The bodies are piling up in DC’s Dark Nights: Death Metal, and one of the Multiverse’s zaniest teams is itslatest victim
WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Dark Nights: Death Metal Multiverse’s End #1 by James Tynion IV, Juan Gedeon and Rus Wooton, on sale now.
With the multiverse being systematically eliminated by Perpetua, it was only a matter of time before the heroes of Justice Incarnate, the Justice League of the Multiverse, responded to her acts of destruction. But with only six realities remaining, and most of them being evil, it stood to reason that the members of Justice Incarnate weren’t just heroes anymore, but survivors as well.
Dark Nights: Death Metal Multiverse’s End #1 reveals that the Zoo Crew, some of the happiest and fuzziest heroes in DC comics, were also killed in Perpetua’s assault, leaving Captain Carrot as the only survivor of his world.
As Captain Carrot stated many times throughout the issue, he and his friends had a different kind of anatomy than the heroes of Earth-0. It was that belief that led to the Zoo Crew’s destruction. Perpetua’s Apex Predators, the deadliest creatures in existence, tore through Captain Carrot and his teammates, leaving their fearless leader to mourn as their lifeless bodies were strewn around him.
It was a tragic and violent end for such a happy world. In many ways, the Zoo Crew’s reality was the idealized state of other worlds. But their happiness was torn down by Perpetua as she cruelly ended everything that did not meet her design for the Multiverse.
Created by Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew were introduced in 1982 in a special inset in The New Teen Titans #16 before going on to star in their own title. In that debut story, the villain Starro had been using a ray that made people act like their primate ancestors. When the ray went for Superman, he blocked it with a meteor but that action opened a rift to Earth-C, the home of the Zoo Crew, where its future members would be bestowed their powers from the fragments of the meteor Superman used to protect himself. After helping Superman stop Starro, they decided to remain heroes and protect their world from any threat.
So in many ways, the Zoo Crew is a creation of the prime reality, both being created by their actions and inspired by them. So to see destroyed so mercilessly is a blow and no one has felt it harder than Captain Carrot. Though he has agreed to join the mission to stop Perpetua, he is still grieving and blaming himself for underestimating the enemy. He thought that his belief in their durability is what cost them the fight, even though nothing truly could have stopped an army of Apex Predators. But even though he misses his world and friends dearly, he still puts his issues aside to focus on what matters: protecting those who are left and even providing emotional support for the other heroes working with him. So even though the Zoo Crew may be gone, their ideals live on through Captain Carrot.
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