Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #12
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeCaptain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew! #12 marks the first appearance and origin of Little Cheese (Chester Cheese), the Micro-Mouse, completing the Zoo Crew's classic roster and giving the series its seventh—and most diminutive—member roughly one year into its run. The series itself holds a unique place in DC history as the last original funny animal property the company ever launched, making every character debut within it a one-of-a-kind event in that tradition. Beyond the story content, the issue's letters column doubles as an unexpected piece of industry history: a fan pin-up printed there represents the first paid, published work of Arthur Adams, who would go on to become one of Marvel's most celebrated illustrators of the 1980s. That accidental double significance—a new hero debuting in the story while a future star debuted in the back pages—makes #12 a quietly pivotal artifact of the Bronze Age.
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Issue #12 was written and drawn by Scott Shaw!, the series co-creator, who handled both script and pencils; inks were provided by Al Gordon, with assists credited to Bill Sienkiewicz and Bob Smith, colors by Tom Ziuko, and lettering by Carrie McCarthy. The series as a whole was conceived by Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw!, debuting in a 16-page preview insert in New Teen Titans #16 before launching as a standalone ongoing in March 1982. Thomas also served as the series editor, which placed him in the position of personally fielding—and approving—the Arthur Adams fan submission that appeared in this issue's letter column. The entire run, including #12, was eventually collected in DC's Showcase Presents paperback, though that volume was delayed from its originally planned 2007 release date due to royalty complications stemming from DC's 1980s contracts, and did not appear until September 2014.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Cover date: February 1983 (on-sale approximately late 1982); issue #12 of the 20-issue ongoing series.
- First appearance and origin of Little Cheese (Chester Cheese / the Micro-Mouse): Chester is shrunk to mouse size after his father is murdered, joining the Zoo Crew to pursue revenge against the villain FatKat.
- Story title: 'Of Mice and Menace!' — written and penciled by Scott Shaw!, inked by Al Gordon (with Bill Sienkiewicz and Bob Smith assists), colored by Tom Ziuko, lettered by Carrie McCarthy.
- Little Cheese would later be killed off in the 2005–06 Teen Titans (vol. 3) #30–31 storyline 'Whatever Happened to Captain Carrot?', lending the character's debut issue retrospective narrative weight.
- The series is documented as the last original funny animal superhero property created by DC Comics, placing every first appearance within it in a historically terminal category.
- The entire series, including #12, was reprinted in black-and-white in Showcase Presents: Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew (DC, November 2014), a 672-page trade paperback that also collects the New Teen Titans #16 preview and the Oz-Wonderland War #1–3.
- A Canadian price variant of issue #12 also exists, as documented in the Grand Comics Database.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Showcase Presents: Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #[nn] (2014)
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