I don’t know about you, but I’m riding high on Goop (TM), baby!
Actually, my brain is just still buzzing from Toxic Crusaders #3. After a solid enough start to our third or fourth Toxie book, Toxic Crusaders reached a genuine high point in the team’s battle against the Smogulans. There was a solid, emotionally resonant origin for Junkyard; great mutant-on-mutant action; and more top-notch, extra timely satire from writer Matt Bors.
And just when I wondered if the party could get even more redonk, Toxic Crusaders #4 keeps on movin’ and groovin’.
Courtesy of AHOY! Comics.
In some ways, issue #4 is sort of a “repeat” from #3 as we get yet another origin story: Headbanger. This latest mutant is the result of a horrifying fusion between a brilliant scientist (Dr. Bender) and a vacuous social media type very much akin to 92% of YouTube (that’d be Fender). Part of me was at least momentarily concerned that Toxic Crusaders had fallen into a “cycle” of similarly structured issues that might feel derivative. But as I finished the actual issue, I became more OK with that very idea.
For one, the whole Toxie-verseis this multi-layered comics mutant, and yet despite just how much has happened already, we’re still very early on in its development. And two, a little bit of “predictability” is a good thing as the overarching story becomes increasingly complicated and robust. But mostly, this issue was markedly different in tone compared to issue #3 — as much as it was quite the same. Because the upside of introducing a new character with two heads is that both get to be quite different.
Bender isn’t only smarter, but without revealing too much (or, just read the previews across this piece), his story is even more depressing than Junkyard. He’s both the victim and facilitator of his circumstances, and there’s something about that combination that we can all resonate with to a certain extent. And in that way, he’s sympathetic like Junkyard while also being far more emotionally complex, which suits the scope and momentum of this story. And I think this kind of moral duplicity is key right now for those making important art. In a time where so many folks can’t more effectively discern good vs. evil (or seem to at least care), it’s nice that a book is giving us someone to mull over and really engage with as we explore his emotional, moral, and social value.
Courtesy of AHOY! Comics.
Fender, meanwhile, is agent of that most asinine trend of looksmaxxing, and he gets stuck to the “good” doctor in pursuit of his own feckless obsession with beauty and fame. While it’s hard to garner sympathy for him (unless it’s like that of a dumb animal who ran into the road), Fender gives Bors another avenue for his lethally effective satire, and the sheer timeliness of this is A) quite impressive and indicative of the book’s wit and intellect and B) ahead of the curve in some ways in exploring this very dumb trend, with Toxic Crusaders tackling looksmaxxing in a way that feels truly novel.
This issue shows us that the personal and the social are more interconnected than we’d ever assumed, and in a time where enough people claim to be apolitical, Toxic Crusaders isn’t necessarily assigning blame (it is there, however), but rather showing us the complicated intellectual, interpersonal, and ethical ideas at the heart of these conversations about our political systems, social media engagement, and very social structures.
The book is insistent without being harsh, and in that way, it is readily able to explore things in a way to best invite our enthusiastic curiosity in further exploring these often heady ideas. It’s not some bothsidesism, either, but instead the recognition that ours is a time of great opportunity and also stupidity, and the way forward is through recognition, community action, and the keen ability to recognize patterns of thought and behavior.
Courtesy of AHOY! Comics.
In that way, the satire here continues to feel extra sharp because it does what is most important in this “tradition”: it focuses on the humanity. It’s not about perpetuating nihilism, but rendering everything down to its essence and letting readers decide the best they can.
Take, for instance, some tonally-perfect scenes where Fender is live-streaming. The art team (artist Tristan Wright, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Rob Steen) are never overwrought or heavy-handed in their depiction of these streams; the graininess of the video feed is just right, and the angles employed are perfectly captured for comedic effect.
But mostly, the way shots are framed, with what is or isn’t in each, feels like such a powerful but understated commentary on viewing a world through these lenses and what we gain/loss through this process. It’s a perfect encapsulation of Toxic Crusaders: If you empower and uplift your leaders with great art, they can do the rest with joy and power.
Courtesy of AHOY! Comics.
Of course, as I continue to point out every time, this book is called Toxic Crusaders, and so the rest of the team should pop up in significant ways, right? Over the last couple issues, I’ve also gotten increasingly OK with Toxie taking a “backseat” as he’s still found a way to be important. As is the case with this issue, that’s usually in some truly solid battle scenes, this time bashing Psycha and Dr. K after Headbanger’s debut. Part of that isn’t just that I like seeing him put folks in a sleeper hold; it’s also that he’s become well established enough that he can move into the background just a bit.
And as we see with this issue, the same goes for the rest of the team. Fungirl gets to have her moment with mushroom-based combat (that also serves as solid character development). And No-Zone gets an opportunity for more of the same (by having a really solid moment that frames the destruction of the chemical plant from issue #1). Even Mesra (our young independent journalist) gets her barbs in and exists through really effective narration/writing, another representation of how so much of this story happens in every element/component of this book.
Courtesy of AHOY! Comics.
Everybody moves to give room to Headbanger, and by doing so, they truly maintain life and significance because the team feels solid enough to properly share the spotlight. It genuinely feels like a proper team book by now, and that means everyone plays their part in service of what actually matters. And, in case you haven’t been paying attention, what matters is the story above everything.
It’s a story of absolute timeliness; extra sharp satire; deeply poignant character arcs; mutant humor; body horror galore; and generally the sense that something huge is happening across this title. To think we’re so inundated with Toxie stories (and yet nothing feels overdone), and that we’re still building toward the larger arc (which we start to see toward the issue’s end as the Smogulans move their pieces) is jaw-droppingly impressive. It’s just more proof that as Toxic Crusaders grows and grows, the resulting high has only just begun.
You must be logged in to post a comment.