Before even cracking into Toxic Avenger Comics #6, I was worried.
Between Toxic Avenger and Toxic Crusaders (and even Toxie Team-Up to a lesser extent), Matt Bors and company had given us enough radioactive wonder to fill 1,000 Tromavilles. But I quickly found Toxic Avenger Comics to be a mighty continuation, as it shifted from a series of one-shots into a storyline where Toxie and Yvonne went to Washington to clean up America. Fun and timely!
And yet even if my heart hadn’t been big enough on its own, I’d gladly rip open my own chest cavity and start excavating/rearranging body parts after the wonder that is Toxic Avenger Comics #7.
Courtesy of AHOY Comics.
Because of all the Toxic treats we’ve gotten in recent years, this may be among my favorite single issues so far. What started as a promising enough intro — the pair had come to D.C. with good intentions only to get wrapped up in the assassination of the president, oh no! — somehow reaches dazzling new heights. And there’s a few key reasons for that success across #7.
For one, we’re introduced to a new “big bad,” and while I can’t spoil his background, he manages to ground the current Smogulan plot to destroy the Earth into a much deeper history of fascism. And that right there is huge: Bors has done some damn fine work in trying to understand and explain the modern American “experience,” showing us the insanity and fecklessness that’s led us to right now.
After issue #7, that “lineage” is contextualized in such a way that not only does it feel ever more pertinent to our current situation, it allows the creative team to further explore the scope of American politics over the last 80-ish years and grow the size and depth of the “Toxie-verse.” Similarly, the art team (artist Fred Harper, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Rob Steen) get a chance to play around with some WWII-era comics superheroes and technology, and it’s just more wonderful texture to take in as this book pokes and prods us readers.
Courtesy of AHOY Comics.
It’s an achievement that’s even more impressive than the Planet Teens, who debuted in Toxic Avenger Comics #6. I wasn’t entirely sold on these Captain Planet ripoffs, but after they go toe-to-tow with Toxie in issue #7, I think they’re a smart enough choice. Not only do they facilitate one of the more brutal battles of this issue — Harper and company are pros at both maximizing blood and gore and also creating big, defining moments with these combat “scenarios” — but their tone and approach is brilliant.
They’re very much this weird snapshot of youth movements in America, and be it the mix of Gen Z slang/awareness or the weird inclination to follow authoritarian politics in the name of a good cause (environmentalism), this group is another dazzling source of inventive, people-centric satire across this book. They also wear these big, dumb gauntlets instead of cool rings, and that alone just feels silly, peculiar, and hella significant.
And speaking of significant, the issue ends with yet another vital development: a state-sanctioned hero, Doctor Planet. Obviously he’s tied to the Planet Teens (adding yet another wrinkle there), and his resemblance to a B-list DC hero feels like it’s another instance of this story grounding itself and lengthening the reach of its satire. But mostly it’ll be neat to see what happens when the ruggedly handsome Doctor does battle with our favorite misshapen mutant — the promise of big, brutal combat alone has me jittery with joy.
At the same time, it’s also a chance to 1) give Toxie a more clear rival; 2) further dissect superhero tropes/cliches; and 3) speak on ideas of American exceptionalism and the larger military industrial complex. Oh boy, it’s like Christmas in January!
Courtesy of AHOY Comics.
Plus, as you can see from the preview art across this review, this issue sees Toxie and Yvonne aided post-assassination by a mysterious figure. I quite like the way they touch on conspiracies here, as it plays out like something real and not just a hokey device to needlessly alienate anyone. Plus, it’ll be interesting to see how Toxie’s immersion in the Deep State further reflects our own real-world political climate.
But perhaps the most impressive achievement of Toxic Avenger Comics #7 is its overall and sustained speed and efficiency. Part of my aforementioned “worries” weren’t just reading yet another Toxie book, but similarly how the creators might fully set this book apart. And where Toxic Crusaders is the team book (with a wonderfully busy dynamic), and Toxic Avenger felt brash and nostalgic, Toxic Avenger Comics is very much its own thing.
The book has humor galore (Yvonne is so dry and perfect in this issue), but it balances that with even sharper satire and vital happenings. It gives us a lot to chew on, but there’s decisions made — like the unique visual look, feel, texture, scope, etc. of key scenes — to assist with our immersion. And even if things feel busy at times, the storytelling has become more layered and connected that you really see the big picture growing ever more clear.
Courtesy of AHOY Comics.
After this issue, I’d be brazen enough to say that Toxic Avenger Comics may be the undisputed spear of the “Toxie-verse.” That’s not to downplay everything else that’s come out already/is happening now, but that this issue is so powerful and effective that it feels like a massive turning point for this whole endeavor.
It’s the moment where so many things clicked into place, and rather than relying on wiener jokes and gory mayhem (those are still here, FYI), this book reached more of its potential as this bright, inventive, and totally bonkers story about the true history of America, our eternal struggle between decency and our baser instincts, and what the future might look like if we can keep it together long enough to actually become our better selves.
I’m no longer worried, concerned, etc. — Toxic Avenger Comics has me giddier than a mutant hog for this franchise’s nuclear-bright future.
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