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The champagne of comic books
Issue #1 of Flaming Carrot Comics came out in May of 1984 and told the story of Road Hogs from Outer Space. I didn't get my hands that issue until many years later, when I paid $7.00 for it.
I had started reading Flaming Carrot Comics around the holidays late in 1985 when a friend showed me issue #9, titled Play Ball and printed in October of 1985.
As of now, I own all the issues from #1 to #24, and then issues #27 through #29. I don't own nor I have yet seen issues #25 and #26, printed in April and June of 1991, respectively, nor issues #30 and #31, printed in December of 1992 and October of 1994, respectively. This shows that Bob slowed down quite a bit in the later years of drawing and writing Flaming Carrot Comics.
The 1999 movie Mystery Men was a spin-off from Flaming Carrot Comics, with the characters of The Shoveler and The Bowler first showing up in a two part story titled I Cloned Hitler's Feet which spanned issues 16 and 17.
Flaming Carrot is the world's first surrealist superhero!
Contents at a Glance
Who is Flaming Carrot?
His secret identity is never revealed
The Flaming Carrot wears a very large carrot-shaped mask which has flames shooting out of the top instead of greens, and he wears green swim fins on his feet.We don't know his secret identity, but we do know that he is not Ed Norton, Spike Jones, John Donne, Gabby Hayes, Joe Dimaggio, Canfilfas, Bob Dobbs, Brett Maverick, Larry McDonald, Harvey Kurtzman, one of the Clanton Bros., Martin Bormann, Grace Jones, Prester John, Zacherle, Peter Tork, Samuel Becket, The Silva-Thins man, Ted Turner, Graham Ingels, Soupy Sales, nor Earl Schiebe.
Mystery Men - The Movie
Even if you haven't heard of Flaming Carrot, you've likely heard of Mystery Men
![Mystery Men [HD DVD]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/518yHlTJW2L._SL160_.jpg)
Mystery Men [HD DVD]
Amazon Price: $13.95 (as of 10/07/2008)
In 1999, characters from Bob Burden's Flaming Carrot Comics hit the big screen in Mystery Men. The Shoveler, The Blue Raja, Mister Furious, The Spleen, The Invisible Boy, The Bowler, and the terribly mysterious Sphinx form a team to fight Cassanova Frankenstein after the city's main superhero, Captain Amazing, is no longer able to defend the city.
Doctor Heller
What's a superhero without a mad scientist?
Doctor Heller! Doctor Heller! There's an interstellar fellar in the cellar! -Miss Igor, Issue #1, Road Hogs from Outer SpaceDoctor Heller has been a part of Flaming Carrot's life since presumably before issue #1, but I haven't yet read those tales from the various issues of Visions magazine.
The character of Doctor Heller showed up in the Mystery Men movie, brilliantly played by Tom Waits. Doctor Heller specializes in non-lethal weapons, such as the Blame-Thrower, the instant tornado, and the Herkimer Battle Jitney.
The Shoveler
We've got a date with destiny, and it looks like she has ordered the lobster
In Flaming Carrot Comics issues #16 and #17, the Mystery Men were introduced. Not all of the characters from the Flaming Carrot Comics made it into the movie, and not all of the characters in the movie came from those original comics.The Shoveler is one of the few that was in the original Flaming Carrot Comics and in the Mystery Men movie.
William H. Macy played The Shoveler in the Mystery Men movie. His portrayal was of a younger and fitter man than as drawn by Bob Burden for the Flaming Carrot Comics, but I can't picture anyone else in the role.
Mr. Furious
After all, I am a ticking time bomb of fury.
Unlike the way that the portrayal of The Shoveler was so different between the comic and the movie, the way Ben Stiller played Mr. Furious in the Mystery Men film is pretty much exactly as Bob Burden drew Mr. Furious in the Flaming Carrot Comics. FC Comic Mystery Men
The Mystery Men that didn't make the cut
ScrewballRed RoverBondo-manJackpotCaptain AttackJumpin' JehosephatAt one point in the story, several Mystery Men are referred to only by name and are never drawn:
The PanicCitrusmanThe WhippetThe FlipsterGamblewolfRisky RobIn the same panel that mentions Citrusman, The Whippet and The Flipster, another of the Mystery Men is mentioned...
The Sphinx! The Blue Raja
Your boy's a limey fork-flinger, Mother. What *will* the bridge club say?
The Blue Raja was one of the Mystery Men invented for the film. Expertly played by Hank Azaria, The Blue Raja was a key member of the core group of three Mystery Men from the very start of the film. The Bowler
No, the guy at the pro shop did it.
The Bowler seems to have been drawn from one of the villians who fight the Mystery Men in Flaming Carrot Comics issue #16, the Melon Master.Janeane Garofalo plays The Bowler in the Mystery Men film. She is actually the daughter of the original Bowler, Carmine, but Carmine had apparently committed suicide. He fell down an elevator shaft. Onto some bullets.
Publishers of Flaming Carrot
Flaming Carrot Comics were published by several different producers
Issues #1 through #5 of Flaming Carrot comics were published under Dave Sim's Aardvark-Vanaheim label.
Issues #6 through #17 were published under the Renegade label.
Issues #18 through #31 were published under the Dark Horse label.
Flaming Carrot / Cerebus Crossover
You need me, like Skipper needs Gilligan!
In November of 1987, Flaming Carrot appeared in an issue of Cerebus, a comic written and drawn by Dave Sim.I haven't read very much of Cerebus at all, but I do know it's the story of an aardvark. Sim had originally intended to name his leading aardvark after the guardian of the underworld, Cerberus, but he mis-drew the name and so Cerebus it was.
In This Flame, This Carrot, Cerebus is climbing the Black Tower, and the Flaming Carrot shows up to show Cerebus a short cut to the top.
Issue #18 of Flaming Carrot, published in spring of 1988, shows Cerebus on a single frame on page 25.
Bob Burden's Home on the Web
Hear about the Carrot from the horse's mouth!
Bob Burden has a web page all about Flaming Carrot... Flaming Carrot Books
Individual comics as well as reprinted collections
Flaming Carrot, Volume 3: Flaming Carrot's Greatest Hits
Amazon Price: $14.00 (as of 10/07/2008)
Flaming Carrot Comics:Man of Mystery
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Flaming Carrot Comics (#29)
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Flaming Carrot Comics (No. 25)
Amazon Price: (as of 10/07/2008)
Rare Flaming Carrot Memorabilia
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Flaming Carrot is a complex comic
The stories, the art, the humor, the strangeness!
There's a lot to like about Flaming Carrot Comics. Something about it caught your eye and tickled your brain. Do I have it listed here?
What people are saying about Flaming Carrot Comics
Let me know what you think!
Did I miss something obvious for my poll above? Do you have a favorite issue? Do you have a funny story about how you first found Flaming Carrot Comics? Let the world know about it here!
Did the Blue Raja ever appear in the Flaming Carrot or was his one and only appearance in the Mystery Men Trade Paperback?
Posted April 01, 2008
