The Tick

Overview

The Tick is an overly dramatic satire of superheroes such as Superman. Tick is known to rant incessantly about the nature of justice using absurd metaphors. He protects The City. He is the wild blue yonder. The front line in the never-ending battle between good and not-so-good. Together with his stalwart sidekick, Arthur, an accountant in a moth suit who is often mistaken for a bunny. The two heroes along with a magnanimous helping of some other folks he knows, form the ying to villainy's malevolent yang. Destiny has chosen him. Wicked men, you face The Tick!

Origins Tick's origins vary. In the original comic series, he escapes from an insane asylum, freeing other inmates along with him. In the live-action TV show, he is protecting a rest stop from evil (namely a coffee dispenser). In the cartoon show, The Tick is given The City to protect by judges. They determine that his skills would be best put to use there. Creation Tick was created by Ben Edlund.

Powers The Tick is nigh-invulnerable which makes him able to withstand intense trauma, however it does not keep him from feeling pain. An example: The Tick bounds off a building and figures that an overhanging pole will stop his falling. He smashes into it and continues on his path towards the Earth. Then, he remarks that the soft ground will aid him in stopping. This idea proves successful, but not before Tick is embedded in the pavement. Tick is unharmed, but says, "Ow!" He also has a "drama power" which gives him the ability to make any situation more dramatic. The Tick probably has super strength. We don't really know. At times, he is able to fight off dozens of ninjas, without a scratch. If his strength is not super, then it is certainly impressive. Arthur says that the Tick is stronger than anyone! Though not necessarily a power, The Tick's battle-cry is said to baffle, or stun, his opponents. Before battle, he yells out, "SPOON!"

Other Media Television The Tick has had two television shows over the years. First, The Tick animated show. This featured the adventures of Tick and Arthur in The City. They fought such villains as Chairface Chippendale, El Seed, The Breadmaster, The Terror, The Man Eating Cow, Thrakkorzog and THE EVIL MIDNIGHT BOMBER WHAT BOMBS AT MIDNIGHT! Sometimes they teamed up with other superheroes, Diefledermaus and American Maid were the most prominent. Though characters like Sewer Urchin and the Civic Minded Five, made various appearances as well.

The second Tick show was a live-action series, similar to a sitcom. In it, The Tick and Arthur battled more everyday problems, like getting Tick an ID card, or going to court. The two other main characters in the series were Batmanuel and Captain Liberty. Tick rarely fought major villains, though he did do battle with The Terror and The Red Scare. This series starred Patrick Warburton as Tick, David Burke as Arthur, Liz Vassey as Cap.Liberty, and Nestor Carbonell as Batmanuel. The series only lasted one season and ran from Nov 8th 2001 to Dec 21 2001.