The Tick

The Tick
Cover of The Tick: Comic Con Extravaganza #1
Publication information
Publisher	New England Comics Press
First appearance	New England Comics Newsletter #14 (July/August 1986)
Created by	Ben Edlund
In-story information
Abilities	Superhuman strength and mass "Nigh-invulnerability" "Drama power" Oxygen independence

The Tick is a fictional character created by cartoonist Ben Edlund in 1986 as a newsletter mascot for the New England Comics chain of Boston area comic stores. He is an absurdist spoof of comic book superheroes. After its creation, the character spun off into an independent comic book series in 1988, and gained mainstream popularity through an animated TV series on Fox in 1994. A short-lived live-action TV series, 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 #57.

In 1986, 18-year-old cartoonist Ben Edlund created The Tick as a mascot for a newsletter of the Norwood, Massachusetts store New England Comics where he was a 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. 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 North Carolina 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 would provide 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. The series also featured Die Fledermaus, a shallow, self-absorbed Batman parody; Sewer Urchin, a Rain Man-like version of Aquaman; and American Maid, a more noble superheroine featuring aspects of Wonder Woman and Captain America. 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, David Burke as Arthur, Nestor Carbonell as Batmanuel (a Latino version of Die Fledermaus), and Liz Vassey as Captain Liberty (a shallow and self-absorbed version of American Maid). The series was short-lived, however, and it only lasted nine episodes. Nevertheless, it was well-praised and revered by cast and crew. 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 at midnight (Eastern Time). 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 The Tick series, starring Peter Serafinowicz and directed by Wally Pfister, would air on Amazon Video. The pilot aired on August 19, 2016. The pilot was picked up as a series and is now in development.

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