TOXX #1, from Blood Moon Comics on 7/19/23, is a post-apocalyptic story ripped from the headlines about a pregnant woman and her friends fighting for survival in a world poisoned by an ecological disaster.
The Details
- Written by: Evan Carothers, Eric Palicki
- Art by: Ben Worrell
- Colors by: Marta Gasperoni
- Letters by: Evan Carothers
- Cover art by: Brian Demarest (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Mature
- Cover price: $4.99
- Release date: July 19, 2023
Is It Good?
In a post-COVID-19 world, we’ve received more than our fair share of comics that use the idea of viruses and vaccines as the source of inspiration to tell a tale of woe. In fact, we’ve received so many that they’re starting to blend together. However, TOXX #1 is one of the more memorable attempts by using the idea of an extinction-level disaster and pushing it to the brink in a Mad Max-styled action-drama.
Evan Carothers and Eric Palicki’s post-apocalyptic nightmare centers on Claire, a scavenger who runs afoul of her colony’s sociopathic leader when she’s discovered to be the first pregnant woman in decades. Sensing her pregnancy could e used by the colony’s leader, Isaac, as a bargaining chip for power, Claire and her friends escape to the surface, but Isaac isn’t giving up so easily.
What’s great about this issue? Carothers and Palicki overtly grab elements of the COVID-19 pandemic for inspiration, but the elements (Toxx is the name of a vaccine, for example) are integrated into a holistically organic story. The elements are familiar, but they’re reframed in a way that makes sense for the setting and situation. Claire and her friends are developed quickly and efficiently to give them depth, motivation, and personality. The loose technical explanation of the ecological disaster lacks explanation, but Palicki and Carothers do such a fine job of building the post-disaster world, their writing makes it easy not to get hung up on the lack of details.
What’s not so great about this issue? How Isaac could use Claire’s baby as leverage is unclear. Isaac solicits help from the Damned Boys, who look like rejects from an 80s punk band video, which undercuts the groundedness of the situation. The explanation about the Toxx vaccine and what it does to people comes off as contrived and poorly explained. Toxx is the only element taken from social discourse about vaccinations that wasn’t revised/integrated enough into the story to make sense.
How’s the art? Ben Worrell’s art is great. In particular, the mutations are intimidating and gross, which is exactly what you want in a story of this type. The fight-or-flight action scenes are tension-filled, and the character designs are memorable. Kudos to Worrell for the excellent visuals.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with a pregnant woman running through the wastelands toward an abandoned general store. Two men are shouting her on as one fires a rival at a mutated bird of prey chasing the woman. She dashes through the store’s front door just as the shooter kills the hideously deformed bird.
We learn in a flashback that a disaster destroyed the atmosphere, causing a flood of solar radiation to bombard every living plant and animal on the planet. Most life died, but some that survived mutated into hideous versions of their former selves, and the surviving humans went underground. The woman, Claire, is one of the humans trained to periodically travel above ground to scavenge for supplies.
Claire, however, does something that hasn’t been done in decades. She gets pregnant when everyone thought the radiation made humans sterile. Now, Claire is on the run with her friends, Brody and Hux, to escape the sociopathic designs of her colony’s leader, Isaac. We conclude the issue with explanations, ultimatums, and bargains.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
(Click this link 👇 to order this comic)
TOXX #1 is one of the more imaginative takes on comics inspired by pandemics, with a post-apocalyptic disaster and the one woman whose unborn child could be humanity’s salvation. The world- and character-building are excellent, the art is solid, and the direction of the story is unpredictable.
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.