The Toxic Avenger Gets A New Comic Book Series From AHOY Comics
by Olly MacNamee
Cult cinema fan-favourite, the Toxic Avenger, is making a return to comics courtesy of AHOY Comics, writer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Matt Bors and artist Fred Harper (Snelson) who are collaborating on the all-new five-issue comic book series.
Having appeared in five films, a cartoon series, action figures, a musical, and a Marvel comic book series, the Toxic Avenger is inarguably a pop culture icon. And I couldn’t think of a better fit than AHOY Comics.
Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer promised the following from this new series:
“THE TOXIC AVENGER delivers what Troma fans want. The series has violent action, gross mutations, bursting pustules, eye-popping visuals, and trenchant humor.”
Troma Films co-founder, and co-director of the original 1984 Toxic Avenger film, Lloyd Kaufman added:
“If there was ever a superhuman hero for these toxic, miserable times, Toxie is the one! Only AHOY Comics and Bors & Harper could pull this off…er…mop this up! Toxie and the Troma Team can’t wait ‘til you read -no, experience – the art and stories that the Toxic Avenger Comic Book will explode in your brain, your soul, and your heart. Above all, remember – Toxie loves you and so do I.”
Bors concluded:
“This series will combine elements of the original films with the Toxic Crusaders cartoon and characters in familiar ways, updated to tell a story of environmental devastation, corporate control, and social media mutation. THE TOXIC AVENGER is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control. The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.”
But what about this new series, I heard you ask? Here’s the synopsis for you to chew over:
“In THE TOXIC AVENGER, teenager Melvin Junko helps run his parent’s junkyard in Tromaville, a small town in New Jersey where nothing much ever happens — until an ill-timed train derailment of toxic waste transforms Melvin into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength: the Toxic Avenger! Under a media blackout imposed by Biohazard Solutions (BS) and their PR-spewing Chairwoman Lindsay Flick, Melvin emerges as a hero fighting against BS and the mutated threats that keep popping up around Tromaville. Eventually Melvin uncovers a vast conspiracy more far-reaching than he could have ever imagined — but he knows if everyone is simply made aware of the crisis, they’ll act to stop it. Right?
In addition to the environmental and action satire at the forefront of this story, TOXIC AVENGER will skewer corporate PR, influencer culture, and the mainstreaming of conspiracy theories” added Bors. “It isn’t paranoia if they’re really out to pollute you!”
The Toxic Avenger #1 will be out on Wednesday October 9, 2024 from AHOY Comics
