With an exuberantly kinetic art style, solid characterization, and a plot line reminiscent of 1950’s Beach Movies / Creature Features with a delightfully queer update, “Toxic Summer” is a powerhouse of a comic that oozes quality from every panel.

A jaunty and altogether pleasant comic, the kind of thing that makes you think “Is this a series? I really hope this is a series, this should definitely be a whole series” because it’s just that good.

Two best friends’ plans for a fun-filled summer go awry when a toxic spill fills their days with shoveling dead fish and battling mutant merpeople instead of partying on the beach and kissing boys.

The rapport between Leo and AJ, our dual protagonists, is compelling and fun. It’s the emotional core of the story. They annoy each other to no end, they know each other better than anyone and use that knowledge for evil, they’re best friends, in short. It’s so refreshing and neat to read a story like this about two gay friends. Usually readers would be fortunate to get even a single gay sidekick character. The plot is well paced and has big “You Meddling Kids” vibes with a couple of appropriately meta twists. Wit and humor help the narrative along but are used sparingly enough to avoid saturation.

The art style is phenomenal and I really can’t say enough positive things about it. The shading and color choices are tinged with emotion and really propel the story along in the best possible way. I especially liked the way the night scenes were rendered. The character design is top notch throughout. Our main characters look compelling and distinctive but so do the townspeople. Aunt Judy is an icon and I want to be her when I grow up, obviously. The mutants themselves are also visually amazing, squamous and vaguely menacing with a mysterious, shadowy cast.

Overall this was such a joy to read that I really can’t think of anything that would improve it. I really hope to see more of these characters and will also look into other projects the artist and author have worked on based on the strength of this comic alone.

My attempts at seasonal reading take an early stumble – but Netgalley comics files don't last long enough to hold this until summer, and besides, it has basically eaten all the other seasons now anyway. Derek Charm managed the almost impossible task of following Erica Henderson on Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and his nominative determinism art was a perfect fit for Zdarsky's Jughead, so I was keen to see what he could do solo (everything but the lettering on Toxic Summer is him), and the results are mostly good. Ben and Leo have gone to Port Dorian, wide-eyed with visions of "unsupervised perverted beach maniacs", and they've got summer jobs as lifeguards lined up to get them right to the heart of the hunk action. Except when they get there, the beach is closed by a toxic spill, and instead they're clearing up malodorous corpses of marine life. Now, that's a classic comedy in the British mode, hope followed by disillusionment – but this is America, so instead we get problem followed by resolution, helped by the fact that this is not regular toxic waste but the comics sort, more zombies and monsters than lingering environmental consequences. Which, gods know I don't like to play the finger-wagger, but I did struggle with this a little when my own last attempt at a beach holiday was kyboshed by a sea full of sewage. Even so, I can't deny there's some solid comedy-horror skills on display here, the dialogue sparks, and the colours in particular are just the right sort of 1990s lurid.