Oni Press has released the second glimpse of Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Derek Charm's TOXIC SUMMER #1.

The press release follows:

Media Release -- Oni Press, the multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning publisher of groundbreaking comics and graphic novels since 1997, is proud to reveal the first look inside TOXIC SUMMER #1 – a double-sized, all-night radioactive rager from the mutated mind of Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Derek Charm's (Jughead, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl)! This monster-sized, 48-page debut will have you on the edge of your seat and ready to dive deep when TOXIC SUMMER #1 makes its splash in comic shops 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!

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

"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 (Daredevil, Sex Criminals, Jughead)

"Toxic Summer is beautiful to look at, hilarious to read, and brimming with the kind of nostalgic vibes that remind me of my favorite cartoons and comics from growing up!" – Joe Kwaczala, comedian/actor

"Derek's sense of humor and comedic timing are impeccable—sometimes a challenge in a strictly visual medium—and he nails every comedic and dramatic beat." – Jarrett Melendez (Chef's Kiss)

"This book is madcap! I didn't even know books could still be madcap. Beautifully drawn. Great characters. Like if Riverdale was on USA Up All Night." – Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs, Feral, Local Man)

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
IOD: 03/28/2024























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.