THE TOXIC AVENGER

Recently, I was walking down the street, any old street, between a nuclear reactor and a landfill, and I started thinking to myself..."man, kids today really need a hero who totally cares about the environment. Not some oversized child like Al Gore...someone cool." Then I realized that there already was someone like that...Captain Planet (and his crew of stereotypes). Then I realized that what would be waaaay more awesome was the opposite of that guy, because let's face it, Captain Planet was as homoerotic as pro wrestling, plus he hung out with little kids all day, and in the end he was a pussy. It's true. He looked like the sexual doodles Screech would draw during class. His parents later found them and said that it "explained a lot."
Then I realized that there is someone so cool that they are able to take all of the bad things about pollution and turn them into an awesome, crime-fighting role model for kids. Did anyone else watch the Toxic Crusaders as a kid, or play the AWESOME Sega Genesis video game? This is where it all came from...



PLOT
"Melvin Ferd (Mark Torgl), is the stereotypical 98-pound weakling (later Toxic Avenger movies changed the character's name to Melvin Junko). He works at Tromaville Health Club, where the customers (particularly Bozo (Gary Schneider), Slug (Robert Pritchard), Wanda (Jennifer Babtist) and Julie (Cindy Manion)) harass him constantly. His tormentors get more and more violent until he is tricked into wearing a pink tutu and kissing a sheep. He is then chased around the health club by laughing witnesses of the event where he eventually jumps out of a second story window. He lands in a drum of toxic waste and is irradiated and deformed by the accident. He suddenly lights on fire and runs down the street in a screaming ball of flames"

He then spends the rest of the movie fighting crime and falling in love. The point is - awesome.

The Toxic Avenger was first released in late 1985, and was virtually ignored upon its first release. The film was followed by two unsuccessful sequels: The Toxic Avenger Part II and The Toxic Avenger Part III: The Last Temptation of Toxie. A third independent film sequel/remake was also released, entitled Citizen Toxie: The Toxic Avenger IV.

Parts II and III were seen as disappointing by many fans, some of whom accused Troma of selling out, due to the films having far less violence and offensive humour when compared to the original film. There was also an animated children's TV series spin-off, Toxic Crusaders, where Toxie was the leader of a team of mutated superheroes who fought against evil alien polluters. The cartoon series was short-lived and it was quickly canceled.

*Good idea - make an animated kids show about movies that were criticized for becoming less violent and offensive. I've never wanted to play in toxic sludge more.

Recently, Lloyd Kaufman (the original director) and Adam Jahnke wrote a novelization entitled The Toxic Avenger: The Novel. It was released on May 10, 2006 and was published by Thunder's Mouth Press. It was also adapted as a musical, on two occasions. The first, Toxic Avenger: The Musical, debuted at Omaha's Blue Barn Theatre in 2004. Later, the movie was adapted as a musical as Toxic Avenger: The Musikill. Kaufman reportedly had nothing to do with the production, although he did verbally support Kortum's adaptation and attended the production on Opening Night.