Flaming Carrot Omnibus Volume 1
by Bob Burden
Dark Horse Books
ISBN-13: 978-1506714127
$24.99

Now The 2019 PopCult Gift Guide points you to one of the most wonderfully bizarre comic books published in the last four decades. If you know somone who loves superhero comics, but doesn’t like it when they take themselves too seriously, this is the graphic novel collection for them. They’ll never forget Flaming Carrot. Let’s see what the publisher says:

The Eisner award-winning, surreal superhero series, The Flaming Carrot, returns with a new omnibus collection!

Before there ever was a Deadpool, Twin Peaks, or Lady Gaga; the Flaming Carrot’s madcap madness, manic mayhem, and impish mischief exploded from the vanguard of the 80s’ New Wave comic revolution, taking us right down the rabbit hole of creativity-gone-off-the-tracks, and over the rainbow.

Propagating dreamlike surrealism, disturbing violence, sexual adventurism, bar-hopping, and a bizarre and nightmarish costume, the world’s first postmodern super man battled Road Hogs From Outer Space, went on drinking binges with Death, bounced around on a nuclear powered pogo stick, and ordered some of that new Brussels sprout flavored ice cream that wasn’t even on the menu yet.

Check out a comic book series that for many years most people believed to be nothing more than a ridiculous legend or an amusing joke. Doctor recommended. Maximum strength formula. New hope for a nation suffocating in the swill of its own mediocrity.

Collects Flaming Carrot #1-2, 4-11, 25-27.

The movie, Mystery Men was based on characters from this comic book, but for some reason the producers chose not to include The Flaming Carrot himself. An added bonus for fans of independent comics of the 1980s is the inclusion of a three-part team up with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is part of the reason this Omnibus is not strictly in chronological order.

Burden’s writing style is somewhere between that of classic Jack Cole (Plastic Man) and Bill Griffith (Zippy The Pinhead). His art style straddles the worlds of underground comics and lurid golden age crime comics. The vast majority of his work is black and white here, and the reproduction is crisp and shows off his linework well.

This is the perfect gift for the super hero fan with a strong sense of the absurd on your holiday shopping list. Available from comic shops, bookstores and Amazon.