 | Flaming CarrotOriginal Medium: Comic books First Published by: Vision Publications First Appeared: 1979 Creator: Bob Burden image: © Bob Burden. |
Flaming Carrot's origin story is the same as Don Quixote's or Captain Klutz's. Whereas the Lord of La Mancha got the way he was by reading stories of knights and chivalry until his brains dried up, Klutz and The Carrot did it by reading too many comic books — in the latter case, 5,000 in a single sitting.
Flaming Carrot is a non-powered, blue-collar superhero headquartered in Palookaville, a section of Iron City. He does not maintain a secret identity. The name he used before assuming the Carrot persona is unknown except to his creator, cartoonist Bob Burden. He is never seen without his mask, which is a six-foot replica of a carrot with live flame coming out of the top. The rest of his costume consists of white shirt, red pants and green flippers (in case he has to swim). He is one of a very select group that also includes Cyclops (of X-Men) and possibly The Badger — brain-damaged superheroes.
The Carrot may not be your typical superhero but he does all the things a superhero does, from hobnobbing with his peers to crossovers with other comic book characters. Even at that, tho, he does it his way. The superhero club he belongs to is a bunch of oddballs called The Mystery Men; and his guest stars include The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Herbie.
The Carrot first appeared in Visions #1, which came out in 1979, and was distributed mostly in the Atlanta, GA area. In 1981, he was done as a one-shot comic book. By '84, he'd attracted enough national attention to support his own regularly-published black and white comic and, from one publisher or another, it continued being published for years. In fact, who's to say a new issue couldn't come out tomorrow? The most recent publisher is Dark Horse Comics (Nexus, Boris the Bear), which also sometimes makes early adventures available in paperback collections.
Flaming Carrot has never appeared in a cartoon, or a novel, or a big little book. Nor has he been a merchandising bonanza. But in his 20-odd years in comic books he's amassed a very devoted following, which he will no-doubt retain whenever Bob Burden chooses to write and draw him.
