, only to find the one Easter egg recovered by Oklahoma Bones in Okie's refrigerator, and he uses it to cook himself an omelet. The egg yolk then jumps up and clings to his face, however, until he manages to toss it back into the refrigerator, although it escapes seconds later. The team discovers that the egg yolk has sucked all the moisture out of everything it touched and soon find it drinking from a water tower atop a building, now a thousand times larger than before! The Zoo Crew and Okie Jr. fight the egg yolk until it occurs to them that the only way to defeat it is to fry the egg and beat it with a large egg-beater.
Meanwhile, in Waspington, D.C. a group of children are gathered at the White House for the annual Easter egg hunt, for which all the eggs were donated by the mysterious "Señor Von Vermin," an ambassador from San Salvador. (Story continues in issue #6.)
Annotations
COVER: The stone rabbit head statues in the background are Earth-C's equivalent of the stone-head statues on Easter Island, which is called here Easter Bunny Island (after the Easter Bunny).
"Rabbits of the Last Ark" and "Oklahoma Bones" are, as mentioned in last issue's notes, puns on the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark and its main character, Indiana Jones. Like last issue's tie-in with the Swamp Thing film, this issue attempts to capitalize on the interest in the then-new Indiana Jones craze.
The phrase "...and Whipley believe it or not!" is an obvious reference to Ripley's Believe it Or Not!, the multimedia franchise about oddities around the world which began as a comic-strip in various newspapers since 1918 and has spawned books and television spin-offs. Josh Marquart adds that "Ripley's also has a number of 'stores' notably on Key West, in California, Orlando, Gatlinburg Tennessee, etc... where their oddities are displayed. Quite fun romps."
T Campbell comments that, "Whipley's not only a substitute for Indiana Jones's whip, but a twist on Indiana Jones's weakness. Oklahoma Bones, unlike Indy, clearly doesn't hate snakes. But Oklahoma Bones, Junior has a snake who sort of hates HIM."
PAGE 1: This issue finds the Zoo Crew back in Gnu York City despite the team's wish last issue to find a Califurnia headquarters.
A crescent moon in its last quarter (this time without a cartoony face in profile) can be seen in the night sky at the top of the panel.
"Real Toad" is a pun on the word rialto, a word generally meaning "theater district" (in this case New York City's historical Union Square), named after the Rialto, a marketplace in Venice, Italy.
"Smoke-Eye and the Panda, Part 12" is a parody of the movie Smokey and the Bandit and its sequels, part II and part III, which starred Burt Reynolds.
The "Big Candy-Apple" is a parody of the "Big Apple," New York City's primary nickname.
"Bruteway" is a pun on Broadway, New York's famed theatre district.
Title: Captain Carrot and his amazing Zoo Crew! in "the SECRET of EASTER BUNNY ISLAND!"
Credits: Roy Thomas, script. Scott Shaw!, pencils. Chad, inks. J. Chiang, letterer. T. Ziuko, colorist. Dave Manak, editor.
Title: "CHAPTER 1: WHEN FLIES THE FUR!"
PAGE 2: Panel 1: Roger says, "Publicity stunt?! Who's got that kind of money in a recession?" This is probably a reference to the early 1980s economic recession in those post-Carter, early Reagan era years which, according to Wikipedia, ran from "1982 and 1983, caused by tight monetary policy in the U.S. to control inflation and sharp correction to overproduction of the previous decade which had been masked by inflation."
Panel 2: "Hello-my-name-is-Doctor-Hoot!" As Brad Walker notes, this name is spoofing Doctor Who, the time-traveling Time Lord from the BBC television series which began in 1963.
Panel 3: Roger's complaint, "And why giants all the time, anyway? What'd be wrong with a midget menace once in a while?" is a reference to the numerous large foes that the Zoo Crew has had to face since in their short history: Preview: Superman (a human who is giant in comparison to most Earth-C natives); Issue #1: Starro the Conqueror (a giant starfish); #2: Armordillo (a giant armadillo); #3: Jailhouse Roc (a giant bird), Kongaroo (a giant kangaroo), Frogzilla (a giant frog), and the giant statue of Abraham Linkidd from the Linkidd Memorial; #4: Mudd (a giant swamp-monster).