is a Comedic Superhero , created by Ben Edlund in 1986 .
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A square-jawed, muscular man in a bright blue bodysuit, with Antennae sticking up from his head, the Tick is a Surreal Parody of superheroes. The Tick is high-spirited, frequently obtuse, and is prone to making odd, dim remarks and "inspirational" speeches filled with confusing, bizarre Metaphor s. His Superpower s are nigh-invulnerability, which allows him to crash and bang about without injury, super strength, and something referred to as "drama power", or basically a tendency for the Tick's powers to increase as the situation becomes more Drama tic. Oddly, his Battle Cry is " Spoooooon !"
Like many superheroes, The Tick has a named Arthur , who wears a Moth suit that allows him to fly, although he is often mistaken for a Rabbit due to the long ear-like antennae of his costume and the fact that his Wing s are often folded up inside a Backpack . The Tick is impulsive, and Arthur serves as a sort of Conscience ; the hero often irks his sidekick. Arthur's "battle cry" is "Not in the face! Not in the face!" (a famous quote from the 1984 film '' Repo Man '')
Originally featured in an independent Comic Book series, The Tick and Arthur were made popular by an Animated Television Series ( 1994 – 96 ) and a live action television series ( 2001 – 02 ). Both series aired on the Fox Network .
In all of his incarnations, The Tick is surrounded by a cast of equally absurd superheroes and villains, many of them parodies of popular comic book characters and character types. The Tick lives in a city called " The City ". In the animated series, this is the place all of the "reject" superheroes (and presumably the supervillains) are sent after their trial (a prospective superhero/villain needs to present themselves to a special council and exhibit their powers and nature. The council then decides whether the inductee is worthy of joining their ranks. Successful inductees are assigned to a specific territory, failures are sent to The City where they can't cause any harm or get in any real hero/villain's way).
In the original comic books, the Tick is apparently legally Insane , an escapee from a Mental Institution (possibly for super-powered individuals) located not too far from The City.
In 1986, 17-year-old Ben Edlund created The Tick as a Mascot for the newsletter of New England Comics in Boston , where he was a customer on occasion. The character, which bore an uncanny resemblance in costume and personality to The Cockroach from '' Cerebus The Aardvark '', became popular and the store financed a few black and white comic books, written and illustrated by Edlund and featuring the character. In 1989 , ''The Tick'' #4 introduced Arthur.
The Tick became extensively popular in the Underground Comics scene. Soon New England Comics published a regular series in color which featured the character. Spinoff s followed which featured characters such as Paul The Samurai , Man-Eating Cow , and Chainsaw Vigilante . Edlund continued to write and illustrate these projects through his years as an undergraduate film student at Massachusetts College Of Art .
In 1994 , the Fox Network licensed ''The Tick'' as a Saturday morning cartoon show, which Edlund wrote and co-produced. The Tick was voiced by Townsend Coleman , and his sidekick Arthur by Micky Dolenz in season one, with Rob Paulsen taking over the Arthur role in seasons two and three. 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 and it lasted three seasons. The 1997 book ''The Tick: Mighty Blue Justice!'' by Greg Hyland was published as a tie-in with the animated series.
In 1995 , Fox Interactive published a Scrolling Fighter video game based on the animated series for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis . They were criticized for having very long stages with a ridiculous amount of generic enemies to combat.
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 version of Die Fledermaus) and Liz Vassey as Captain Liberty (a version of American Maid). These changes were due to copyright issues—characters created specifically for the cartoon series could not be reused, but ones from the comic were allowed. Once again, the series found a cult audience, but this incarnation failed to find a larger audience.
The live-action series was released on DVD through Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2003 . Ben Edlund says on one of the DVD commentary tracks that he hopes the sales of the DVD might spur development of either a revived series or a movie, similar to the fates of other cult TV series, such as '' Firefly ''. As Of 2005 , this has yet to happen.
In June 2005 the Toon Disney network began to air episodes of the animated series along with such other shows as '' X-Men '' in an attempt to counter Cartoon Network 's popular Adult Swim block. ''The Tick'' now airs at 11 PM Eastern time, opposite either '' Futurama '' or '' Family Guy '' on Adult Swim. It also airs on the ABC Family channel as part of the Jetix block.
According to tvshowsondvd.com , Disney Home Video may release the Tick animated series on DVD by the end of 2006 alongside another cult classic, '' Darkwing Duck ''. There is presently no information on whether such a release would be unedited or not.
In a small update by tvshowsondvd.com , the animated series DVD will be expected somewhere in late August 2006. Still, no other information has been given.
- The Ant
- The Cape (" Golden Age " hero)
- The Caped Wonder (a.k.a. Clark Oppenheimer) ( Superman parody)
- Captain Academia
- The Civic Minded Five
- --- Feral Boy
- --- Fernslinger
- --- Mr. Envelope
- --- Oddman
- --- Radio King (leader)
- Crested Grebe
- Crime Cannibal
- Hand Grenade Man
- Hollowpoint ( Punisher parody)
- Man Eating Cow
- Mighty Agrippa
- The MITI Men (Japanese superhero team)
- --- Dr. Bonsai
- --- The Dubbed One
- --- Salaryman
- --- Zen Man
- Dr. Mung-Mung
- --- Tung-Tung - creation of Dr. Mung-Mung
- Oedipus ( Elektra parody)
- Paul the Samurai
- The Running Guy ( Flash parody; he's "as fast as ten really fast men")
- Shing
- The Sultan ("golden age" hero)
-
- --- Arthur
- Ulysses Bang ("golden age" hero)
- The Visible Man ("golden age" hero)
- Barry Hubris, a.k.a. "The Tick"
- The Chainsaw Vigilante (although he later becomes a member of the "As Yet Unnamed Superteam" in more recent issues of the comics)
- Chairface Chippendale
- The District Manager
- The Evileers
- --- The Fuzzy Person
- --- Mr. Tragedy
- --- Multiple Santa (known as "Evil Multiple Santa" in the show)
- --- The Terror
- --- Tuun-La, Not of this World
- Gomorra ( Godzilla parody)
- King Crime ("golden age" villain)
- Lord Byron
- The Ninjas
- The Red Eye
- The Red Scare (villain for hire from Villains, Inc.)
- Sagin
- Seven Hearts ("golden age" villain)
- Thrakkorzog
- American Maid ( Wonder Woman parody)
- Big Shot ( Punisher / Deadshot parody)
- Bi-Polar Bear
- Caped Chameleon (a.k.a. Crusading Chameleon)
- Captain Lemming
- Carmelita Vatos (wears a moth suit similar to Arthur 's)
- The Civic-Minded Five (parody of both the Avengers and the Fantastic Four )
- --- Captain Mucilage
- --- The Carpeted Man
- --- Feral Boy
- --- Four-Legged Man
- --- Jungle Janet
- The Decency Squad ("golden age" team)
- --- Captain Decency
- --- Johnny Polite
- --- The Living Doll
- --- Sufferage Jet
- --- The Visual Eye
- Éclair (superheroine of Belgium , named after the word for Lightning , not the Pastry )
- --- Blitzen (Éclair's Sidekick , superheroine of Belgium, named after the word for lightning, not the Reindeer )
- Fighting Genius Time Commandos
- --- George Washington Carver
- --- Thomas Edison
- --- Leonardo Da Vinci
- --- Mona Lisa
- --- Wheel - cavewoman creator of the Eponymous Object
- Fishboy - Lost Prince of Atlantis
- Die Fledermaus ( Batman parody, named after the German word for Bat )
- Human Bullet
- --- Fire Me Boy (sidekick and son of Human Bullet)
- Jet Valkyrie
- Jim the Doorman
- Little Wooden Boy
- Mighty Agrippa
- Sewer Urchin
- The Tick
- --- Arthur , The Tick's sidekick.
- --- Speak , a Capybara from Mexico who becomes The Tick's pet.
- Uncle Creamy
- Members of The Tick's superhero class:
- --- Baby Boomerangutang
- --- The Flying Squirrel
- --- Gesundheit
- --- Mr. Exciting
- --- Sarcastro
- The Angry Red Herring
- Baron Violent
- Barry Hubris (a.k.a. "The Tick", a.k.a. The Buttery Lobster)
- Betty: Queen of the Ants
- The Breadmaster
- --- Buttery Pat (sidekick of The Breadmaster)
- --- The Gingerbread Men (henchcookies to The Breadmaster)
- Charles (a.k.a. Brainchild)
- --- The Mad Nanny (Charles' controlled henchwoman)
- --- Skippy (Charles' robotic dog)
- Chairface Chippendale
- --- Boils (henchman of Chairface Chippendale)
- --- The Forehead (henchman of Chairface Chippendale)
- --- Zipperneck (henchman of Chairface Chippendale)
- --- Dean (henchman of Chairface Chippendale)
- --- Professor Chromedome (Chairface Chippendale's mad scientist)
- The Crease
- The Deadly Bulb (a.k.a. Pigleg)
- --- Socket and Watt (The Deadly Bulb's henchmen)
- The Deadly Nose
- Dinosaur Neil
- Dynamole
- Eastern Bloc Robot Cowboy
- El Seed
- --- The Bee Twins (El Seed's henchmen)
- --- Rosebud (El Seed's henchman)
- The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight
- Eyebrows Mulligan
- The Fin (a.k.a. Mr. Smarty Pants)
- The Guy With Ears Like Little Raisins
- Harriet Curse
- Headless Henderson
- The Heys
- The Hotel Manager
- The Human Ton and Handy
- The Idea Men
- The Indigestible Man
- Jack Tuber, The Man Of A Thousand Faces
- Jim Rage
- Joseph Stalingrad
- Lava Man
- Lou Salazar: The Sewer Czar
- --- Filth (Lou Salazar's henchmen)
- The Man Eating Cow
- Mr. Mental (a.k.a. Mel Mental)
- --- Minda (sidekick of Mr. Mental)
- The Mother of Invention
- Evil Multiple Santa
- The New, Improved Uncle Creamy
- Octo Paganini (from Belgium )
- --- The Fortissimo Brothers (Octo Paganini's henchmen)
- Octo-Raymond
- Omnipotus ( Galactus parody)
- The Ottoman Empress
- Pineapple Pokopo
- Proto Clown
- Sheila Eel
- The Sub Human
- Swiss Industrial Spies
- The Terror
- --- Terry (The Terror's son)
- Thrakkorzog
- --- Mucus Tick (Thrakkorzog's creation)
- --- The Evil Arthur Clone (Thrakkorzog's creation)
- Tuun-La: Not of this Earth
- Venus
- --- Milo (sidekick of Venus)
- --- Arthur-Bot (Venus' creation)
- --- Tick-Bot (Venus' creation)
- Wally
- Whirling Scottish Devil
- The Yes Men
- 1 "The Tick vs The Idea Men" (originally aired 10 September 1994 )
- 2 "The Tick vs Chairface Chippendale" (originally aired 17 September 1994)
- 3 "The Tick vs Dinosaur Neil" (originally aired 24 September 1994)
- 4 "The Tick vs Mr. Mental" (originally aired 1 October 1994)
- 5 "The Tick vs The Breadmaster" (originally aired 8 October 1994)
- 6 "The Tick vs El Seed" (originally aired 15 October 1994)
- 7 "The Tick vs The Tick" (originally aired 22 October 1994)
- 8 "The Tick vs The Uncommon Cold" (originally aired 29 October 1994)
- 9 "The Tick vs Brainchild" (originally aired 5 November 1994)
- 10 "The Tick vs Pineapple Pokopo" (originally aired 12 November 1994)
- 11 "The Tick vs The Mole-Men" (originally aired 19 November 1994)
- 12 "The Tick vs The Proto Clown" (originally aired 4 February 1995 )
- 13 "The Tick vs Arthur's Bank Account" (originally aired 11 February 1995)
- 14 "The Little Wooden Boy and the Belly of Love" (originally aired 9 September 1995)
- 15 "Alone Together" (originally aired 16 September 1995)
- 16 "Armless but Not Harmless" (originally aired 23 September 1995)
- 17 "Leonardo da Vinci and His Fightin' Genius Time Commandos!" (originally aired 30 September 1995)
- 18 "Coach Fussell's Lament" (originally aired 7 October 1995)
- 19 "Bloomsday" (originally aired 21 October 1995)
- 20 "Evil Sits Down for a Moment" (originally aired 4 November 1995)
- 21 "Heroes" (parody on the TV show '' COPS '') (originally aired 11 November 1995)
- 22 "Ants in Pants!" (originally aired 18 November 1995)
- 23 "The Tick Loves Santa!" (originally aired 25 November 1995)
- 24 "Tick vs The Big Nothing" (originally aired 3 February 1996 )
- 25 "Tick vs Reno, Nevada" (originally aired 10 February 1996)
- 26 "Grandpa Wore Tights" (originally aired 17 February 1996)
- 27 "That Mustache Feeling" (originally aired: 14 September 1996)
- 28 "Tick vs Dot and Neil's Wedding" (originally aired 21 September 1996)
- 29 "Sidekicks Don't Kiss" (originally aired 28 September 1996)
- 30 "Tick vs Arthur" (originally aired 6 October 1996)
- 31 "Devil in Diapers" (originally aired 12 October 1996)
- 32 "Tick vs Filth" (originally aired 26 October 1996)
- 33 "Tick vs Europe" (originally aired 2 November 1996)
- 34 "Tick vs Science" (originally aired 9 November 1996)
- 35 "Tick vs Prehistory" (originally aired 16 November 1996)
- 36 "Tick vs Education" (originally aired 30 November 1996)
Interestingly, Arthur is one of the rare characters in the live-action series who appears out of costume the most, and he is considerably the most "normal." Captain Liberty , for example, appears out of costume once. Unlike the cartoon series, Sony Pictures Television owns the rights to the live version.
- Batmanuel ( Batman parody and loosely based on Die Fledermaus)
- Captain Liberty ( Wonder Woman parody and loosely based on American Maid)
- The Cape
- League of Superheroes
- --- The Champion ( Superman parody)
- Fiery Blaze
- Fishboy: Lost Prince of Atlantis
- Friendly Fire (sidekick to Fiery Blaze, not to be confused with Friendly Fire , a member of the DC Comics superhero team Section 8 that appeared in '' Hitman '')
- The Immortal (deceased)
- Johnny Republic
- Kid Caboose
- Medusa
- Metcalf
-
- --- Arthur
- Tiny Man
- Apocalypse Cow
- Destroyo (real name: Leonid Kasparov Destroyovitch)
- The Red Scare ( Robot )
- The Terror
The episodes are listed here in their intended order (according to the DVD release). When they were originally aired on the Fox Network in the United States , they were aired out of order.
- 1 " Pilot " (originally aired 8 November 2001 )
- 2 "The Terror" (unaired but included on the DVD)
- 3 "Arthur, Interrupted" (originally aired 24 January 2002 )
- 4 "The License" (originally aired 6 December 2001)
- 5 "Arthur Needs Space" (originally aired 13 December 2001)
- 6 "Couples" (originally aired 5 December 2001)
- 7 "The Funeral" (originally aired 15 November 2001)
- 8 "The Tick Vs. Justice" (originally aired 17 January 2002)
- 9 "The Big Leagues" (originally aired 21 December 2001)
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