WEBVTT 00:00:13.679 --> 00:00:16.860 >> Good morning Tromaville and welcome to 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:19.320 another thrilling episode of Talkin' Troma. 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:21.420 I'm your host, Zach Bynes. 00:00:23.200 --> 00:00:26.240 Now, throughout history, we've seen some truly iconic team-ups. 00:00:26.620 --> 00:00:27.480 Peanut butter and jelly, 00:00:27.940 --> 00:00:33.480 Ren and Stimpy, Batman and Robin. But one partnership you might not immediately think of, 00:00:34.120 --> 00:00:39.040 yet one that's just as important, is the bond between Troma and comic books. 00:00:40.760 --> 00:00:46.160 Troma co-founder and Toxie's cinematic dad Lloyd Kaufman was close friends with Marvel's legendary 00:00:46.340 --> 00:00:52.019 Stan Lee, the father of Spider-Man himself. So it only made sense that in the 90s Marvel 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:58.300 comics brought Tromaville into the four-color world, publishing 11 issues of The Toxic Avenger 00:00:58.540 --> 00:01:04.280 and 8 issues of Toxic Crusaders. Both titles were cancelled around the same times as the 00:01:04.320 --> 00:01:08.180 Toxic Crusaders as the animated series was not picked up for a second season. 00:01:09.260 --> 00:01:16.019 Fast forward to the 2000s, Troma launched its very own line of comics based on cult favorites like 00:01:16.020 --> 00:01:21.920 The Chosen One, Legend of the Raven, Sucker the Vampire, Terror, Farmer, Tromeo and Juliet, 00:01:22.200 --> 00:01:27.080 and of course, more adventures starring Toxie. Even Spain joined in the fun with 00:01:27.160 --> 00:01:31.080 Fester Comics releasing titles like Sergeant Kabukiman and Mother's Day. 00:01:31.730 --> 00:01:36.600 In 2007, fans were treated to The Toxic Avenger and Other Tromatic Tales, 00:01:37.040 --> 00:01:41.640 a collected anthology featuring Toxie, Poultrygeist, and more Troma madness. 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:48.540 Over the years, Lloyd Kaufman and Toxie themselves have popped up in cameos across the comic book world, 00:01:48.860 --> 00:01:52.840 while indie publishers license properties like Frostbiter and Chillers. 00:01:53.600 --> 00:01:58.940 Most recently, even the new legendary Toxic Avenger film has inspired a brand new graphic novel. 00:01:59.740 --> 00:02:00.540 But here's the thing. 00:02:01.020 --> 00:02:05.280 It's been a while since fans had a regular, ongoing Toxie book to dive into. 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:07.880 That's where Ahoy Comics steps in. 00:02:08.640 --> 00:02:13.620 They've launched a brand new Toxic Avengers series, with the first five issues already 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:17.760 collected into a trade paperback, which is available now at bookstores. 00:02:18.720 --> 00:02:22.140 And if that wasn't enough, they're rolling right into the next story arc. 00:02:22.800 --> 00:02:27.120 Plus, the return of the Toxic Crusaders with a brand new run that starts this week. 00:02:27.480 --> 00:02:32.560 If your local comic book store isn't carrying the Toxic Crusaders, order it and force them. 00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:33.920 Make mine Troma. 00:02:34.920 --> 00:02:37.820 Which brings us to today's special guest, Matt Bors. 00:02:38.320 --> 00:02:43.200 Matt is a Pulitzer Prize finalist, the founder of the comics website, The Nib, 00:02:43.720 --> 00:02:48.060 and an award-winning cartoonist known for his sharp wit and social commentary. 00:02:49.000 --> 00:02:52.740 Now he's turned his talents towards Tromaville, writing the Toxic Avenger 00:02:53.100 --> 00:02:55.220 and Toxic Crusaders for Ahoy Comics. 00:02:56.100 --> 00:03:00.200 So from the hallowed halls of San Diego Comic-Con, we're bringing you our 00:03:00.420 --> 00:03:01.920 exclusive interview with Matt Bors. 00:03:02.700 --> 00:03:05.460 So sit back, enjoy the conversation. 00:03:06.080 --> 00:03:09.460 And as always, stay Tromatized. 00:03:20.180 --> 00:03:26.280 Chris Lanphear for Talkin' Troma here at San Diego Comic-Con 2025 with the 00:03:27.320 --> 00:03:31.520 writer, producer, creator of the new Toxic Avenger and Toxic Crusaders 00:03:31.820 --> 00:03:33.600 comics from Ahoy Comics. 00:03:34.070 --> 00:03:34.280 Mr. 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:35.360 Matt Bors, how are you, sir? 00:03:35.840 --> 00:03:36.460 I'm great, man. 00:03:36.640 --> 00:03:39.180 We just had a fun weekend at Comic-Con, 00:03:39.760 --> 00:03:41.540 multiple panels, signing and everything, 00:03:41.820 --> 00:03:44.440 and this is the last thing I'm doing, 00:03:44.480 --> 00:03:46.460 sitting in the shade with you, having a nice interview. 00:03:46.780 --> 00:03:48.500 It's been a great experience. 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:50.540 It's been a hell of a week. 00:03:51.320 --> 00:03:53.440 I know, obviously, this has been kind of adjacent 00:03:53.980 --> 00:03:56.600 to the Toxic Avenger reimagining 00:03:56.660 --> 00:03:58.160 with Peter Dinklage coming out, 00:03:58.160 --> 00:04:00.140 and we had premieres for that here at Comic-Con. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:03.839 Did this experience this week at Comic-Con 00:04:03.840 --> 00:04:06.220 match the experience you thought you would have? 00:04:06.220 --> 00:04:07.600 Or was it bigger, was it lesser? 00:04:07.800 --> 00:04:09.340 What are your feelings on that? 00:04:10.040 --> 00:04:13.960 Yeah, I mean, first of all, it's like two years ago, 00:04:14.940 --> 00:04:18.260 Toxie as the comic that I'm doing is a Comic-Con story. 00:04:18.780 --> 00:04:22.800 So I approached Lloyd Kaufman two years ago at Comic-Con 00:04:22.880 --> 00:04:24.540 and I introduced myself and I said, 00:04:24.880 --> 00:04:27.340 I have this idea for a Toxic Avenger comic. 00:04:27.460 --> 00:04:29.120 I've loved Toxic Avenger, Toxic Crusaders, 00:04:29.140 --> 00:04:30.180 I wanna bring 'em all back. 00:04:30.840 --> 00:04:31.940 And I didn't know at the time 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:33.120 that there was a movie in the works. 00:04:33.720 --> 00:04:36.780 So I feel like I lucked out in getting, 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:38.160 being able to do this. 00:04:38.280 --> 00:04:39.720 And then now here we are two years later, 00:04:39.790 --> 00:04:41.480 we have a number one issues out, 00:04:41.580 --> 00:04:43.200 they're premiering all the Toxie stuff. 00:04:43.880 --> 00:04:44.280 It's crazy. 00:04:44.460 --> 00:04:46.020 So I mean, you know, to answer your question, 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:48.340 it's like, you know, this is, 00:04:48.940 --> 00:04:50.200 it's a dream to get to do this 00:04:50.300 --> 00:04:51.800 and to imagine myself, you know, 00:04:51.840 --> 00:04:53.660 a couple of years after just walking up to him cold, 00:04:53.820 --> 00:04:55.380 really, to Lloyd and asking him, 00:04:56.380 --> 00:04:59.580 you think, is there any shot that we can make this work? 00:04:59.850 --> 00:05:03.260 To now we're signing comics and there's, you know, 00:05:03.320 --> 00:05:04.380 the movie coming out and everything, 00:05:04.450 --> 00:05:06.320 I mean, it's fabulous, I love it. 00:05:06.840 --> 00:05:08.880 Yeah, what sort of feedback have you gotten 00:05:09.080 --> 00:05:10.940 from people who are coming up for the signings 00:05:10.960 --> 00:05:12.700 and the response to the panels? 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:15.500 Like, what's your take on the sort of feedback 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:16.900 you've received on the book so far? 00:05:17.940 --> 00:05:19.960 Well, people are loving the comic, which is great, 00:05:19.990 --> 00:05:21.960 'cause I was, you know, when you do something like this, 00:05:22.020 --> 00:05:23.460 you're always a little worried about it. 00:05:23.600 --> 00:05:26.460 I'm trying to do something new with it 00:05:26.640 --> 00:05:29.600 while remaining true to the roots of it, 00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:32.320 and similar to what the movie seems like it's doing. 00:05:32.400 --> 00:05:36.920 I haven't seen the movie yet, but it seems like it's a new Toxie and so is my comic, 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:40.220 but it's true to the basic premises of the franchise. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:47.300 So you're always worried about how fans might receive that, but everybody seems to be digging 00:05:47.400 --> 00:05:53.480 it and it just seems in general that Toxic Avenger was really dormant for a while. 00:05:53.660 --> 00:05:57.740 A lot of people watched it, it was a cult hit obviously, but there wasn't anything new 00:05:57.740 --> 00:06:03.060 coming out for a long time and now we're at it's like it's it's Toxie summer man I mean. 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:10.180 It really is the summer of Toxie. I have been you know with Troma for two decades plus now 00:06:10.320 --> 00:06:14.100 and I've never seen a response like this to anything we've done or been involved with 00:06:14.640 --> 00:06:19.860 so it's just been an absolutely crazy summer and it's just getting started I mean the movie comes 00:06:19.940 --> 00:06:24.160 out in a month and a half and there's already all this buzz around it and there's buzz around the 00:06:24.060 --> 00:06:30.400 books, like to switch gears just a little bit. Were you influenced at all by the original Marvel 00:06:30.740 --> 00:06:32.860 comic series that came out in 1991 and 92? 00:06:33.740 --> 00:06:36.380 Honestly, no. I hadn't read those until I 00:06:37.640 --> 00:06:41.280 got the green light to write the comic. I went back and read what those were. But I am influenced 00:06:41.400 --> 00:06:48.060 by the Toxic Crusaders cartoon because I kind of watched that and the movies around the same time 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:53.499 I was a little kid, you know. I was born in 1983 and the cartoon came out in 91. So I definitely 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:58.660 saw the cartoon in real time and I feel like I don't actually remember watching 00:06:58.760 --> 00:07:01.980 the Toxic Avenger for the first time. I get it's like the constant question I'm 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:05.020 asked in like interviews about the comics like what's your when did you see 00:07:05.100 --> 00:07:08.040 it and I'm like I think I was so young I don't remember actually seeing it for 00:07:08.080 --> 00:07:12.220 the first time. But so the point is is that what I view what I'm doing is this 00:07:12.280 --> 00:07:17.460 sort of like amalgamation of mashing together movie stuff and the Toxic 00:07:17.540 --> 00:07:21.440 Crusaders stuff doing the smogulent plotline and having the mutants like 00:07:21.380 --> 00:07:27.260 major disaster and junkyard in there but making it all sort of rated R and gross 00:07:27.480 --> 00:07:31.380 and cool and also like kind of dealing with socio-political stuff pollution 00:07:31.840 --> 00:07:40.020 majorly and but but no I didn't read the comics although I will say that I Sam 00:07:40.140 --> 00:07:44.840 Kieth did covers for Toxic Crusaders he's like a great artist who did the 00:07:44.900 --> 00:07:50.120 backs and other stuff so it's cool to see his his artwork on that yeah he did 00:07:50.020 --> 00:07:53.980 You did Toxie number one, or Toxic Crusaders number one 00:07:54.040 --> 00:07:55.860 with the whole crew and Toxie in the front 00:07:55.860 --> 00:07:57.640 and that's iconic artwork. 00:07:58.100 --> 00:08:01.460 But the artwork that you have in your books as well 00:08:01.580 --> 00:08:03.140 from artists like Fred Harper and you have 00:08:03.540 --> 00:08:05.380 like some kind of other guest artists coming in, 00:08:05.920 --> 00:08:09.720 they all have slightly different takes on the material 00:08:10.220 --> 00:08:11.940 but it all sort of seems to fit together. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:15.880 Can you talk a little bit about the selection process 00:08:15.880 --> 00:08:17.180 that you've kind of gone through 00:08:17.240 --> 00:08:18.980 with finding different artists to work on these? 00:08:19.340 --> 00:08:21.700 Yeah, so the main artist we got is Fred Harper, you mentioned. 00:08:21.860 --> 00:08:23.040 He's really great. 00:08:23.140 --> 00:08:24.640 He's got this kind of like- 00:08:24.840 --> 00:08:28.820 it's like Simon Bisley, Richard Corbin influences. 00:08:29.940 --> 00:08:32.000 He's really good at anatomy and expressions, 00:08:32.210 --> 00:08:35.659 which makes him really good for contorting those anatomy 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:37.099 and expressions and everything. 00:08:37.340 --> 00:08:42.039 So he's kind of drawn Toxie really muscular, 00:08:42.680 --> 00:08:44.500 and it gives him a little bit of a crooked face. 00:08:44.890 --> 00:08:46.100 I like his style a lot. 00:08:46.140 --> 00:08:48.560 And he did the first five issues, 00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:51.160 And he also did the new issue number one 00:08:51.220 --> 00:08:52.860 that's like a horror focused issue 00:08:52.940 --> 00:08:54.900 that's like really goes in on horror. 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:56.380 It's not as humorous as the other ones. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:58.180 And I think that's his best one. 00:08:58.180 --> 00:08:59.740 Like he just does horror really good. 00:08:59.920 --> 00:09:03.700 A lot of dark inks, good lighting, creepy shit. 00:09:04.160 --> 00:09:07.160 And then you mentioned we got a bunch of other guests artists 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:09.540 Felipe Sobrero, Erica Henderson, 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:12.440 who did the "Unbeatable Squirrel Girl." 00:09:13.400 --> 00:09:14.480 Very popular artists. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:15.840 We're lucky to have her. 00:09:16.040 --> 00:09:20.200 and Grim Wilkins who is like an indie artist with image. 00:09:22.380 --> 00:09:24.520 What I found in asking people to do stuff, 00:09:24.540 --> 00:09:25.820 there's either artists who, you know, 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:29.080 some people have no interest in Toxic Avenger whatsoever, 00:09:29.280 --> 00:09:30.180 just like if you asked them, 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:32.220 "Hey, do you want to do a My Little Pony comic?" 00:09:32.220 --> 00:09:32.840 And they're like, "I don't know." 00:09:32.840 --> 00:09:34.720 But then you meet people and they're just like, "Oh yeah." 00:09:34.760 --> 00:09:36.880 I mean, a lot of artists are more into Toxic 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:39.220 than My Little Pony, but some people 00:09:39.920 --> 00:09:41.780 who you maybe normally wouldn't be able to get 00:09:41.860 --> 00:09:44.340 on a licensed comic want to do it 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:46.020 because they really like Toxic Avenger 00:09:46.020 --> 00:09:47.920 and they're like, "Oh, this is cool as hell." 00:09:47.920 --> 00:09:48.040 So. 00:09:49.020 --> 00:09:51.120 Yeah, and it kind of fits with the outsider vibe 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:53.460 that Troma and Toxie have always been sort of known for. 00:09:53.560 --> 00:09:56.040 Like, he's a superhero, but he's a little bit too gross, 00:09:56.120 --> 00:09:57.380 he's a little bit too extreme 00:09:57.560 --> 00:09:59.600 for some of the more mainstream stuff 00:09:59.700 --> 00:10:01.440 that Marvel and DC have been doing. 00:10:01.520 --> 00:10:05.520 And that's also part of its charm, which I love. 00:10:05.580 --> 00:10:09.280 And the stories that you're telling in these books, 00:10:10.520 --> 00:10:12.880 it feels like, especially with "Toxic Crusaders" 00:10:13.140 --> 00:10:16.860 now coming out as a book that you could easily 00:10:17.000 --> 00:10:18.960 just kind of play it safe and just sort of like 00:10:19.060 --> 00:10:21.760 take stuff from the cartoon and expand on it a little bit. 00:10:21.880 --> 00:10:24.020 But what I love from what I've seen so far 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:25.460 is that the stories go further. 00:10:26.220 --> 00:10:27.980 We were talking before we started about 00:10:28.840 --> 00:10:30.100 the character of Blobby, 00:10:30.200 --> 00:10:31.780 and we're not gonna spoil it on this show, 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:34.340 but you're talking about an arc for that character 00:10:34.660 --> 00:10:36.520 that has never happened before. 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:39.420 He's never had an arc, you know, in the cartoon. 00:10:39.540 --> 00:10:41.160 He's just a mop that comes to life. 00:10:41.660 --> 00:10:44.080 but the fact that you're taking these things 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:45.260 in so many different directions 00:10:45.440 --> 00:10:46.480 that I feel like the cartoon 00:10:46.660 --> 00:10:47.860 would have eventually gotten there 00:10:47.940 --> 00:10:49.740 had it been as successful 00:10:49.940 --> 00:10:51.680 as we had wanted it to be back in the day. 00:10:52.300 --> 00:10:53.320 But it's just really, really cool 00:10:53.400 --> 00:10:54.840 to see the expansion of the world. 00:10:55.060 --> 00:10:58.860 So I guess the question I'm getting to is, 00:10:59.760 --> 00:11:02.360 what's your thought process in terms of coming up 00:11:04.179 --> 00:11:07.040 with stories and situations to put these characters in? 00:11:07.140 --> 00:11:10.839 Do you feel like you need to stay closer to the comics 00:11:10.840 --> 00:11:15.640 Or do you feel like an overwhelming desire to kind of like see where that can stretch? 00:11:16.360 --> 00:11:23.420 Well, you know with a lot of licensed comics there there they are playing it straight and that's that's is what people want sometimes 00:11:23.560 --> 00:11:26.540 So first of all, we're in this wave of nostalgia right now 00:11:26.560 --> 00:11:30.580 I mean they got comics coming out the Cowboys of Moo Mesa if you ever heard of that 00:11:30.720 --> 00:11:37.480 I mean, it feels like we've you know, maybe we got the California Raisins coming back or something. I don't know there we couldn't do 00:11:38.540 --> 00:11:43.980 everything's coming back but when you see some of these comics or movies or 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:51.060 reboots they're extremely on model they look like the style of like the 90s 00:11:51.160 --> 00:11:55.020 cartoon or the 80s cartoon or whatever and maybe some people would want that 00:11:55.040 --> 00:11:58.720 with Toxic Crusaders but we wanted to push it we wanted to get it like indie 00:11:58.800 --> 00:12:03.900 art vibes to it make it like I said earlier like more we wanted to make it 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:06.200 R-rated, super violent, like the movies. 00:12:07.520 --> 00:12:08.640 We have this artist on it. 00:12:08.740 --> 00:12:10.660 It's his debut, it's not his debut book 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:13.060 because he's done his own indie comics, Tristan Wright, 00:12:13.540 --> 00:12:16.200 but it's his debut mainstream book and monthly book. 00:12:16.540 --> 00:12:18.700 And this dude is off the charts good, man. 00:12:18.900 --> 00:12:20.840 People are gonna love this book when they see it. 00:12:21.300 --> 00:12:24.300 So we do, I wanted to push, you know, 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:26.940 little like new versions of the characters. 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:29.280 So for instance, we have a new origin, 00:12:29.540 --> 00:12:30.800 which is like this toxic, 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:36.080 train derailment filled toxic waste crashes in Tromaville and that's what 00:12:36.280 --> 00:12:41.340 mutates everybody. So Nozone in the Crusaders is a pilot and in our 00:12:41.580 --> 00:12:46.260 Crusaders he was actually one of the workers on the train. The other worker is 00:12:46.280 --> 00:12:52.140 mutated too and he goes to work for the guy we call Mr. K who is Dr. Kilimoff. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.120 And I guess I would say the main thing I'm trying to do in pushing things to in 00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:02.760 in a new direction is taking this original idea of the smogulans and pushing it through 00:13:03.160 --> 00:13:04.560 to the end, like the end point. 00:13:04.940 --> 00:13:07.740 If I get to do all the comics I want to do, you'll see what that is. 00:13:10.920 --> 00:13:16.340 Initially, it spoils the first volume, the first five issues we did, because that's sort 00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:19.460 of the reveal at the end, is that there's this big smogulan plot. 00:13:19.940 --> 00:13:23.920 Which is out now in trade paperback form, available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, all your 00:13:23.980 --> 00:13:24.900 favorite booksellers, yeah? 00:13:25.520 --> 00:13:28.740 And but as we get going, you know, there's so there's Mr. K. 00:13:29.300 --> 00:13:30.780 And there's also Mrs. C. 00:13:30.840 --> 00:13:31.700 And Mr. P. 00:13:31.700 --> 00:13:34.480 And they all have these like initial names and they all work in different, 00:13:34.880 --> 00:13:37.240 different sort of realms of the of the world. 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:39.040 Right. So Mr. K. 00:13:39.480 --> 00:13:41.840 Is actively trying to pollute everything. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:43.980 And there's somebody inside government. 00:13:44.260 --> 00:13:46.020 There's somebody inside Wall Street. 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:53.919 There's somebody trying to manipulate influencers to to prepare the human race 00:13:53.920 --> 00:13:56.980 for the eventual Smogulan invasion, 00:13:57.320 --> 00:14:00.860 which we'll see on the page eventually. 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:02.680 Yeah, you're sort of, 00:14:03.400 --> 00:14:05.040 the Smogulans were always very interesting 00:14:05.240 --> 00:14:07.640 because I feel like the original TV series 00:14:08.140 --> 00:14:09.240 really only scratched the surface 00:14:09.340 --> 00:14:11.340 of what the Smogulans were up to, 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:13.460 and that really only got teased 00:14:13.560 --> 00:14:15.200 towards the last few episodes of the show. 00:14:15.680 --> 00:14:18.320 But now in the book, you have the opportunity 00:14:18.560 --> 00:14:21.020 to sort of expand that and figure out, 00:14:21.040 --> 00:14:22.060 like, who are the Smogulans? 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:22.900 Where do they come from? 00:14:23.000 --> 00:14:23.920 What is it that they want? 00:14:23.980 --> 00:14:25.520 Like what is their overarching plan? 00:14:25.580 --> 00:14:27.340 And it kind of seems like, you know, 00:14:27.420 --> 00:14:30.340 the Crusaders are coming to their own sort of 00:14:30.520 --> 00:14:32.860 Infinity War moment with the Smogulan invasion. 00:14:33.280 --> 00:14:34.360 No, exactly. 00:14:34.580 --> 00:14:38.120 There's, so in Crusaders, what you'll see, you know, 00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:40.120 that's a little different from the cartoon is just, 00:14:40.220 --> 00:14:41.400 you know, it's Saturday morning cartoon. 00:14:41.560 --> 00:14:44.740 It was, nobody sort of died. 00:14:46.020 --> 00:14:48.120 There's sort of a status, episodic status quo. 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:50.600 Each issue is, or each episode is sort of like 00:14:50.740 --> 00:14:51.860 a new Smogulan plot. 00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:54.620 So we're going to take that and kind of push it further. 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:58.680 And the Crusaders are sort of- 00:14:58.680 --> 00:15:01.760 do some, I would say, fairly radical stuff 00:15:03.160 --> 00:15:04.740 to try to thwart this threat. 00:15:06.360 --> 00:15:09.400 I mean, what would you do if aliens were literally trying 00:15:09.400 --> 00:15:10.160 to take over the planet? 00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:12.700 I mean, you would probably kill them. 00:15:13.320 --> 00:15:14.700 So they try to- 00:15:14.800 --> 00:15:15.740 that's the basic premise. 00:15:15.860 --> 00:15:16.700 They set out to kill them. 00:15:16.780 --> 00:15:17.940 But things get complicated. 00:15:18.720 --> 00:15:21.799 And also, really, the thing I'm exploring in both books 00:15:21.800 --> 00:15:28.180 that the reaction in the world to this fact is complicated. It's not believed by everybody, 00:15:28.520 --> 00:15:34.460 first of all. It is believed by some people and they don't care or they love it and they 00:15:34.760 --> 00:15:39.280 worship the bugs. So I'm trying to explore that like the craziness of society which is like you 00:15:39.280 --> 00:15:43.640 know reflective of some things going on right now which is that everything isn't just straightforward 00:15:43.820 --> 00:15:49.399 oh there's bad guys and Toxie's a hero you know he tries to do the right thing but then maybe 00:15:49.400 --> 00:15:52.940 People are like, "No, man. I fucking want to be a bug slave." 00:15:52.940 --> 00:15:55.160 So that's the type of... we're trying to get into... 00:15:55.180 --> 00:15:58.240 Not everybody wants the hero, right? People kind of choose a side. 00:15:58.920 --> 00:16:02.060 You know, there are a lot of things going on right now that kind of fit in that category. 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:07.060 I like exploring the weird fallout from this stuff. 00:16:07.140 --> 00:16:11.200 You know, so there's the toxic train spill is what we dealt with in the first five issues. 00:16:11.800 --> 00:16:15.239 And then really the first five issues of the new series are... 00:16:15.240 --> 00:16:20.600 There are five separate issues that tell different stories in different genres and sort of deals 00:16:20.700 --> 00:16:24.500 with the fallout of like what would happen if this town was abandoned and there's a big 00:16:24.580 --> 00:16:25.500 pool of toxic waste. 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:31.720 So we have, you know, like a serial killer in the first issue essentially who's like 00:16:32.020 --> 00:16:34.940 captures people and uses the toxic waste to mutate them. 00:16:35.540 --> 00:16:41.520 And then in the second issue, which is the origin story of a new mutant who will be on 00:16:41.320 --> 00:16:48.880 the Toxic Crusaders named Fun Girl who is a fungus based mutant girl and she is 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:53.200 the only member of the Crusaders who's willfully mutated herself. So that's 00:16:53.260 --> 00:16:57.520 another thing I thought well what if you saw these people with these seemingly 00:16:57.640 --> 00:17:01.360 cool mutant powers I mean hey so she jumps in a barrel of toxic waste with 00:17:01.400 --> 00:17:06.339 her mushroom collection she's kind of a weirdo and becomes Fun Girl and she's 00:17:06.339 --> 00:17:10.160 got you know she can do anything right she got edible she's got a bunch of 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.000 different kind of mushrooms colonized in her body. 00:17:14.199 --> 00:17:16.780 So she has, she can produce edible mushrooms, 00:17:17.160 --> 00:17:19.420 medicinal mushrooms, poison mushrooms, 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:21.180 and of course, hallucinogenic mushrooms. 00:17:22.959 --> 00:17:24.900 So like, you know, we're just, I'm just coming up with, 00:17:25.020 --> 00:17:26.640 like, what would happen if this happened, right? 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:29.660 You'd have weird crime cults, bug worshipers, 00:17:30.120 --> 00:17:32.880 serial killing maniacs, people who wanna be mutants, 00:17:33.100 --> 00:17:34.660 people who wanna kill all the mutants. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:41.980 This show, as well as all of the programming on Loudspeaker, 00:17:42.280 --> 00:17:43.340 is listener supported. 00:17:44.200 --> 00:17:46.140 What that means to you is that rather than go 00:17:46.140 --> 00:17:48.120 to corporate sponsors and advertisers 00:17:48.180 --> 00:17:50.180 who are trying to sell you crap you don't need, 00:17:50.460 --> 00:17:51.700 we go straight to you. 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:53.180 We go to the audience, 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:55.360 and our audience helps us do what we do. 00:17:56.260 --> 00:17:57.800 The way you do that is by making 00:17:57.880 --> 00:18:00.640 a tax-deductible contribution to Loudspeaker. 00:18:01.580 --> 00:18:03.840 Go to loudspeaker.org and click on the support button. 00:18:04.500 --> 00:18:06.140 You can give one time or every month. 00:18:06.420 --> 00:18:07.560 It's entirely up to you, 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:09.880 and we thank you so much for your support. 00:18:10.700 --> 00:18:12.840 Every single dollar helps us keep the lights on 00:18:13.260 --> 00:18:14.720 and tell more interesting stories 00:18:14.800 --> 00:18:16.040 like the one you're hearing right now. 00:18:17.120 --> 00:18:18.120 Thanks again for listening. 00:18:18.680 --> 00:18:19.840 Now let's get back to the show. 00:18:25.620 --> 00:18:26.780 That's so much fun too. 00:18:26.940 --> 00:18:28.980 Like you were mentioning earlier 00:18:29.260 --> 00:18:31.960 with a lot of like licensed entertainment properties, 00:18:32.580 --> 00:18:35.960 you're given kind of a relatively small sandbox to play in. 00:18:36.320 --> 00:18:39.900 But the nice thing about something like Toxie in his world 00:18:40.100 --> 00:18:42.540 is it's basically whatever you can come up with 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:44.460 we're kind of game for. 00:18:45.460 --> 00:18:47.640 Can you talk about, going back a little bit, 00:18:48.120 --> 00:18:51.620 when you first came up to Lloyd and suggested the book, 00:18:51.620 --> 00:18:53.620 what has it been like working with him 00:18:53.660 --> 00:18:55.140 and developing this story? 00:18:56.010 --> 00:18:57.120 I mean, it's been great, honestly. 00:18:57.180 --> 00:18:59.120 Everybody at Tremont's been great. 00:18:59.420 --> 00:19:01.460 They are super supportive. 00:19:01.940 --> 00:19:04.120 So I went up to Lloyd and introduced myself. 00:19:04.490 --> 00:19:05.660 I said I had this idea. 00:19:05.800 --> 00:19:07.820 I didn't pitch on the entire idea then and there, 00:19:08.300 --> 00:19:11.060 but it was more like, that sounds cool. 00:19:11.380 --> 00:19:13.300 Like, why don't you email me and all this? 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:16.440 And you know, things like that at Comic-Con 00:19:17.080 --> 00:19:19.820 are happening all the time and sometimes follow-ups, 00:19:19.960 --> 00:19:21.060 nothing ever happens. 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:23.820 But you know, I put a big pitch together, 00:19:24.370 --> 00:19:26.760 kind of showing the steps of what I wanted to do, 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:28.260 including, I mean, back then, 00:19:28.350 --> 00:19:30.120 it had stuff that we're doing now. 00:19:30.300 --> 00:19:31.520 Like I had years planned out. 00:19:31.520 --> 00:19:35.780 I mean, I did admittedly have an ambitious approach 00:19:35.780 --> 00:19:37.580 I was like, I don't just want to do five issues. 00:19:37.860 --> 00:19:38.860 I want to do a whole run. 00:19:39.140 --> 00:19:40.480 We blow it out into two books. 00:19:41.140 --> 00:19:44.860 After The Origin, it goes to Crusaders and Toxic Avengers simultaneously. 00:19:45.580 --> 00:19:47.600 We have all these new characters, these new villains. 00:19:48.200 --> 00:19:49.920 I mean, they loved it, I think. 00:19:51.320 --> 00:19:58.220 I think, hey man, I don't know exactly what they're doing in the new movie, but I would 00:19:58.280 --> 00:20:00.300 love if they followed it up with Toxic Crusaders. 00:20:02.140 --> 00:20:04.780 They can pick some ideas from my books, 00:20:04.900 --> 00:20:06.380 you know, if it works or whatever. 00:20:06.540 --> 00:20:08.760 But yeah, no, I would love to see all of the characters 00:20:08.840 --> 00:20:09.720 on the big screen. 00:20:10.060 --> 00:20:10.880 Yeah, you and me both. 00:20:10.920 --> 00:20:13.100 I mean, for those of us, 00:20:13.620 --> 00:20:15.040 for those who've been around long enough, 00:20:15.100 --> 00:20:17.300 originally, part of the original plan 00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:20.680 and rollout for "Toxic Crusaders" was a live action film 00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:25.640 that New Line Cinema picked up and was going to produce. 00:20:25.740 --> 00:20:27.380 And, you know, they committed, you know, 00:20:27.400 --> 00:20:28.660 such and such million budget, 00:20:28.820 --> 00:20:30.400 and it's gonna be out by the spring of '93. 00:20:30.760 --> 00:20:33.400 Well, when the show collapsed and was canceled, 00:20:33.940 --> 00:20:35.280 then the comic books went away, 00:20:35.840 --> 00:20:37.680 and New Line basically said, 00:20:37.730 --> 00:20:39.540 "Oh, sorry, our fingers were crossed, 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:42.580 "and we're not gonna make this movie." 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.360 Troma actually took New Line Cinema to court, 00:20:45.360 --> 00:20:47.640 and this was before New Line was purchased by Time Warner. 00:20:49.279 --> 00:20:53.320 And I never was able to get the figure out of Lloyd, 00:20:53.620 --> 00:20:57.140 but we made New Line Cinema say uncle. 00:20:57.500 --> 00:20:59.060 So the fact that-- - Uncle Lloyd. 00:20:59.440 --> 00:21:00.420 Yeah, right, right? 00:21:01.120 --> 00:21:02.520 The fact that we're sitting here, you know, 00:21:02.600 --> 00:21:04.060 20 some odd years later, 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.540