''Toxic!'' was a

British comic A British comic is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips. It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine, and historically as a comic paper. British comics are usually Comics anthology, comics antho ...

that was published weekly from March 28 to October 24, 1991, by

Apocalypse Ltd Apocalypse Ltd was a short-lived publishing company formed out of an alliance of Pat Mills, John Wagner, Alan Grant and Kevin O'Neill. Apocalypse was an offshoot of Neptune Distribution, based in South Wigston, Leicester. Apocalypse was meant t ...

, with a total of 31 issues.

History

''Toxic!'' was the idea of

Pat Mills Patrick Eamon Mills (born 1949) is an English comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since. He has been called "the godfather o ...

, Kevin O'Neill, Mike McMahon,

John Wagner John Wagner (born 1949) is an American-born British comics writer. Alongside Pat Mills, he helped revitalise British comics in the 1970s, and continues to be active in the British comics industry, occasionally also working in American comics. ...

and Alan Grant. The aim was to provide creators an outlet for their work to be published with them retaining the rights and control of their work. This was in contrast to '' 2000 AD'', which Mills had also launched in 1977. ''Toxic!'' was to be the main rival of ''2000 AD'', and would be in ful- colour throughout (as opposed to ''2000 AD'', which was still mainly published in black and white). ''Toxic!'' was published by

, an offshoot of

Neptune Distribution Neptune Distribution was a UK based comic distribution company founded and headquartered in Leicester, which existed from 1985 to 1991. Neptune Comics (as it was named at the outset), began as a small B2C mail order company selling American comi ...

based in South Wigston,

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

. Neptune also owned

Trident Comics Trident Comics was a comic book publishing company based in Leicester, UK, specialising in black and white comics created by new British talent. It was formed in 1989 as an offshoot of the comics distributor/wholesaler Neptune Distribution, a ...

which printed black and white comics by mainly new, unpublished creators. The first issue of ''Toxic!'' was released in March 1991. ''Toxic!'' was initially dominated by Mills (Mills had rejected

's proposal for ''

Button Man ''Button Man'' is a comic strip created for the British comic '' 2000 AD'', written by John Wagner and illustrated by Arthur Ranson. The series is unrelated to the earlier ''Bad City Blue'' featuring Button Men in ''2000 AD'' #468-479. Premise ...

'' based on its supposed similarity to ''

Accident Man ''Accident Man'' is a 2018 action thriller film directed by Jesse V. Johnson, based on characters created by Pat Mills and Tony Skinner. The film stars Scott Adkins, Ray Stevenson, David Paymer, Michael Jai White, and Ashley Greene. The film was ...

''; it later appeared in ''2000 AD''). His ''Marshal Law'' strip was seen as the flagship title and as a character to perhaps rival

Judge Dredd Judge Joseph Dredd is a fictional character created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra. He first appeared in the second issue of ''2000 AD (comics), 2000 AD'' (1977), which is a British weekly anthology Comic book, comic. He is the ...

. Mills also wrote ''Accident Man'' (with

Tony Skinner Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

) and ''Muto-Maniac'' in the first issue, which was rounded out by a short strip by Alan Grant and

Simon Bisley Simon Bisley is a British comic book artist best known for his 1990s work on ''ABC Warriors'', '' Lobo'' and '' Sláine''. Early life Simon Bisley began drawing when he was six years old. He is self-taught, with only a short one-year stay at a ...

. This first issue set the tone of ''Toxic!'' as it upped the levels of violence, bad language and general

anarchic Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...

tone that Mills had felt was lacking in ''2000 AD'' at the time. The second issue saw Wagner and Grant's '' The Bogie Man'' strip start in an adventure called ''The Chinese Syndrome''. The strip did not fit comfortably with the others and ''The Chinese Syndrome'' stopped suddenly with issue nine, and a different story, ''The Manhattan Project'', started with issue eleven. The second issue also saw the launch of the love-it-or-loathe-it strip ''The Driver'' co-written and co-drawn by David Leach and Jeremy Banx, one episode of which resulted in a visit by the local constabulary to the offices of ''Toxic!'' after a complaint from an offended reader about ''Toxic!'' containing obscene material. Issue #15 saw the start of ''The Dinner Ladies From Hell'' written and drawn by David Leach, described as a cross between Dennis Wheatley and Robert Rankin. This was not the only strip which suffered problems, ''Marshal Law'' began to miss issues, and some of the material replacing it proved not to be as popular. Some strips meant to be published by

were even used to provide filler material. This hurt the title, as although it had sold well initially, sales were dropping, and it became clear that there were problems with Apocalypse paying creators. These problems meant many creators such as Mike McMahon saw work published which he had not been paid for. After 31 issues, the comic was canceled and shortly afterward Apocalypse went bankrupt. This meant many involved were never paid and some of those never worked in comics again.

Legacy

''Toxic!'' may have ended up being a failure but it proved a full colour weekly comic could be done. This changed ''2000AD'' as it was forced to change its format to mirror the full colour format of ''Toxic!''. It also gave some creators their first major break into comics, Mike Carey being one of several examples. Several strips did go off to other publishers. Mills took ''Marshal Law'', ''Sex Warrior'' and ''

'' to

Dark Horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

, Wagner and Grant took ''The Bogie Man'' to

Atomeka Press Atomeka Press is a British publisher of comic books set up in 1988 by Dave Elliott and Garry Leach. Atomeka ceased publishing in 1997, was briefly revived from 2002 to 2005 and revived again in 2013. History Atomeka was established as a compan ...

, and several other strips were recycled in ''2000AD''. In September 2002

Egmont UK Egmont may refer to: * Egmont Group, a media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark * Egmond family (often spelled "Egmont"), an influential Dutch family, lords of the town of Egmond ** Lamoral, Count of Egmont (1522–1568), the bes ...

launched a boy's magazine entitled ''

Toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subst ...

'', which has proven to be very popular, but apart from the title, there is no connection with the comic of the nineties. ''Toxic'' does contain some comic strips of the juvenile

toilet humour Toilet humour, or potty or scatological humour (compare scatology), is a type of off-colour humour dealing with defecation, diarrhea, constipation, urination and flatulence, and to a lesser extent vomiting and other bodily functions. It sees subs ...

variety.

Notable stories

* ''

Marshal Law ''Marshal Law'' is an English-language superhero comic book series created by Pat Mills and Kevin O'Neill. ''Marshal Law'' was first published by Epic Comics in 1987. The series is a satire on the superhero genre as well as a deconstruction of ...

'', these were new adventures of Mills and O'Neill's

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

-hunter, previously published by

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements Epic or EPIC may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and medi ...

imprint. This was the most consistently popular story but suffered from missing issues and ending abruptly during a storyline. The story was eventually completed and published by

. * ''

'', an assassin who makes his hits look like accidents, written by Mills and Tony Skinner and drawn initially by

Martin Emond Martin Emond (4 June 1969 in New Zealand – March 2004 in Los Angeles, California, United States), also known under the pseudonyms "Martin Fuckin Emond", "Martyfuck", "Martywood", "Mickey Martin" and "MFE", was a New Zealand cartoon illustra ...

, later by Duke Mighten and John Erasmus. This also ended up at Dark Horse and was optioned to be made into a film in 1997.News article about the ''Accident Man'' film
/ref> A

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

was finally made in 2017. * ''Muto-Maniac'', a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

series about a man who attracts bad luck, by Mills and McMahon. This story was uncompleted. * '' The Bogie Man'', Wagner and Grant's delusional

Glaswegian The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegian ...

would-be

Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film Ins ...

, drawn by Robin Smith and

Cam Kennedy Campbell ("Cam") Kennedy is a Scottish comics artist. He is best known for his work on '' 2000 AD'', especially the flagship titles ''Judge Dredd'' and ''Rogue Trooper''. Biography Following work in commercial art in his hometown of Glasgow, ...

. Both of the stories which ran in ''Toxic!'' were completed at

. ''The Chinese Syndrome'' was also renamed ''Chinatoon'' at Atomeka. A television film version was shown in 1992, starring

Robbie Coltrane Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. He ...

. A third series ran in the ''

Judge Dredd Megazine ''Judge Dredd: The Megazine'' is a monthly British comic magazine, launched in September 1990. It is a sister publication to '' 2000 AD''. Its name is a play on words, formed from "magazine" and Judge Dredd's locale Mega-City One. Content Like ...

''. * ''Makabre'', a religious vigilante of the future, by Alan Grant and

Enrique Alcatena Enrique Alcatena (born 26 February 1957) is an Argentine comic book artist. He is known as Quique Alcatena in his native country and Latin America. Biography A self-taught artist, Alcatena began his career in the 1970s as assistant of Chiche Medr ...

. This story was uncompleted. * ''Sex Warrior'', by Mills, Skinner and Will Simpson, a war in which sexual energy is used as a weapon, satirising the concept that "old people make wars... young people fight them". The story was revamped for a two issue mini series published by Dark Horse. * ''Brats Bizarre'', a team of decadent superheroes, by Mills, Skinner and Duke Mighten. This story was uncompleted. * ''The Driver'': A man known only as The Driver drives a five-mile-long truck full of toxic and industrial waste (including wreckage from the Challenger Shuttle disaster) through the middle of middle America only to fly tip it into Meteor Crater, Arizona, in the process he uses a small town as a brake. It was a strip that was either loved or hated by the readers but which still garnished much kudos. On the back of the Driver, Banx and Leach were commissioned by Marvel US to write and draw ''

Toxic Crusaders ''Toxic Crusaders'' is a 1991 animated series aimed at children, loosely based on '' The Toxic Avenger'' films. It features Toxie, the lead character of the films, leading a group of misfit superheroes who combat pollution. This followed a trend o ...

'' both for the regular title and then for an aborted 4 issue mini series. The Driver himself featured in the following year's comic convention

UKCAC The United Kingdom Comic Art Convention (UKCAC) was a British comic book convention which was held between 1985 and 1998. As a complement to UKCAC, from 1990 to 1995 the organizers put on the Glasgow-based Glasgow Comic Art Convention (GlasCAC), ...

logo. * ''The Dinner Ladies From Hell'' by David Leach. In the vein of The Omen and To the Devil a Daughter crossed with Ripping Yarns. In a nutshell, the wives of the Four Riders of the Apocalypse have six days, six hours and six minutes to corrupt seven children with the deadly sins and only one man and God's cook book stand in their way. * ''Detritus Rex'': Written and drawn by Banx and coloured by Leach, this bizarre and twisted post-ecological-apocalypse tale was uncompleted.

References

Notes

Sources

* {{gcdb series, id= 47489 , title=''Toxic!''

External links

''Toxic!'' article
at ''2000 AD'' fansite 1991 comics debuts Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct British comics Magazines established in 1991 Magazines disestablished in 1991 1991 establishments in the United Kingdom