The character later spun off into an independent comic book series, multiple TV adaptations, a video game and various merchandise have also been based on the character. IGN's list of the Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time ranked the Tick as No. 57.
History
In 1986, eighteen-year-old cartoonist Ben Edlund created the Tick as a mascot for a newsletter of the Brockton (Massachusetts) store New England Comics, where he was a frequent customer. Edlund expanded this into stories, beginning with the three-page tale "The Tick" in New England Comics Newsletter #14–15 (July–August – September–October 1986), in which the hero escapes from a mental institution.[2] The character became popular and the store financed a black-and-white comic book series, with the first issue released in June, 1988, and subsequently reprinted at least nine times through the next decade, including later editions with additional content. The Tick's sidekick, Arthur, was introduced in The Tick #4 (April 1989).
Spin-offs followed featuring characters such as Paul the Samurai, Man-Eating Cow, and Chainsaw Vigilante. Edlund continued to write and illustrate these projects initially through his years as an undergraduate film student at the Massachusetts College of Art. The Chainsaw Vigilante spin-off, which was never completed, was written and illustrated by Zander Cannon. Other series, such as the second Paul the Samurai series and the Man-Eating Cow series, were written by writer Clay Griffith.
In 1994, the Fox network introduced The Tick as a Saturday-morning cartoon series, which Edlund wrote and co-produced. Lasting three seasons, the animated series provided the Tick's greatest mainstream fame. Townsend Coleman voiced the title character and Micky Dolenz played his sidekick Arthur, in season 1. Rob Paulsen took over the Arthur role during seasons 2 and 3. Due to issues relating to Standards and Practices, Edlund was not allowed to feature the comic series supporting cast characters in the cartoon, as characters such as Chainsaw Vigilante and Paul the Samurai were deemed inappropriate for a children's television show. As such, new supporting cast characters such as Die Fledermaus (a Batman parody), American Maid (a Wonder Woman/Captain America parody), and Sewer Urchin (a parody of Dustin Hoffman's character from Rain Man) were created instead. Edlund did not secure ownership rights to said characters, and they are now owned by the animated studio Saban, who made the series. They are therefore exclusive to the animated series continuity. Reruns on Comedy Central helped make the series a cult hit with adults. The 1997 book The Tick: Mighty Blue Justice! by Greg Hyland (creator of Lethargic Lad) was published as a tie-in with the animated series.
In 2001, Fox introduced a live-action TV series (produced by Columbia TriStar Television), written and executive produced by Edlund. The series starred Patrick Warburton as the Tick and David Burke as Arthur. Due to rights issues, original characters from the Fox cartoon series could not appear in the live action series; forcing Edlund to create similar characters: Nestor Carbonell as Batmanuel (a stand-in for Die Fledermaus) and Liz Vassey as Captain Liberty (a stand-in for American Maid). The series was short-lived, however, and it only lasted nine episodes. A DVD release of the complete series (including several unaired episodes) was released on September 30, 2003.
In June 2005, the Toon Disney network began airing The Tick animated series. The series also occasionally aired on ABC Family as part of the Jetix cartoon block. The following year, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the first season of The Tick animated series on DVD. The second season was released on August 7, 2007; however, both collections were missing an episode for different reasons.
In July 2016, Amazon announced that a new live-action series, starring Peter Serafinowicz and directed by Wally Pfister, would air on Amazon Video.[3] The pilot was picked up as a series, and the first season's 12 episodes were released in two parts—the first six episodes on August 25, 2017, and the second half on February 23, 2018. A 10-episode second season was released on April 5, 2019.
The Tick seems to have no memory of his life before being the Tick, and indeed not much memory of anything; more than likely, this is due to frequent head injuries. Each media adaptation has a different origin of the Tick:
In the original comic series, the Tick is apparently legally insane, having escaped from a mental institution near The City.
In the 1994 animated series, he was assigned to protect The City after passing an official superhero initiation test.
In the 2001 live-action series, the Tick was tricked into moving to (and protecting) The City after irritating the employees of a remote bus station he had sworn to protect. He has no memory of his life before that, although Batmanuel suggests that the Tick may be from space.
In the 2016 live-action series, the Tick has no memory of where he comes from and his past was not explained or uncovered. It is implied he is a projection or guardian of some kind of his sidekick Arthur.
A square-jawed, muscular, bright blue-costumed figure with antennae sticking up from his head, the Tick is a surrealistic parody of superheroes, in the vein of Dave Sim's character Cerebus the Aardvark.[4][5] He is well-intended, friendly, childlike, good-natured, high-spirited, bombastic, frequently obtuse, and prone to quipping odd, dim remarks and "inspirational" speeches filled with bizarre metaphors. The Tick is known for his nonsensical battle cry, "Spoooooon!", which he decided upon one day while eating a bowl of Drama Flakes cereal. Warburton described his perception of the Tick character, as Warburton played him:[6]
His past is a mystery. So everything that he looks at or perceives can be brand new, and he can get really, really excited and intrigued by something that's just a commonality for everybody else, that's humorous. He's like a child; everything's new. So you just bring that attitude to him, a childlike attitude of discovering things.
—Patrick Warburton
Originally, the Tick's costume was meant to be brown, but it was decided that blue looked better in print. In The Tick vs. The Tick, wherein the Tick is confronted by Barry, an unstable pseudo-hero who also calls himself "the Tick", Barry wears a brown costume similar to the Tick's. The Tick is named after an arachnid, much like Spider-Man. The logo of the series also resembles that of the 1994 Spider-Man series. According to the live-action series, the Tick is 6 feet 6inches tall, weighs 230 pounds (6inches and 170 pounds less than his dimensions in the comic), and has blue hair and eyes.
In the comic series, the Tick gets a job at the Weekly World Planet newspaper. He works in the same office as Clark Oppenheimer, who is also a superhero called the Caped Wonder. Oppenheimer has all the typical Superman powers, including X-ray vision ("see-through vision"), super strength, invulnerability, flight, heat-vision ("very hot vision"), and super hearing. Consequently, he looks down on the Tick as a lower form of superhero with limited powers.
Like many superheroes, the Tick has a sidekick, a rather plump former accountant named Arthur. Arthur wears a white moth suit that allows him to fly; however, he is often mistaken for a bunny due to the long ear-like antennae of his costume and the fact that his wings are often folded up. The Tick is impulsive and Arthur serves as a sort of conscience. He also figures out the schemes of villains and formulates plans to stop them. Arthur's "battle cry" is "Not in the face! Not in the face!"
In the Amazon Prime video series, the Tick is fixated on Arthur and even mentions at one point that his thinking is fuzzy when away from Arthur. Despite Arthur's repeated attempts to push the Tick away, the hero won't leave Arthur's side for long. The Tick also frequently talks about Destiny as if she is a literal person, guiding Arthur's path ("Destiny gave him the suit. I just acted in more of a 'delivery man' role"), alluding to the Parcae in Roman mythology. At one point, Arthur starts to believe that the Tick is merely a hallucination, but that thought is quickly dispelled when Arthur's sister, Dot, interacts with "The Blue Guy".
In all of his incarnations, the Tick is surrounded by a cast of equally absurd heroes and villains, many of them parodies of popular comic book characters and character types. Few of the "superheroes" in the Tick mythos have powers that measure up to those of DC Comics or Marvel Comics characters, but their foes are often equally silly and/or weak. The Tick lives in a city simply called "The City". In the animated series, the Tick was assigned to the city after his "Cabinet of Terror" (described by the Tick as the "deadliest engine of destruction 1974 had to offer") exploded, leaving him unharmed, during his city assignment selection trials at the National Super Institute Convention in Reno, Nevada. According to the series' companion book, The Tick: Mighty Blue Justice!, at least one of the judges was amazed by this, awarding the Tick a score of 10 out of 10.
Powers and abilities
The Tick possesses superhuman strength and mass, which makes him capable of inflicting great damage on his surroundings if he is not careful. His full strength is never actually quantified, although he is capable of lifting whole cars with a single hand and comfortably bending steel girders. In the pilot of the 2016 series, The Tick claims to have the strength of "ten, perhaps twenty men—a crowded bus stop of men".
The Tick is also "nigh-invulnerable", which means it is almost impossible to injure him in any serious way (although he is vulnerable to feelings of pain and his antennae are particularly sensitive). Because of this he can survive moments of extreme stress, and has demonstrated this ability on numerous occasions. In one noteworthy instance, in the animated episode "Evil Sits Down for a Moment", he falls 4,000 feet out of the sky, crashing through the concrete road below into a subway tunnel, yet before he reaches a stop he is subsequently hit by an oncoming train: he survives it all without any lasting physical injury (only a brief, albeit severe, concussion). Several powerful supervillains have been able to knock the Tick unconscious in several fights, but he never comes to any lasting harm. He also does not possess a super-powered immune system, as he has been seen sick with the common cold just like a normal person. One of the Tick's few limitations is that harming or removing his antennae will destroy his sense of balance.
Finally, the Tick possesses something referred to as "drama power", or basically a tendency for the Tick's powers to increase as the situation becomes more dramatic. He can also survive in space without a suit, and under water without oxygen for "at least" a long time.
In the 2017 Amazon adaption, he is shown to be able to leap and bound great heights with ease and speed, and he is utterly impervious to bullets.
Reception
The Tick has been well received as a comic book character. Empire magazine ranked him as the 28th-greatest comic book character of all time, stating that the Tick is a lovable lunk, given to overly dramatic declarations on behalf of justice.[7]IGN ranked him as the 57th-greatest comic book hero of all time, saying that if you like your heroes on the bizarre side, you won't find anyone more surreal than the Tick. IGN also stated that whatever his mental state, the Tick's adventures are thoroughly enjoyable on both the printed page and television.[8]Wizard magazine rated him as the 187th-greatest comic book character of all time.[9]
While The Tick comic book series included some extras, such as trading cards, the merchandising of The Tick increased dramatically with the launch of the animated series. Action figures, stickers, pogs, T-shirts, hats, party favors, costumes, and a board game were created. In addition, many fast food restaurant chains, such as Carl's Jr. and Taco Bell offered Tick-related giveaways.
A superhero or superheroine is a stock character who typically possesses superpowers or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero; typically using their powers to help the world become a better place, or dedicating themselves to protecting the public and fighting crime. Superhero fiction is the genre of fiction that is centered on such characters, especially, since the 1930s, in American comic books, as well as in Japanese media.
Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics.
Ben Edlund is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, television producer, and television director. He is best known as the creator of the satirical superhero character the Tick.
The Crimson Avenger is the name of three separate superheroes and supervillains in the DC Comics Universe. The character debuted in 1938 and is notable as the first masked hero in DC Comics.
Doc Strange is a Golden Age comic book superhero who originally appeared in Thrilling Comics #1 in February 1940. The character continued in Thrilling Comics until issue #64. He also appeared in America's Best Comics #1-23 and 27.
Cat-Man and Kitten are a pair of fictional superhero characters created by artists Irwin Hasen (Cat-Man) and Charles M. Quinlan (Kitten) with unknown writers. Cat-Man was first published in 1940 by various Frank Z. Temerson companies. Due to circumstances during World War II, an altered version of Cat-Man was published in Australia and reprinted in the 1950s. AC Comics later revived the characters in the 1980s.
Christopher McCulloch, also known by the pseudonym Jackson Publick, is an American storyboard artist, writer, director, producer, and voice actor. He is known for his work on several Tick properties and for the animated television series The Venture Bros. He and Doc Hammer are the Venture Bros. co-creators, writers, editors, and directors, producing the show through their animation company Astro-Base Go. McCulloch voices over 20 characters in the series, including Hank Venture, The Monarch, and Sergeant Hatred.
Abigail Mathilda "Ma" Hunkel is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Debuting during the Golden Age of Comic Books, she first appeared in her civilian identity in All-American Publications' All-American Comics #3, created by Sheldon Mayer, and became the first character to be known as the Red Tornado in All-American Comics #20. As the Red Tornado, she was one of the first superhero parodies, as well as one of the first female superheroes and the first cross-dressing heroine, debuting months after Madame Fatal, the first cross-dressing male hero.
Mr. Muscles is a fictional comic book superhero created in 1956 by writer Jerry Siegel for Charlton Comics, and drawn by Bill Fraccio for the first of two issues of his namesake comic, and by the team of penciler Charles Nicholas and inker Vince Alascia for the second. A young Dick Giordano provided the premiere issue's cover. Siegel, who co-created Superman, wrote both issues featuring Charlton's own muscleman.
Fatman the Human Flying Saucer is a fictional character, a comic book superhero created by artist C. C. Beck and writer Otto Binder in the 1960s.
Captain Flag is a superhero created by MLJ Comics' writer Joe Blair and artist Lin Streeter. He first appeared in September 1941, in issue #16 of Blue Ribbon Comics. He continued until the last issue, Blue Ribbon Comics #22.
Wendy Harris, Marvin White and Wonder Dog are fictional characters from the 1973 American animated TV series Super Friends, based on the famous superheroes published by DC Comics. The series featured a lineup of DC's most popular characters, including Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, but Hanna-Barbera, the show's producers, wanted to include young sidekick characters that the children in the audience could identify with. This led to the creation of Wendy, Marvin and their hero pet Wonder Dog, who appeared alongside their more famous friends. Because of the success of the Super Friends cartoon, a Super Friends comic book was also created, in which the trio made their first comics appearance.
Superhero fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction examining the adventures, personalities and ethics of costumed crime fighters known as superheroes, who often possess superhuman powers and battle similarly powered criminals known as supervillains. The genre primarily falls between hard fantasy and soft science fiction in the spectrum of scientific realism. It is most commonly associated with American comic books, though it has expanded into other media through adaptations and original works.
Since the 1960s, the Marvel Comics superhero the Hulk has appeared in many types of various media other than the comics, such as animated and live-action TV series, films, books, video games, comic strips, and stage shows.
The Tick is an American animated television series adaptation of the New England Comics satirical superhero the Tick. The series aired for three seasons from 1994 to 1996 on the Fox network's Fox Kids block, which introduced the character to a mainstream audience. The Tick has been syndicated by various networks, further increasing the show's cult following, and has been released on both VHS and DVD. A live-action series aired in 2001, with Amazon launching a second live-action series in 2016.
The Tick is an American sitcom based on the character Tick from the comic book of the same title and starring Patrick Warburton as the title character. It aired on Fox from November 8, 2001 to January 31, 2002 and was produced by Columbia TriStar Television. With a pilot airing on November 8, the series ran nine episodes on broadcast television. It was released on DVD in 2003.
No Heroics is a British superhero-comedy television series, which began on 18 September 2008. The show was ITV2's first original sitcom. It was nominated for Best New British TV Comedy of 2008 at the British Comedy Awards.
The Tick is an American television series created for Amazon Prime Video by Ben Edlund, based on his comic book character of the same name. Its pilot premiered on August 18, 2016. A "half-season", through to the sixth episode, was released on August 25, 2017, and another six episodes were released on February 23, 2018. On January 17, 2018, Amazon ordered a second season of ten episodes, which premiered on April 5, 2019. A month later, Edlund revealed on Twitter that Amazon Video declined to renew the series for a third season. In June 2019, Edlund said that he was unable to find a "new home" for the Tick, ending the series with two seasons.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
