The Toxic Avenger Is Back, and He's Teaming Up With... Jesus Christ?

AHOY Comics is making waves in 2024, reviving cult hero The Toxic Crusader in comic book form and celebrating with "Toxic Mess Summer." This event sees Toxie teaming up with AHOY's universe of heroes, including a surprising collaboration with Jesus Christ.

The summer kicks off in May with The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special, showcasing various artists' interpretations of Toxie and his world. Following this, the Toxie Team-Up miniseries will launch, pairing Toxie with an eclectic group: the Jersey Devil (from Project: Cryptid), Acid Chimp (My Bad), Dragonflyman and Stinger (The Wrong Earth), Swamp Cop and Schitt (Justice Warriors), and, remarkably, Jesus Christ from Second Coming.

For the uninitiated, Second Coming depicts Jesus' return to Earth and his roommate dynamic with superhero Sunstar. The series has generated significant attention, and this new collaboration promises more of the same.

Toxie Team-Up #1 is written and drawn by Mark Russell and Richard Pace, the creative team behind Second Coming. Russell stated in AHOY's press release, “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 added, “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 releases May 14th, followed by Toxie Team-Up #1 on June 11th. A trade paperback collecting Matt Bors and Fred Harper's The Toxic Avenger miniseries arrives April 1st. Pre-orders are available on Amazon.

Toxie's also returning to the big screen in 2025. In IGN's review of the 2023 Toxic Avenger, Amelia Emberwing notes, "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."