The Toxic Avenger has had a bigger impact on the comics world than people realize, and a lot of that comes from its conception in New Jersey in the ’80s. Thanks to the cult status of the films made by Troma, the B-movie studio that launched the career of James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, DC Films), and the comic book boom of the ’90s, the time was perfect for The Toxic Avenger to make a comeback, so its success on AHOY shouldn’t be a surprise, especially for someone who grew up in New Jersey during that time.
To celebrate, AHOY Comics has announced that a newly added special edition of issue #2 will include a collectible trading card by artist Steve Ellis (The Only Living Boy, High Noon), all part of a five-issue comic series by political satirist and Pulitzer Prize finalist Matt Bors and artist Fred Harper.
THE TOXIC AVENGER #1 Cover D will feature a trading card by Harper on October 9th. THE TOXIC AVENGER #2 Cover D will feature a trading card by Ellis and will be released on November 13th.
“Speaking as a completely disinterested and unbiased observer, I feel like now is a great time to be an AHOY fan,” said Tom Payer, Editor-in-Chief of AHOY Comics. “This year we’ve had two huge hits with the new series THE TOXIC AVENGER and BABS from Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows, both of which are AHOY Comics’ most successful launches since the delightfully controversial SECOND COMING from Mark Russell, Richard Pace and Leonard Kirk. Will AHOY Comics explode in popularity and forget all the little publisher names that knew us when we were unknown? Stay tuned to see what happens!”
Here’s the official description of the series from AHOY:
In The Toxic Avenger, teenager Melvin Junko helps out at his parents’ junkyard in Tromaville, a small town in New Jersey. Nothing much ever happens in the town. But an untimely derailment of a train loaded with toxic waste transforms Melvin into the Toxic Avenger, a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength. Under the press control of Biohazard Solutions (BS) and its PR Chairman Lindsay Flick, Melvin emerges as a hero fighting the mutated threats that appear one after another around BS and Tromaville. Soon Melvin uncovers a vast conspiracy with far-reaching implications, but he knows that if everyone knows what’s at stake, they’ll act to stop it. Right?
TOXIC AVENGER is Bors’ second comic book series. It follows his critically acclaimed comic JUSTICE WARRIORS, which he co-created with artist Ben Clarkson. The comic follows Swamp Cop and Schitt, two police officers assigned to the world’s first perfect city. The Toxic Avenger first appeared in the 1984 cult classic film, directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz and starring Mitchell Cohen, about a mutated underdog who cleans up corporate chaos.
THE TOXIC AVENGER #1 will hit shelves on October 9th, 2024, with THE TOXIC AVENGER #2 following on November 13th, 2024. You can check out the Toxic Avenger #1 and Toxic Avenger #2 trading cards below.
THE TOXIC AVENGER #1 Cover D Card (by Fred Harper):
THE TOXIC AVENGER #2 Cover D Card (by Steve Ellis):
Like this:
Like Loading…
