I was searching through some of my magazine boxes over the weekend and I happened across my editions of Toxic Comic.Only 31 editions were published in 1991 before the publisher Apocalypse Ltd. went bankrupt. As a comic it started strong but went downhill faster than a Star Wars prequel trilogy. It was a weekly comic and from what I remember a lot of stories ran for 2 or 3 editions then just finished mid way through, it tried to capture the feel of early 2000AD editions using artists like Mike McMahon,Simon Bisley, Kevin O'Niell and Cam Kennedy. Kennedy illustrated a story called the Bogie Man which was another strip that just seemed to end mid way, the was replaced by another Bogie Man story that had nothing to do with the last.I don't have all 31 editions, I gave up after around issue 20, I started re buying at issue 31 because it had a cool Colin MacNiel cover, then I found out that was the final issue.
The story that did amuse me was the David Leach illustrated The Driver, and I remember my mate Rich Dolan got David to do me a Driver Birthday Card one year.There is another comic called Toxic now that I see in the newsagents but it's aimed more at kids and has nothing to do with this comic.
Issue 31, the final issue of the short lived Toxic comic.
8 comments:
Now this is a comic I simply don't recall, I suppose if it wasn't out for that long it passed me by.
Like I said the comic went crap real fast,if it had been monthly they might have been more time to finish artwork/stories etc...,I think they took too much on to quickly for a weekly comic,plus at the time 99p was pricey compared to 2000AD which was around 45 - 50p back then and far more an established SF comic.
Kevin O' Neil and Pat Mill's Marshall Law was in this mag, loved it for that, if memory serves, a brilliant satire called The Public Eye slaughtered a major character in Law, while in Toxic, O'Neil and Mills are geniuses.
I LOVED Toxic!-Bisley's UnDead cowboy, the Driver,Emond's art on Accident Man-man,that brings back memories. MARSHALL LAW is one of the greatest comic strips of all time-what a film that would make! I'd rather see that than the WATCHMEN.
Just rediscovered your Blog and have spent some time looking over your many posts :) Good stuff!
Toxic was going to be the big new 2000AD of the UK and basically fell on its arse straight away. It had trouble from the beginning in that its main rival was 2000AD a comic that was still listing as a childs comic but Toxic was shelved with the more 'adult' comics. Strangely 2AD seems to be in that category now. You'd think it would have worked. It had the guy who created 2AD, Pat Mills, at the helm and two other well known comics writers involved in Alan Grant and John Wagner. Not to mention the artistic talent!
I did buy all the issues of Toxic but in a house move some years back the box that held them and another magazine called Strip sadly disappeared.
Toxic did feature a lot of good solid artwork and showcased a lot of new talent like Duke Mighten and Martin Emond (who I heard committed suicide a few years back?).
The biggest draw for me was of course Marshal Law but even that seemed to have derailed slightly in the format it was in.
I also heard from some creators including Colin MacNeil that they had a lot of problems being paid for their work and having their artwork returned. All these things don't make a happy place to work.
Its a shame it didn't work out. I do find it strange that you can go into a newsagents today and pick up a copy of Toxic from the shelves but it is a totally different kettle of fish to the magazine of before.
Cheers, Graeme.
I hate that when magazines disappear without trace.They're like socks in a washing mashing, you put a pair in and only one comes out !!!
Hi, I'm the David Leach who co-wrote and drew the Driver and did your birthday card. I'd forgotten about that, but I remember meeting Richard at Marvel UK, where i was an editor and he brought in all his Toxics to sign and then asked me to do the birthday card. I hope you liked it!
Hi David, cheers for posting, used to love the Driver, me and some mates still quote the line, Bless me father, for I am sin !' Cool stuff ! I seen Rich Dolan yesterday over here at my house, he's off to New Zealand in a few months to live and work over at Peter Jackson's studio on a little movie called The Hobbit !!
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