Eisner Award-Winning Cartoonist Derek Charm’s Radioactive Beach Rager –

On Sale May 1st!

PORTLAND OR (April 24th, 2024)– Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to reveal an extended preview of TOXIC SUMMER #1, a jam-packed summer vacation with teeth from the mutated mind of Eisner Award-winning Cartoonist Derek Charm (Jughead, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl)! Told across three specially formatted, bi-monthly issues, this monster-sized, 48-page debut TOXIC SUMMER #1 will make a splash when it dives into comic shops everywhere 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!

"Inspired by classic beach movies, gross out teen horror, MAD magazine, and my own insane friendships, this is a story that has been cooking for some time," said Derek Charm in a statement. "I couldn't ask for a better home for it than Oni Press, or better collaborators than Bess Pallares and Frank Cvetkovic."

Featuring killer covers from Derek Charm (Jughead, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl), W. Scott Forbes (Star Wars: Doctor Aphra), Skylar Patridge (Jill & The Killers), and Eisner Award winner Francesco Francavilla (Afterlife with Archie), and featuring a special corrosive green “Radioactive Waste Fifth Ink” sketch variant, breathe deep because TOXIC SUMMER #1 is seeps into the atmosphere everywhere on May 1st!

EARLY PRAISE FOR TOXIC SUMMER #1

“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)

“It ain't easy to make comics this fun. With breezy humor and effortless confidence, Derek Charm perfectly evokes those hot, lazy days when all you're looking for is love, adventure and cheap drinks. Throw in a creeping mystery and you've got the best comic of this--or any--summer!” – Cliff Chiang (Paper Girls, Catwoman: Lonely City)

“I’ve been a fan of Derek Charm and his unique and dare I say charming aesthetics since before Jughead and Squirrel Girl, and this new book TOXIC SUMMER only adds to that fandom. A day-glo summer romp with huge, gay Scooby Doo energy. The first issue is a ton of fun and I can't wait to read more." – Kyle Starks (Rock Candy Mountain, Sexcastle, 6 Sidekicks of Trigger Keaton)

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