Toxic Crusaders
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Toxic Crusaders was a cartoon series based on the Toxic Avenger films. It features the lead character of the films leading a trio of misfit superheros who combat pollution. Aimed at children, it is considerably more tame than the edgy films it was based on.
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[edit] Overview
Cartoons had been made from R-rated films before such as the animated Rambo series but the content of the Toxic Avenger films was far more controversial than that of the Rambo films. Created by New Jersey-based Troma, Inc., a company famous for such low-budget classic schlockfests as Chopper Chicks in Zombietown, Class of Nuke 'Em High, and Sgt. Kabukiman, NYPD, the animated Toxic Crusaders departed significantly from its live-action source.
The Toxic Avenger series starred Melvin Junko, a scrawny nerd who, through exposure to toxic waste, transformed into a “hideously deformed” mutant. In the films, “Toxie” took his revenge on industrial America by means of gory violence and bloodbaths. True to Troma’s reputation, other R-rated material abounded as well.
Toxic Crusaders cleaned up Toxie’s act considerably. He was still a grotesque mutant endowed with superhuman powers, but underneath it all, he was a good-hearted, law-abiding citizen. The villains were still polluters, albeit polluters from a different world. Hailing from the planet Smogula, Czar Zosta, Dr. Killemoff, and Psycho wreaked ecological havoc with the help of Tromaville’s corrupt Mayor Grody. Bonehead, a street punk who bullied Toxie when he was human and also transformed by toxic waste, joins them in the first episode. Killemoff and Czar Zosta were actually cockroach-like beings in disguise that thrive on pollution and need it to survive, which explains Killemoff's breathing apparatus and four arms. Psycho was simply an obese biomechanical being that had an uncanny ability to guess the future, which was a key point in the TV show where his guesses would end up as the spoiler to how Killemoff's plans would fail. Bonehead was thrown into a barrel of acid rain in the first episode, resulting in his skeletal appearance. He was mostly brainless and incompetent. Killemoff, like most bad guys, also had a seemingly endless army of identical poor marksmen called Radiation Rangers - hunched-over mutants in yellow hazardous material suits with intimidating gas masks.
Other villains and heroes made their appearances on the show with equally ridiculous origins as the Crusaders, such as Mower Man who took a nap in a garden shed that happened to contain leaking toxic waste, which exploded in the heat of the day and made him into a half-man, half gardening equipment hybrid, or as he preferred: "A hideously deformed creature of superhuman shears and strength". Few if any of these characters made more than one appearance.
[edit] Crusaders
Joining Toxie’s crusade were fellow mutants NoZone: A former pilot who flew through a hole in the Ozone layer and crashed into a silo of radioactive pepper, known for his powerful sneezes; Junkyard, a hobo who took shelter in a kennel with a guard dog in a polluted junkyard, which was covered in toxic waste when lightning struck it and merged them together; Headbanger, a fusion of two opposing personalities into a conjoined body - the mad scientist, fender and the singing telegram boy responsible for the accident, Bender. Finally, Major Disaster, who had the ability to control plants after falling into a radioactive swamp. Toxie’s weapon of choice was a superpowered mop, which had a mind of its own, and he had a furry pink pet called Blobbie. Two of the few “normal” humans on the show was Yvonne, Toxie’s buxom blonde girlfriend (similar to his girlfriend in the movies, but nearsighted rather than blind) and Toxie's mom.
Only thirteen syndicated episodes of Toxic Crusaders were produced, but like the feature films, the episodes became cult favorites, spawning a successful video game and action figure line. With the commercial tag-line "They're gross but they still get girls!"
[edit] Other Media
Marvel Comics released an eight-issue comic book series. It was not terribly successful. Part of the reason may be that it had no regular writer. Each issue was written by a notables such as Steve Gerber (issues #3 and #5), Ann Nocenti (issue #7), David Michelinie (issue #8), Hilary Barta (issue #2), and Simon Furman (issues #1, 4, 6), none of whom had any particular interest in taking it on.
There was also a series of action figures, most featuring glow-in-the-dark accessories, weaponry and environmental tips on the packaging, reinforcing the show's green theme. The figures themselves were more physically disgusting than their cartoon portrayals, with Bonehead's exposed skeleton and Psycho's half-eaten lunch dribbling down him.
