It’s a good time to be a fan of gross-out heroes this summer—and the Toxic Avenger in particular, with Peter Dinklage’s new spin on the character finally making its way to theaters. But before you get your best, goopiest splatter on in theaters, you can keep the summer of toxicity going strong with Toxie’s latest comic book adventure.
io9 can exclusively reveal your first look at Ahoy Comics’ first ongoing series, and the vanguard of its very own Toxic Mess Summer: The Toxic Avenger Comics. Fresh off of last year’s Toxie miniseries, the new ongoing will be written by the Nib’s Matt Bors, and will feature a lineup of different artists across its first arc, starting with Fred Harper.
The reason for the rotating artistic talent? Each of the first five issues of the series will swap genres, with Harper’s #1 being a horror-themed story, with the next four issues dipping into the world of crime, sci-fi, romance, and fantasy. And, of course with Toxie, there’s gonna be a little bit of grossness to the proceedings already. Check out a few of the covers for the first issue below—also available will be a blank sketch variant, and an alternate of Harper’s cover to advertise an included, exclusive trading card.
“When I first approached Lloyd Kaufman and Troma about reviving the Toxic Avenger in comics, I wasn’t modest,” Bors said in a press release provided to io9. “I pitched a new origin, outrageous new characters, and a fully mapped-out, mopped-up, multi-year storyline. Now, Fred Harper and I have been given the green light to go fucking nuts.”
That new storyline teased by Bors will begin in The Toxic Avenger Comics‘ sixth issue, “Toxie Goes to Washington,” after a series of preview pages setting up the arc, illustrated by Harper, are set to appear in the first five genre-hopping tales. Plus, it’ll introduce one of those aforementioned and outrageous new characters, to boot!
The new ongoing series marks the high point of Ahoy’s Toxie-themed summer this year in celebration of the character’s big cinematic return. Things kick off in goopy earnest today, as Bors and Harper’s Toxic Avengers miniseries hits shelves in collected trade format. Then next month, as an amuse-bouche to his new series, Toxie will appear in The Toxic Avenger Pin-Up Special anthology, while June sees the release of Toxie Team-Up, a miniseries that will see Toxie meet a host of other Ahoy characters (including, of course, Jesus Christ from Second Coming), all climaxing with the release of The Toxic Avenger Comics #1 in July and the movie itself in August. There’s never been a better time to love the horrific outcomes of chemical waste accidents!
The Toxic Avenger Comics #1 hits shelves July 9, 2025—and the Toxic Avenger movie hits theaters August 29.
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