In 2024, AHOY Comics made a splash by bringing back the cult favorite, The Toxic Crusader, in comic book form. This year, they're set to celebrate an event they've dubbed "Toxic Mess Summer," where Toxie will join forces with various heroes from the AHOY Universe, including none other than Jesus Christ.
The festivities kick off in May with the release of The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special, showcasing a variety of artists putting their unique spin on Toxie and his crew. Following this, AHOY will launch the miniseries Toxie Team-Up, which will see Toxie teaming up with an eclectic mix of characters: Project: Cryptid's Jersey Devil, My Bad's Acid Chimp, The Wrong Earth's Dragonflyman and Stinger, Justice Warriors' Swamp Cop and Schitt, and, intriguingly, Second Coming's Jesus Christ.
For those unfamiliar with the satirical superhero series, Second Coming features Jesus returning to Earth and rooming with a superhero named Sunstar. Since its launch, Second Coming has stirred both acclaim and controversy, a trend likely to continue with this unique team-up with Toxie.
Toxie Team-Up #1 is both written and drawn by Second Coming's Mark Russell and Richard Pace. In AHOY's press release, Russell commented, “Toxic Avenger and Jesus Christ is the team-up that everybody has been clamoring for and I am not one to stand in the way. Just as in Second Coming, Christ shows that there are more tools in the box than just violence and that Tromaville, as strange as it is, is still a place that someone who grew up bullied by the jocks in the Roman Empire would recognize.”
AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer also weighed in, stating, “Having already spawned five films, a cartoon, action figures, a musical, and a Marvel comic book series, the Toxic Avenger is a pop culture icon. The only question is: why doesn’t he have a church of his own?”
The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special is slated for release on May 14, with Toxie Team-Up #1 following on June 11. Additionally, Matt Bors and Fred Harper's The Toxic Avenger miniseries will be collected in a trade paperback edition available on April 1, which you can preorder on Amazon.
Toxie's adventures will continue beyond the pages, as he is set to return to the big screen in 2025. In IGN's review of The Toxic Avenger, Amelia Emberwing noted, "Troma and Legendary’s partnership on The Toxic Avenger’s 2023 'not remake' delivers a mixed bag. Director Macon Blair and the rest of the creative team may have more money to play with than Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman’s 1984 original, but it struggles to deliver on the schlocky goodness of Troma’s stronger films. Still, what it lacks in so-bad-it’s-good silliness it makes up for with its heart and mostly practical slaughterfests. Kevin Bacon and Peter Dinklage having an absolute blast in their roles doesn’t hurt, either."
