History of Toxic Avenger Comics

 The Toxic Avenger began in 1984, released by Troma Entertainment and went on to become it's most popular and well know franchise. In no small part because of the Toxic Crusaders cartoon released in 1990 in an attempt to replicate the success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, with a toyline and cartoon created by the same companies who worked on TMNT Playmates and Fred Wolf Productions). Though Crusaders never really took off, only lasting one season and one wave of toys it did still help spread awareness of the character of Toxie who many kids had no idea was from an R rated 80s movie. The original film also spawned three sequels and a 2025 reboot. Though outside of the screen it has a history of comic books that is still going today.

In 1991 Marvel Comics released the first issue of The Toxic Avenger, with Toxie sporting his green skin from the Toxic Crusaders cartoon rather then the brown from the movies. The comic reimagines the story of the first movie, creating it's own continuity. The series lasted 11 issues and was then replaced with the Toxic Crusaders comic in 1992 which lasted 8 issues. Marvels Toxic Crusaders reimagines the origin story from the first few episodes of the cartoon whilst also being more violent than the cartoon would allow. 

1992 saw a second Toxic Crusaders comic published but in the UK by Fleetway Publishing. Like the American comic this only lasted 8 issues, reprinting the US comics while also featuring original UK strips. 

In 2024 Ahoy Comics released a Toxic Avenger mini series, once again reimaging the story of the original movie in a modern setting. Initially a four issue mini series, it proved popular enough to spawn an ongoing series. In 2025 it was joined by a new Toxic Crusaders comic set in continuity with the Toxic Avenger series.