Toxic Avenger Returns, Teams Up with Jesus Christ

In 2024, AHOY Comics made a significant impact by bringing back the cult favorite, The Toxic Crusader, in comic book form. This year, they are set to celebrate an event called "Toxic Mess Summer," where Toxie will collaborate with various heroes from the AHOY Universe, including an unexpected pairing with Jesus Christ.

The celebration begins in May with the launch of The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special, showcasing diverse artistic interpretations of Toxie and his crew. Following this, AHOY will unveil the miniseries Toxie Team-Up, featuring Toxie alongside characters like Jersey Devil from Project: Cryptid, Acid Chimp from My Bad, Dragonflyman and Stinger from The Wrong Earth, Swamp Cop and Schitt from Justice Warriors, and, intriguingly, Jesus Christ from Second Coming.

For those unfamiliar with the satirical superhero series, Second Coming follows Jesus returning to Earth and living with a superhero named Sunstar. Since its debut, Second Coming has received both acclaim and controversy, a trend likely to continue as Jesus teams up with Toxie.

Toxie Team-Up #1 is crafted by Second Coming's Mark Russell and Richard Pace. “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,” Russell stated in AHOY's press release. “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 remarked, “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 scheduled 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 available in a trade paperback edition on April 1, and you can preorder it on Amazon.

Looking ahead, Toxie is slated to return to the big screen in 2025. In her review for IGN, 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."