Toxic Avenger Returns, Teams Up With Jesus Christ

In 2024, AHOY Comics made a splash by bringing back the cult favorite, The Toxic Crusader, in comic book form. This year, they're amping up the excitement with a special event dubbed "Toxic Mess Summer," where Toxie teams up with various heroes from the AHOY Universe, including none other than Jesus Christ.

The festivities kick off in May with the release of The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special, a showcase of diverse artistic interpretations of Toxie and his crew. Following this, AHOY will launch the miniseries Toxie Team-Up, featuring Toxie collaborating with a lineup of unique characters such as Project: Cryptid's Jersey Devil, My Bad's Acid Chimp, The Wrong Earth's Dragonflyman and Stinger, Justice Warriors' Swamp Cop and Schitt, and, notably, Second Coming's Jesus Christ.

Art by Fred Harper. (Image Credit: AHOY Comics)

For those unfamiliar with the satirical superhero series, Second Coming features Jesus returning to Earth and rooming with a superhero named Sunstar. The series has been both acclaimed and controversial since its inception, and its collaboration with Toxie is sure to stir further conversation.

Toxie Team-Up #1 is crafted by the creative duo behind Second Coming, 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.”

“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,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “The only question is: why doesn’t he have a church of his own?”

Art by Fred Harper. (Image Credit: AHOY Comics)

The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special will hit the shelves on May 14, followed by Toxie Team-Up #1 on June 11. Additionally, Matt Bors and Fred Harper's The Toxic Avenger miniseries will be compiled into a trade paperback edition, available from April 1. You can preorder The Toxic Avenger on Amazon.

Fans can also look forward to Toxie's return to the big screen in 2025. In IGN's review of The Toxic Avenger, 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."