The Toxic Avenger Returns, Teams Up with Jesus Christ

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

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

For those new to this satirical superhero saga, Second Coming follows Jesus as he returns to Earth and shares a living space with the superhero Sunstar. Since its debut, Second Coming has stirred both praise and controversy, and the anticipation around Jesus teaming up with Toxie is sure to continue this trend.

Toxie Team-Up #1 is both written and illustrated by the team 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,” remarked Russell 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?”

The Toxic Avenger Pinup Special is set to 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 for pre-order on Amazon, releasing on April 1.

Toxie is also slated to make a return to the big screen in 2025. In IGN's review of the 2023 "not remake" of The 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."