Flaming Carrot Comics - Publication History

Publication History

The Flaming Carrot first appeared in Visions #1 (1979) the first in a series of magazines produced as part of the Atlanta Fantasy Fair. Flaming Carrot stories went on to appear in each yearly edition of the magazine through 1987. Bob Burden worked as illustrator and writer with Roxanne Starr working as letterer.

In 1981 Burden, under the company name Killian Barracks Press, self-published Flaming Carrot Comics #1, an oversized one-shot. Four- to eight-page Flaming Carrot stories appeared in each subsequent annual issue of Visions through #4 (1982), that last of which contained an apocryphal Flaming Carrot history that convinced Dave Sim, of the self-publishing company Aardvark-Vanaheim, to publish Flaming Carrot as a regular comic, First, however, Sim included back-up stories of the Carrot in the pages of Aardvark-Vanaheim's Cerebus' #61–62 (cover-dated April–May 1984). The Carrot eventually guest starred in the series proper in Cerebus #104 (Nov. 1987).

In the meantime, Aardvark-Vanaheim had published Flaming Carrot #1-5 (May 1984 - Jan. 1985). The company also published a 3-D special, A-V In 3-D #1 (Dec. 1984).

The series was picked up by Renegade Press for a dozen issues that continued the numbering from #6-17 (March 1985 - July 1987). During this time, the Flaming Carrot appeared in the first issue of the Fantagraphics anthology Anything Goes! (Oct. 1986).

In 1988, Burden began a relationship with Dark Horse Comics that lasted for 14 years. Dark Horse published 14 more issues of the ongoing Flaming Carrot series, #18-31 (June 1988 to October 1994). It also published Carrot stories in its anthology Dark Horse Presents #20 (Aug. 1988) and its annual anthology San Diego Comic Con Comics #1.

In the winter of 1994, Dark Horse published Flaming Carrot Stories No. 1, referred to on the cover as a "Text Version of Future Issue", although a standard pictorial comic version did not later appear. From 1997-1998, the company published four volumes of the Flaming Carrot Comics Collected Album, which was the first time the series had been reprinted, and the 64-page "Flaming Carrot Comics Annual No.1", featuring a new story. In 1999, Dark Horse published four issues of the spin-off series "Bob Burden's Original Mysterymen Comics", which did not feature the Flaming Carrot. In 2002, Dark Horse published the crossover special Flaming Carrot & Reid Fleming, World's Toughest Milkman, listed as Flaming Carrot Comics #32 in the indicia.

From 1989 to 1990, the British publisher Atomeka Press printed Flaming Carrot stories in its anthology A1 #1–2. In 1993–1994, Mirage Studios published the four-issue series Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/ Flaming Carrot Crossover.

Flaming Carrot was relaunched in 2004 with Image Comics and Desperado Publishing with a dual numbering system for four issues. A Photo Comic Special #1 (issue #37 in the regular series) was published in March 2006, featuring digitally edited photographs instead of artwork.

At times, entire Flaming Carrot storylines would simply be abandoned, and numerous projects and spin-offs promised in the series various letter pages and "Bob Speaks" columns never came to fruition.