Two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Matt Bors has been entertaining readers with his thought-provoking work for years, and now he’s bringing his incisive commentary to Tromaville in The Toxic Avenger comic book series. Written by Bors with artwork by Fred Harper, The Toxic Avenger #1 (the first of five issues) is now available from AHOY Comics.
To celebrate the new release, Daily Dead caught up with Bors in a new Q&A feature to discuss his timely take on Toxie, pitching his idea to Lloyd Kaufman at San Diego Comic-Con, his affection for The Toxic Avenger movies and cartoon series, and what readers can expect from the latest addition to the boundary-pushing franchise. Bors also talks about working with Ben Clarkson on Justice Warriors: Vote Harder, the new graphic novel that takes readers back to Bubble City and is also now available from AHOY Comics!
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions, Matt, and congratulations on The Toxic Avenger comic book series! How did the opportunity to work on this series come about?
Matt Bors: I had an idea for a new Toxic Avenger story for a while. The Nib was closing last year, which I ran full-time for ten years, and I needed some work! I figured it was time to shoot some shots. I walked right up to Lloyd Kaufman at San Diego Comic-Con, introduced myself, and told him I had an idea for a new Toxic Avenger comic. Troma was very receptive and I matched them with AHOY, my publisher on Justice Warriors. You gotta make your own luck in this world!
From feature films and a cartoon show to a musical and comic books, the Toxic Avenger has become an iconic character over the past several decades. Were you a fan of Melvin Junko and this boldly entertaining franchise prior to working on this series?
Matt Bors: Absolutely. Like a lot of elder millennials (b. 1983) I watched the Toxic Avenger movies when I was way too young and they made an impression on me. Or I should say the Toxic Avenger disemboweling a guy and skipping rope with his intestines made an impression. It was around the time I was also viewing the age-appropriate cartoon show and buying the toys. They were a little more gnarly than the Ninja Turtles toys and were, to me, the coolest mutants on the scene. And now, here I am. Reviving Intellectual Property. Living the dream.
You teamed up with artist Fred Harper to bring The Toxic Avenger to life in this new series. What was it about Fred’s art style that made him the perfect fit for this series, and what was your reaction when you first saw his artwork paired with your prose?
Matt Bors: Ah, good old Fred! He’s perfect for this book. I only came to his work through the recent AHOY series Snelson and Highball, but he’s been scritching away a lot longer than that. Fred brings in great drawing and caricature skills and there’s a grittiness to his inks that slots in well with “hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength.” Everything I toss his way—50-foot barfing teens, impaled heads, smashed heads, even normal heads—he smacks deep into the right field bleachers.
It feels like The Toxic Avenger franchise is timelier now than ever before. How important (and fun) was it for you to tackle current issues through a unique Tromaville lens?
Matt Bors: When a train full of toxic chemicals derailed in my home state of Ohio last year, endangering an entire small town and no doubt leaving their community and health impacted for life—why, I knew I had my angle.
The Toxic Avenger comes out of the fears of its time—nuclear waste, corporate dumping, and smog-filled cities. So I’m updating it a bit, but since we haven’t transitioned to a solarpunk zero-emissions economy, there’s still a lot to pull from.
Did you receive any feedback from the legendary Lloyd Kaufman and anyone else at Troma while working on this series?
Matt Bors: They’ve been a real pleasure to work with and supportive of where I want to go with this story. There’s also the movie (hopefully) coming out and a new video game too, so Toxie is getting his moment in the ozone-depleted sun. I gather they’re happy to have these new iterations keeping the character alive for fans and newcomers alike. I don’t know what’s not to like about it.
In addition to The Toxic Avenger, you also just celebrated the release of the new graphic novel Justice Warriors: Vote Harder, the follow-up to 2023’s Justice Warriors that continues the adventures of Swamp Cop and Schitt in Bubble City. How much fun did you have reteaming with co-writer and artist Ben Clarkson as well as colorist Felipe Sobreiro on Vote Harder?
Matt Bors: On a fun scale? I’d say… the top. Ten clowns out of ten. My wife hears me working, she yells, “Turn down the fun in there!” Justice Warriors is a world with almost no rules, outside of the brutal economic conditions imposed on everyone. The city is a cornucopia of cyberpunk inhabitants of every conceivable variety and mutation, so we run wild trying to outdo ourselves with each volume.
Like The Toxic Avenger, Justice Warriors: Vote Harder examines current events while still delivering high-octane entertainment. What types of issues did you and Ben look to dissect this time around in Bubble City?
Matt Bors: As the title implies, this volume covers the first-ever mayoral election in Bubble City, the perfect crime-free city surrounded by an endless slum of mutants. So elections and how they operate are on the table for examination. We pack it with all kinds of commentary—on the media, voting, on radicalism, and even how movements are infiltrated and undermined by police. It’s hilarious, believe it or not.
Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away from The Toxic Avenger and Justice Warriors: Vote Harder?
Matt Bors: I want everyone having a good time. These are fun, high-energy comics with tons of violence and humor. They’re about things, yes, and you may even think about those things afterwards and find what someone in a boring work meeting might call “key takeaways.” I wouldn’t say they take themselves too seriously, though.
Do you have plans to return to Bubble City and Tromaville, respectively, for future installments of Justice Warriors and The Toxic Avenger?
Matt Bors: I sure hope so! We have ideas for ten volumes of Justice Warriors, and I pitched a multi-volume pollution saga for Toxic Avenger. All of that isn’t greenlit. In this wretched world we inhabit, capital determines all! So the success of these current series determines their fate, but yes, I plan to do more. That’s the ambition.
What has it been like to work with the team at AHOY Comics on The Toxic Avenger and Justice Warriors: Vote Harder?
Matt Bors: AHOY’s been incredibly supportive and I have to give them a lot of credit, particularly the wise editor Tom Peyer, who saw fit to add me to their stable. Tom is clearly a top industry taste-maker! In the last year I’ve gone from running The Nib to moving into direct market genre comics full-time. That’s always been a love and a goal of mine, and AHOY has played a huge role in making that possible.
What advice would you give to comic book writers or artists who are just getting started?
Matt Bors: Show me what you got! LFG.
With Justice Warriors: Vote Harder out now and The Toxic Avenger #1 debuting on October 9th, do you have any other upcoming projects that you can tease?
Matt Bors: This is almost as much work as I can bear, but I do have a short story in the upcoming Cruel Universe #4 by EC Comics and Oni. I penned a science fiction story, drawn by Daniel Irizarri, regarding a United States torn by civil war with an alien as president. Near future stuff!
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Below, we have additional details on Justice Warriors: Vote Harder and The Toxic Avenger #1, and to learn more, visit:
JUSTICE WARRIORS: VOTE HARDER
Series: Justice Warriors
Story: Ben Clarkson, Matt Bors
Art/Cover: Ben Clarkson
Timed for election season: an all-new graphic novel continuing the hit futuristic satire JUSTICE WARRIORS, now in its third printing! It’s election time in Bubble City, the ultra-safe enclave for the rich, surrounded by the dangerous mutant district called the Uninhabited Zone. Veteran officer Swamp Cop is pulled into a clandestine operation, a violent mission that will put him on a collision course with his beloved partner Schitt. Co-created by cartoonist/publisher/Pulitzer Prize finalist Matt Bors and Adult Swim filmmaker Ben Clarkson!
THE TOXIC AVENGER #1
(W) Matt Bors
(A) Fred Harper
Cover A: Fred Harper $3.99
Cover B: Matt Bors $3.99
Cover C: Tim Seeley $3.99
Cover D: Fred Harper Bagged with Exclusive Trading Card $4.99
You remember him from the classic films, animated series, and action figures—now America’s grossest icon returns to comics! A train hauling chemical waste derails in Tromaville, NJ, transforming bullied teenager Melvin Junko into the massive, mop-wielding Toxic Avenger. Pulitzer finalist Matt Bors (The Nib, JUSTICE WARRIORS) and artist Fred Harper (HIGHBALL) deliver a TOXIE reboot brewed especially for the 21st century!
October 9, 2024
$3.99 except Cover D: $4.99
