| Flaming Carrot | |
|---|---|
The Flaming Carrot, from Flaming Carrot vol. 2, #4 (Image Comics, 2006). Art by Bob Burden. |
|
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Aardvark-Vanaheim (1984–1985) Renegade Press (1985–1987) Dark Horse Comics (1988–2002) Image Comics (2004–2006) |
| First appearance | Visions #1 (Atlanta Fantasy Fair, 1979) |
| Created by | Bob Burden |
| In-story information | |
| Team affiliations | Mystery Men |
| Abilities | nuclear powered pogo stick, utility belt, semi-automatic pistol, zen stupidity |
| Flaming Carrot Comics | |
| Series publication information | |
| Schedule | Irregular |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | Independent |
| Publication date | (Aardvark-Vanaheim) May 1984 – Jan. 1985 (Renegade Press) Mar. 1985 – July 1987 (Dark Horse Comics) June 1988 – Dec. 2002 (Image Comics/Desperado Publishing) Dec. 2004 – Mar. 2006 |
| Number of issues | 37 |
| Main character(s) | Flaming Carrot |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Bob Burden |
| Artist(s) | Bob Burden |
Flaming Carrot Comics is a surrealist comic book series by cartoonist Bob Burden. The character first appeared in Visions #1, a magazine published by the Atlanta Fantasy Fair in 1979. Flaming Carrot can be seen as a parody of various aspects of the superhero genre (though his origin story is much the same as that of Don Quixote).[1] Flaming Carrot adventures have been published by Aardvark-Vanaheim, Renegade Press, Dark Horse Comics, and Image Comics, among others. He has guest-starred, and made cameos in, comics published by Fantagraphics, Mirage Studios, Atomeka Press, and others.
The Flaming Carrot is portrayed as a womanizing, hard drinking, two-fisted, mentally unbalanced individual (calling to mind the gritty anti-heroes of the 1980s), whilst at the same time almost inexorably being on the side of The Establishment, with at least one instance of telling the audience to "avoid between meal snacks and brush after every meal" similar to the very clean cut, all-American comic characters. However, the series contains more depth than a superhero parody.
Most of his dialogue is disjointed, but sometimes thought-provoking in a Zen Koan fashion. Odd pop culture references and random non-sequiturs abound throughout the stories. Reflections on philosophy, the absence of meaning in modern life, why someone would choose the life of a superhero, and the effects of waking up from a night of heavy drinking with a speaker surgically implanted in one's chest abound.
The Carrot lives in Palookaville, a neighborhood of Iron City (a working-stiff sort of town like Akron, Ohio or Pittsburgh).
Contents |
The Flaming Carrot first appeared in Visions #1, the first in a series of magazines produced as part of the Atlanta Fantasy Fair in 1979. Flaming Carrot stories went on to appear in each yearly edition of the magazine through 1987.
In 1981 Burden self-published (under the company name Killian Barracks Press) Flaming Carrot Comics #1 (oversize), a one-off special.
A four-page, apocryphal Flaming Carrot history in Visions #4 (1982) convinced Dave Sim of Aardvark-Vanaheim to publish Flaming Carrot as a regular comic,[2] though he first wrote the Carrot into the pages of Cerebus.[3] The first Aardvark-Vanaheim issue[4] was published in May 1984; it ran five issues until January 1985. The company published a 3-D special in 1984.[5]
The series was picked up by Renegade Press for 12 more issues from March 1985 - July 1987. During this time, the Flaming Carrot appeared in the first issue of the Fantagraphics anthology Anything Goes! in October 1986.
In 1988, Burden began a relationship with Dark Horse Comics that lasted for 14 years. From June 1988 - October 1994, Dark Horse published 14 more issues of the ongoing Flaming Carrot series, ending with issue #31. (It also published Carrot stories in its anthology Dark Horse Presents,[6] and the annual anthology San Diego Comic Con Comics #1.)
In the winter of 1994, Dark Horse published Flaming Carrot Stories No. 1, referred to on the cover as a "Text Version of Future Issue", although a standard pictorial comic version of the story has yet to appear. From 1997-1998, the company published four volumes of the Flaming Carrot Comics Collected Album, which was the first time series had been reprinted, and the 64-page "Flaming Carrot Comics Annual No.1" featuring a new story. In 1999 Dark Horse Comics published 4 issues of the spin-off series "Bob Burden's Original Mysterymen Comics", although it did not feature The Flaming Carrot. In 2002, Dark Horse published the crossover special Flaming Carrot & Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman (listed as Flaming Carrot Comics #32 in the indicia).
During this period, in 1989–1990, the British publisher Atomeka printed Flaming Carrot stories in their anthology A1, issues #1–2. In 1993–1994, Mirage Studios published the four-issue series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/ Flaming Carrot Crossover.
Flaming Carrot was relaunched in 2004 with Image Comics and Desperado Publishing with a dual numbering system for four issues. A Photo Comic Special #1 (issue #37 in the regular series) was published in March 2006, featuring digitally edited photographs instead of artwork.
At times, entire Flaming Carrot storylines would simply be abandoned[7], and numerous projects and spin-offs promised in the series various letter pages and "Bob Speaks" columns never came to fruition.[8]
The Flaming Carrot origin states that "having read 5,000 comics in a single sitting to win a bet, this poor man suffered brain damage and appeared directly thereafter as — the Flaming Carrot!"[1] Non sequiturs within the various issues have led some to speculate that the Flaming Carrot is, in fact, Jim Morrison of the Doors or Frankie Laine.
To date, Flaming Carrot has staved off at least three alien invasions, a Communist take over of Iron City, flying dead dogs, the Man in the Moon, Death itself, and a cloned horde of evil marching Hitler's boots. Possessing no real super powers, the Carrot wins the day through sheer grit, raw determination, blinding stupidity, and bizarre luck.
Flaming Carrot was also a founding member of a blue collar superhero group called The Mystery Men, introduced in a flashback/dream sequence in Flaming Carrot Comics #16. The story of this group was later made into a movie,[9] and a short-lived spin-off comic book series. Flaming Carrot himself does not appear in the film, although a handful of characters like Mr. Furious, the Shoveler, and Dr. Heller do.
The Carrot wears a costume that consists of a giant carrot mask (which extends from above his head to below his crotch and is actually on fire at the top), a white shirt, red pants, and flippers on his feet (in case he has to swim). The mask has a continually burning flame at the top and a secret compartment containing a nuclear powered pogo stick. (The mask and the pogo stick were invented by Dr. Heller of the Mystery Men.)[10] Flaming Carrot also wears a crime fighting utility belt, but unlike that of the Batman, his is filled with Silly Putty, rubber bands, random playing cards, sneezing powder, and other similarly useless items (which nonetheless can become lethal weapons in his hands). The Flaming Carrot also relies heavily on his 9mm Radom pistol to kill his enemies without hesitation.
Flaming Carrot is able to go into a self-induced state of "Zen stupidity" in order to face danger and evil boldly and without trepidation. [11]
|
||||||||