A RADIOACTIVE REVEAL – FRANCISCO FRANCAVILLA’S CORROSIVE COVER FOR TOXIC SUMMER #1– ON SALE MAY 1st!
PLUS: A GLANCE INSIDE DEREK CHARM’S TOXIC SUMMER #1!
VARIANT COVER (1:20) by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
PORTLAND, OR (April 3rd, 2024)– Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to reveal another look ahead at TOXIC SUMMER #1, alongside two never-before-seen variant covers for TOXIC SUMMER #1’s 48-page debut from iconic artist and Eisner Award-winner Francisco Francavilla (White Boat, Afterlife with Archie)! Eisner Award-nominated creator Derek Charm’s sandy summer horror is the perfect way to get your feet wet before beach season– both Francisco Francavilla’s contaminated cover and TOXIC SUMMER’s double-sized first issue make their debut May 1st!
Best friends Ben and Leo had the perfect summer planned after high school graduation. As lifeguards in the idyllic beach town of Port Dorian, they were planning for three months of hot guys, late-night bonfires, and no regrets . . . until a toxic spill of unknown properties on the beach transformed their dream summer into a waking nightmare. Now Port Dorian is flooded with panicked tourists, a local researcher is paralyzed while investigating the spill, and a horrifying pack of subhuman monstrosities is snatching beachgoers in the night.
Mix one part Riverdale with one part The Creature from the Black Lagoon and drink it down fast because this bi-monthly horror shocker comes packed with enough acidic sludge, perverted beach maniacs, and ill will to ruin anyone's first summer away from home! The nightmare beach party begins with a double-sized, 48–page blast on May 1st when Derek Charm’s TOXIC SUMMER #1 slithers into comic shops everywhere – featuring covers from Derek Charm (Jughead, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl), W. Scott Forbes (Star Wars: Doctor Aphra), Skylar Patridge (Jill & The Killers), and a special corrosive yellow “Radioactive Waste Fifth Ink” sketch variant!
EARLY PRAISE FOR TOXIC SUMMER #1
“This is absolutely one of my favourite comics of the year! Delightful and full of life, TOXIC SUMMER takes the familiar feeling of summer plans gone awry and adds the perfect amount of horror and fun. Derek Charm is unstoppable as a writer and artist!” – Chip Zdarsky (Batman, Avengers: Twilight)
“Checks all the boxes for a fast-paced, mysterious, and gross summer read! Derek’s art is always fun and delightful. I’m hooked!” – Amy Chu (Camilla: The First Vampire, Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death)
“A slime- and nostalgia-dripping neon nightmare beach party from one of my favorite creators. Buy this radically radioactive comic!” – Daniel Kibblesmith (Black Panther vs. Deadpool, The Darkhold: Blade)
“Derek Charm’s work dazzles with colorful art and instantly loveable leads.Toxic Summer reads like all your favorite Saturday Morning cartoons, but with the queer cast we’ve all been clamoring for and the overall ‘toxic beach mystery’ will keep me coming back!” – Paulina Ganucheau (Zodiac Starforce, Another Castle)
TOXIC SUMMER #1
Written by DEREK CHARM
Art by DEREK CHARM
Cover A by DEREK CHARM
Cover B by W. SCOTT FORBES
Cover C by SKYLAR PATRIDGE
Full Art Variant (1:10) by DEREK CHARM
VARIANT COVER (1:20) by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
B&W VARIANT (1:30) by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
“RADIOACTIVE WASTE FIFTH INK” SKETCH VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
IN STORES MAY 1st, 2024 | $6.99 | 48 pgs. | FC
FOC: 04/08/2024
About the Creator
Derek Charm is an Eisner Award-winning comic artist, illustrator, and character designer for animation. He was the artist on several monthly comic runs, including Jughead and Jughead’s Time Police for Archie Comics, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl for Marvel, and Star Wars Adventures for IDW Publishing/Lucasfilm. Outside of comics he has done illustration and design work for Marc Jacobs, Pepsi, and Warner Bros. Animation.
About Oni Press
Founded in 1997, Oni Press has a 25-year history as one of the industry’s most respected and acclaimed publishers of award-winning comic books and graphic novels with titles including Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim, K. O’Neill’s Tea Dragon Society, Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt's The Sixth Gun, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer, Ezra Clayton Daniels' Upgrade Soul, Brenna Thummler’s Sheets trilogy, and many hundreds more. In 2019, Oni Press merged with Lion Forge Comics – the Eisner Award-winning independent comic book publisher founded by Academy Award-winning producer and entrepreneur David Steward II – to create one of the largest, independent libraries of comics content anywhere in media. The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group now exists as a publishing subsidiary of Steward’s diversified global media company, Polarity.
The Oni-Lion Forge Publishing Group publishes more than 60 original and licensed graphic novels annually, in addition to an extensive list of periodical comics.
VARIANT COVER (1:20) by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
B&W VARIANT (1:30) by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
TOXIC SUMMER INTERIOR ART BY DEREK CHARM
TOXIC SUMMER INTERIOR ART BY DEREK CHARM
TOXIC SUMMER INTERIOR ART BY DEREK CHARM
TOXIC SUMMER INTERIOR ART BY DEREK CHARM