Tag Archives: E. Nelson Bridwell

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Showcase Presents Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! Vol. 1

Showcase Presents Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! Vol. 1

First Hatched: September 2014

Contents: Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew story from The New Teen Titans #16 (February 1982); Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #1 (March 1982) to #20 (November 1983); and The Oz-Wonderland Wars #1 (January 1986) to #3 (March 1986)

Key Cre-gator Credits: Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Scott Shaw, Mike Sekowsky, Stan Goldberg, E, Nelson Bridwell, Rick Hoberg, Joey Cavalieri, and others

Key First Ape-arances: Rodney Rabbit/Captain Carrot, Felina Furr/Alley-Kat-Abra, Timmy Joe Terrapin/Fastback, Peter Porkchops/Pig-Iron, Byrd Rentals/Rubberduck, Rova Barkitt/Yankee Poodle, Just’a Lotta Animals (Aquaduck, Batmouse, Crash, Green Lambkin, Super-Squirrel, Wonder Wabbit), Chester Cheese/Little Cheese

Birds-eye-view: At the start of the Silver Age, as a new generation of heroes was being introduced, DC developed the concept of parallel earths, as these were the worlds where other heroes lived and had their adventures. The heroes of the Justice League were assigned to Earth-One, while the Justice Society was on Earth-Two. The Shazam Family protected Earth-S, while the Quality Heroes could be found on Earth-X.

In the early 1980s, a new parallel Earth was discovered when Superman crashed into a meteor approaching his Earth. The resulting collision transported Superman and the meteor fragments to a new Earth. Let’s call it Earth-C for now. This Earth was populated not with humans, but with anamorphic animals living lives and doing tasks that normal people would do. We meet Rodney Rabbit, a cartoonist on the hit comic Just’a Lotta Animals. One of those meteors lands in Rodney’s garden box, where he grows carrots. Munching on an irradiated carrot leads to a transformation, and Rodney Rabbit becomes Captain Carrot, the first hero of Earth-C.

Captain Carrot quickly finds out that while he may be the first, he is not the only hero showing up thanks to the meteorites. Captain Carrot is joined by the likes of Rubberduck, Yankee Poodle, Alley-Kat-Abra, Fastback, and Pig-Iron. Together, the become the amazing Zoo Crew, setting up headquarters in the Z-Building in Los Antelope. The Zoo Crew face off against the likes of Frogzilla, Armordillo, Bow-Zar the Barkbarian, and even Gorilla Grodd!

Rodney soon discovers that the Just’a Lotta Animals that he has been drawing in comics are real, and living on yet another parallel Earth, which we will dub Earth-C Minus. That leads to a couple of team-ups between the two squads, and a love triangle develops between Captain Carrot, Wonder Wabbit, and Super-Squirrel.

The series concludes with a new member, Little Cheese, joining the Zoo Crew, but their adventures are not over. The team is drawn into a conflict between Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland and L. Frank Baum’s Oz. Captain Carrot and the Zoo Crew team up with Dorothy, Scarecrow, Cowardly Lion, Tin Man, and many others to rescue Oz from the Nome King.

Why should these tails be Showcased?: You can approach this one of two ways. If you view this as only a funny-animal book, it might not be for you. But you could get this for a young reader to enjoy. HOWEVER, if you look at this as a creative exercise, this has the makings of a good read. The book is filled with animal references and puns. Brush it off if you will, but try it yourself. When’s the last time you intentionally tried to write something funny? It’s much harder than it looks. Writing standard super hero stories, dramatic stories or even dark and gritty stories are a piece of cake compared to writing comedy. Credit should really be given to all of the writers on this book for pulling it off each issue.

Pawnotes: When the series started, Captain Carrot’s identity was Roger Rabbit. Over the course of the series, his name was modified from Roger Rabbit to Roger Rodney Rabbit to R. Rodney Rabbit to finally just Rodney Rabbit. While many people are familiar with the 1988 film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, most people are unaware that it is based on a 1981 novel, Who Censored Roger Rabbit? by Gary Wolf. DC opted to change the title character’s name to avoid any legal issues. 

Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew was canceled with issue #20, even though issues #21 to #26 were in various stages of production. At that time of the cancellation, DC indicated that the series would continue as a series of mini-series. The content from those unreleased six issues were collected into three double-sized issues which became The Oz-Wonderland Wars.

If ewe like this volume, try: the Marvel Comics series of adaptions of L. Frank Baum’s original Oz novels by Eric Shanower and Skottie Young. Shanower has been linked to the Oz universe for most of his career, scripting adaptions for First Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW, and others. Beginning in 2009, he partnered with artist Skottie Young to adapt the six novels as mini-series, ranging anywhere from five to eight issues each. These stories have been collected into multiple hardcovers and trade paperbacks. In addition, all of the series were collected into an Oz Omnibus in 2014. These are fun reads that remain true to the books. Young’s art style may take some getting used to early on, but I grew to love the look of these books.

  • The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  • The Marvelous Land of Oz
  • Ozma of Oz
  • Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
  • The Road to Oz
  • The Emerald City of Oz
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Showcase Presents The House of Mystery Vol. 2

showcase_presents_house_mystery_volume_2First Published: March 2007

Contents: The House of Mystery #195 (October 1971) to #211 (February 1973)

Key Creator Credits: Joe Orlando, Sergio Aragonés, Neal Adams, Nick Cardy, Bernie Wrightson, John Albano, E. Nelson Bridwell, and others

Story Continues From: Showcase Presents The House of Mystery Vol. 1

Story Continues In: Showcase Presents The House of Mystery Vol. 3

Overview: Welcome back to the House of Mystery? Much like the Hotel California – you can check out any time you want but you can never leave.

This anthology once again presents horror stories in black and white, which only adds to the creepiness of the tales. Any type of story is fair game for this format, and many of the stories are introduced by Cain, the caretaker of the House of Mystery. or issue #174, the book went back to

The earlier issues in this collection are larger issues, so you get 40+ pages of stories and features per issue. In the later issues in this collection, the page count drops down to the 20-25 pages per issue. There is no continuity between the stories, so these can be read in any order.

Why should these stories be Showcased?: Read this for the art, as always. The stories vary in quality but that’s OK. I am more fascinated by the artwork page after page. So many talented artists that are given free reign to tell stories however they want to without having to abide by a style guide.

If you like this volume, try: Harrow County from Dark Horse Comics. Written by Cullen Bunn and art by Tyler Crook, this is a modern horror series that feels like it would fit right at home with the House of Mystery fans. The woods that surround Emmy’s home in Harrow County are filled with ghosts and monsters. But it’s not until Emmy’s eighteenth birthday that the ghosts and monsters introduce themselves to her, and she realizes that there is more to her life and her home than she ever realized. While the issues are being collected in trade paperbacks, some of the backup features are not included in the collections so you may want to track down the individual issues now. With a television series in development, you may want to grab up these back issues now.

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Showcase Presents Super Friends! Vol. 1

Showcase Presents Super Friends! Vol. 1

First Published: May 2014

Contents: Super Friends #1 (November 1976) to #24 (September 1979)

Key Creator Credits: E. Nelson Bridwell, Ric Estrada, Ramona Fradon, Kurt Schaffenberger, Denny O’Neil (as Sergius O’Shaughnessy), and others

Key First Appearances: Wendy Harris, Wonderdog, Jayna, Zan, Gleek, Bushmaster, Jack O’Lantern, Rising Sun, Thunderlord, Icemaiden, Little Mermaid, Olympian, Tasmanian Devil, Doctor Mist

Overview: In the Great Hall of the Justice League, there are assembled the world’s four greatest heroes created from the cosmic legends of the universe! Superman! Wonder Woman! Batman! Aquaman! And the three Junior Super Friends, Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog! Their mission: To fight injustice, to right that which is wrong, and to serve all mankind!

Super Friends! was launched to capitalize on the growing popularity of the Saturday morning cartoon on ABC. We get the core members of the Justice League training the next generation of heroes. The first group, featuring Wendy, Marvin, and Wonderdog, quickly graduated in order to make room for the next class, featuring the Wonder Twins and their space monkey Gleek.

White there are a few multi-part stories, most of these are self-contained stories that provide a fun adventure in 17 pages. Plenty of cameos abounds in these stories, where it was a guest appearance by other characters or even references to other companies. In issue #5, the Super Friends host a telethon to raise funds for United Charities. At one point, Anthony Stark calls in from New York City to pledge $75,000. Not to be outdone by a marvelous contribution, Batman slips away so that Bruce Wayne can call in and pledge $100,000.

Why should these stories be Showcased?: Absolutely, this series should be featured in a Showcase Presents. I hope that DC gets a Volume 2 onto their schedule soon to wrap up the second half of the series. This is a fun all-ages book that serves as a good introduction to the DC Universe, without having to know all of the backstories of the various characters. With Ramona Fradon doing most of the art, we are reminded of how diverse her skills were, to adapt the animated style of the show two decades before the “animated style” became trendy with the Batman: The Animated Series books. This is one Showcase volume that I am already looking forward to re-reading sometime soon.

Footnotes: So the big question remains: are these stories in continuity on Earth-1. If you asked E. Nelson Bridwell, he most definitely said yes. Throughout the series, references were made to other events going on in the DC Universe, such as Batman’s break-up with Silver St. Cloud. While the Hall of Justice was used as a training center for the Junior Super Friends, they often had to go to the Justice League satellite orbiting 22,300 miles above Earth. Many other JLA members (Flash, Hawkgirl, Green Arrow, Elongated Man, etc.) make appearances in the book, wearing their costumes of that era. Many of the world-wide characters introduced were later be united in the Global Guardians. Bridwell wrote the series to be a part of the DC Universe but aimed at a younger audience than most DC books of the time. 

If you like this volume, try: tracking down issues of the Justice League Adventures (2002-2004) and Justice League Unlimited (2004-2008). Following the success of the animated Batman and Superman series of the 1990s, Cartoon Network launched an animated Justice League series in 2001. To support that project, DC launched a “Johnny DC” book, using the animated style used in the cartoon. Admittedly, many people do not give the Johnny DC books the time of day, viewing them only as the “kids” books. But there are some very good issues in these runs, featuring stories by Dan Slott, Adam Beechen, Mike W. Barr, and many other veteran creators. As innovative as the CN show was, consider these an extension of the show, telling the stories that they didn’t have time to tell.

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4

Legion4First Published: October 2010

Contents: Legion of Super-Heroes stories from Adventure Comics #369 (June 1968) to #380 (May 1969) and #403 (April 1971); Action Comics #378 (July 1969) to #387 (April 1970) and #389 (June 1970) to #392 (September 1970); and Superboy #172 (March 1971), #173 (April 1971), #176 (July 1971), #183 (March 1972), #184 (April 1972), #188 (July 1972), #190 (September 1972), and #191 (October 1972)

Key Creator Credits: Curt Swan, Jim Shooter, E. Nelson Bridwell, Win Mortimer, Cary Bates, Dave Cockrum, George Tuska, and others

Key First Appearances: Mordru,  Chemical King, Marte Allon, Tornado Twins (Dawn and Don Allen), the Wanderers

Story Continues From: Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3

Story Continues In: Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 5

Overview: Welcome back to the 30th Century! In the future, everyone speaks Interlac, which makes things easier when we are meeting new alien races every other issue. The United Planets is led by President Marte Allon, and security is provided by the Science Police. But for those larger than life threats that occur on a regular basis, there is the Legion of Super-Heroes, a group of teenage heroes with unique powers and abilities.

This is an interesting transition era for our teenage heroes. Jim Shooter brings his legendary run to an end during this era, but not before introducing a few more core characters into the vast Legion universe.

  • Mordru becomes one of the Legion’s main villains – a magician intent on conquering the universe.
  • Chemical King finally joins the team in Adventure Comics #372. We were first introduced to him in Adventure Comics #354, where a memorial room to deceased Legionnaires foretold a death of a Legionnaire that did not even exist yet. finallyWho are the Legion’s most fearsome villains? Find out in this book with the debut of the Fatal Five, the Sun-Eaters, Universo, and the Dominators!
  • We meet the above-mentioned President Allon, who also happens to be the mother of Gim Allon, who we know as Colossal Boy. That connection proves to be both helpful and hurtful for the Legion in the years to come.
  • Timber Wolf officially joins the team after graduating the Legion Academy.
  • The twin children of Barry Allen and Iris West make their first appearance not in the pages of The Flash, but in the 30th Century. And they seem to have inherited their father’s abilities.

There is a lot of action going on here, either in full-length stories or eight-page backup features. Put your Flight Ring on and dive into the future.

Why should these stories be Showcased?: I wish I was more behind this book. Don’t get me wrong, I love this book. I think Jim Shooter’s take on the characters is one of the most important runs on the Legion in their 50+ year history. My hesitation for this collection is how the Legion got relegated to backup status in the late 1960s. After a long run of being the lead or sole occupant of Adventure Comics, their run came to an end and the book was given over to Supergirl. After that, the Legion became an eight-page backup feature in Action Comics and Superboy. Now having read ahead, I know that the Legion ends up usurping Superboy’s book, as we will see in the next Showcase Presents volume. But the eight-page stories lead to smaller casts of characters per story, as well as limited character development during this time. If you are a Legion fan, get the book. If you are a casual fan, you may get frustrated by the last 200+ pages of the book. Buyer beware!

Footnotes: Adventures Comics #403 is a giant-size reprint issue, collecting four classic Legion stories. In addition, there is a three-page feature of new costume designs for Legionnaires submitted by readers, and a two-page diagram of the Legion headquarters. Those two features and the cover are included in this collection.

Class is in session at the Legion Academy beginning in Adventures Comics #372.

If you like this volume, try: Legion of Super-Heroes animated series, which aired for two seasons on Saturday mornings from 2006 to 2008. Following parts of the storyline that we all know by now, the founding members of the Legion travel to the 21st century to recruit a young Superman* to travel with them to the future and learn how to become the greatest hero ever. The two seasons each contained 13 episodes, and many familiar stories and characters made appearances. Watching this can be a little bit of a challenge. Both seasons are available on DVD. Season 1 is available for Amazon Prime members to watch for free, but season 2 is only available to purchase by the individual episodes. For those wanting to introduce the Legion to a younger generation, this may be the gateway to the future.

* At the time this show was on the air, there was an ongoing legal dispute between DC and the Jerry Siegel estate over who owned the rights to the Superboy concept. To avoid any conflicts, Clark is always referenced as Superman.

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Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3

Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 3

First Published: April 2009

Contents: Legion of Super-Heroes stories from Adventure Comics #349 (October 1966) to #368 (May 1968); and Superman’s Pal, Jimmy Olsen #106 (October 1967)

Key Creator Credits: Curt Swan, Jim Shooter, E. Nelson Bridwell, George Klein; Pete Costanza, and others

Key First Appearances: Rond Vidar, Universo, R.J. Brande, Fatal Five (Emerald Empress, Mano, Persuader, Tharok, and Validus), Sun-Eaters, the Dominators, Shadow Lass

Story Continues From: Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 2

Story Continues In: Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4

Overview: Here we go, loyal readers! Everything you needed to know about the Legion of Super-Heroes, you could learn about it in this volume!

  • Who are the Legion’s most fearsome villains? Find out in this book with the debut of the Fatal Five, the Sun-Eaters, Universo, and the Dominators!
  • Can a Legionnaire die? Not to spoil the read, but I wouldn’t get too attached to Ferro Lad. Or Chemical King, who is dead before he can ever join the Legion.
  • Do you have to live in the 30th Century to be in the Legion? That would be no, as reported to us by Jimmy Olsen, Lana Lang, and those Kryptonian cousins.
  • Will these Legionnaires ever grow up? Sure, we get to meet the Adult Legion. Time to change the code-names for anyone using the following words: boy, girl, lad, or lass. Brainiac 5 may have been the smartest one on the team, for going with a name that wouldn’t have to change much as he went through puberty.
  • How can the Legion afford that nifty clubhouse and the incredible flight rings? Legion, I’d like to introduce your new benefactor, R.J. Brande.
  • Who should you never make angry? Easy, the Legion of Super-Pets!
  • Will anyone else join the Legion this time? Check to see if there is anyone hiding in the shadows.
  • Who is the most qualified writer to write the Legion? Naturally, a teenage writer.

Seems pretty basic, right? Everything you need to know about the Legion is right here!

Why should these stories be Showcased?: It’s interesting to chart the progress in the Legion with each new Showcase Presents volume. The first volume gave us the core concept, and the core characters. The second volume dropped a lot of new characters on us. But this volume, this feels like the best of both books, as the Legion adds new members (and foes!) while expanding their role in the universe. It’s either ironic or appropriate that Jim Shooter has taken over as writer on this book, as it starts to read and feel more like a Marvel book, despite the DC logo on the cover. The previous two volumes, I could make the argument that they were important enough to the overall DC Universe to include in your comic library. This volume is solid enough in terms of story, art, and character development to warrant inclusion on any library shelf.

Footnotes: Adventures Comics #354 gave us a peak at some Legionnaires who would die in the future. However, some of them, such as the Chemical King, had not even joined the Legion at that time. We will see Chemical King get his flight ring in Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes Vol. 4.

The Legion Espionage Squad goes undercover for the first time in Adventures Comics #360.

If you like this volume, try: the 2000 mini-series Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes: Universe Ablaze by Dan Jurgens and Phil Jimenez. It was surprising to note that at the time of this release, the two groups of teenage heroes had yet to cross paths, so this title felt long over due. Brother Blood has finally managed to defeat the Titans, and places a small group of the “teen” heroes into suspended animation. Those heroes are re-animated 1,000 years later by the Legion of Super-Heroes. Just in time, too, as Universo is back at it again. This is just my opinion, but I really feel like Dan Jurgens has been under-utilized and overlooked by DC for most of his career. He is a solid writer and artist, and doesn’t get mentioned nearly enough. For this story, Jurgens wrote and provided the pencils for the four-issue deluxe size series. Artist Phil Jimenez, who for my money is one of the best artists EVER, provides the finishing touches to the art to complete the package. Sadly, this story has never been reprinted, so you will need to dive into some back issue bins to find these four comics.

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Showcase Presents SHAZAM! Vol. 1

Showcase Presents SHAZAM! Vol. 1

Showcase Presents SHAZAM! Vol. 1

First Published: December 2006

Contents: SHAZAM! #1 (February 1973) to #33 (February 1978)

Key Creator Credits: C.C. Beck, Denny O’Neil, Elliot Maggin, Kurt Schaffenberger, E. Nelson Bridwell, and Bob Oksner

Overview: Newsboy Billy Batson is led down an abandoned subway tunnel, where he encounters the ancient Egyptian wizard known as Shazam. Shazam is looking for a new successor to protect the earth, and has chosen Billy Batson for this role. When Billy speaks the name “Shazam”, a bolt of lightning strikes down and he is transformed into Captain Marvel, the world’s mightiest mortal. 

As shown in nearly every Captain Marvel story, the hero gets his powers and abilities from six mighty heroes:
Solomon gives him Wisdom
Hercules gives him Strength
Atlas gives him Stamina
Zeus gives him Power
Achilles gives him Courage, and
Mercury gives him Speed

As our story begins, Captain Marvel, as well as his friends, family, and even foes, have been caught in a time bubble for twenty years. Returning to Earth in 1973, they all quickly integrate themselves into the new world, albeit in slightly different roles. For example, we see teenage Billy Batson give up hawking newspapers on the street corner to become a TV news anchor. All of the familiar faces from the Fawcett Comics run make a return in this volume. The full Marvel Family re-assembles: Mary Marvel, Captain Marvel Jr, Uncle Marvel and even Mr. Tawky Tawny. Captain Marvel’s rogues gallery, which rivals that of Batman or the Flash, returns in full wickedness: Dr. Sivana, Black Adam, Mr. Mind, and the dreaded Monster Society of Evil!

Towards the end of the book, the storyline changes to match the events of the Saturday morning TV show and to bring the characters more into the DC Universe proper. Dudley H. Dudley gives up his Uncle Marvel identity to drive Billy Batson across the U.S.A. in a motor home, so that Billy can file news stories from around the country, and Captain Marvel can be in new locations to stop evil.

Superman v. Captain Marvel: Captain Marvel was originally created in the early 1940s by Fawcett Comics, and quickly became one of the most popular characters on the newsstands. National Periodicals (DC Comics) felt that there were too many similarities between their character Superman and Fawcett’s character, so the two companies went to court to decide the matter. This was a prolonged fight across many courts, but the final ruling in the early 1950s was that Fawcett was violating the copyrights of the printed material. A final settlement was made out of court, and Fawcett agreed to pay National $400,000 and would cease publication of the Captain Marvel comics. (At this time, in the early 1950s, super-hero comics were in a sales decline, so it made financial sense to agree to that decision.) These characters would not be seen or used for two decades.

In a strange turn of events, in the early 1970s, DC Comics licensed the rights for Captain Marvel and friends from Fawcett Comics to produce these comics collected in this Showcase. Finally, DC Comics bought the rights to all of the Marvel family of characters outright from Fawcett in 1980.

Captain Marvel v. Captain Marvel: So while the Fawcett Captain Marvel was in settlement hibernation, Marvel Comics took off in the early 1960s. As their universe expanded, one of the new characters introduced was the Kree soldier known as Captain Mar-Vell. He quickly got his own title under the banner “Captain Marvel” (See my review for Essential Captain Marvel Vol. 1). Fawcett Comics had led their trademarks slip on their characters, and Marvel Comics was able to get the rights, and have held onto those rights ever since. As a result, any Fawcett/DC comic cannot use the title “Captain Marvel” on the comic, which has led DC to begin using the magical word of “SHAZAM” as the title of the books featuring their Captain Marvel.

Why should these stories be Showcased?: Well, I really want to give this book two thumbs up and advise anyone and everyone to get a copy, but I can’t. These are so-so stories, done in a way to mimic the Captain Marvel stories of the 1940s. If that is what you like, then go track down the DC Archive editions that reprint those 1940s books.

Footnotes:  Issues #8, and #21 to #24 contained reprint material from older stories. The only new material in those issues were the covers, which are included in this Showcase volume.

This collection ends with issue #33, but the series ran for two more issues. Beginning with #34, the stories took a more realistic approach to the stories, to integrate it more into the DC Universe proper. The art went away from the animated style of C.C. Beck. After this title ended, the Captain Marvel storyline continued as a feature in World’s Finest Comics and in Adventure Comics.

If you like this volume, try: Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil from 2007. This is available as both a hardcover and as a trade paperback. Written and drawn by Jeff Smith (BONE), this was a fresh take on the classic storyline. Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel unite to stop the powerful Dr. Sivana and his evil allies from taking over the world. This book is a much better homage to the 1940s work of Otto Binder and C.C. Beck than the 1970s series collected in this Showcase.