DIY VIRAL
The author Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Parodies are hard to get right; for each Space bombsthere is Epic movie and Disaster moviebut in the late 1980s, teenager Ben Edlund created a big blue generic superhero named The Tick and accidentally launched one of the most successful superhero parodies ever. Despite not having any powers even remotely similar to Ticks, the big, blue-muscled hero quickly rose to success, going from a local comic shop mascot to a staple of his own series within a few years. While you can still find the black-and-white debut episode, the 90s Fox Kids cartoon that made The Tick a generational favorite is nearly impossible to find these days.
90s grim and gritty wash
Tick premiered in 1994, an era when superhero movies consisted of Phantom and Meteor Manbut the comics industry was still booming. Thanks to speculators buying comics that are likely to increase in value, image comics give creative writers an outlet for the stories that DC and Marvel you couldn't tell, and with major events including the death of Superman and the coming Age of Apocalypse, the booming comics bubble reached its peak. This meant that a superhero who poked fun at the dark and gritty heroes of the day was a breath of fresh air for disgruntled fans who missed out on when superheroes had fun.
And there is no doubt about it: Tick it was fun. In episode 7, “Tick to Tick,” the big blue guy faces off against a more literal Tick-themed character at a superhero party, and the biggest villain of all time, The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight. , plans to blow them all up at midnight. Not only does it overshadow the fact that the Tick's name doesn't make sense, but it also shows most of the supporting cast gradually getting drunk on a children's show, with the pettiness and grumpiness of the classic. International Justice League The 1980s run was familiar.
Pick any episode of the show's three seasons and there will be at least one standout comedic moment, even if the gags are often very stupid; that's the point. For example, Swiss spies using giant Swiss Army knives on their missions while a large bipedal whale runs around the city in the background, which makes sense in context. Kind of. But The Tick also showed continuity at a time when most cartoons couldn't even spell a word, thanks to the egomaniacal Twilight trying to spell her name on the moon. The villain made it as far as “Cha” before being stopped, leaving the letters visible in later episodes.
In danger of being lost forever
Tick was a hit, even expanded to Comedy Central later, but so far it is also the only successful version of the character. The two live-action series, while critical, failed to take off in both 2001, despite Patrick Warburton being cast as the big blue hero, and Amazon series in 2016, with Peter Serafinowicz as the titular character and “Downtown's” Griffin Newman as his sidekick Arthur. Both live-action shows were canceled early after seasons one and two.
Although it was a hit, the 1994 series has become increasingly difficult to find over the years and is in danger of becoming a lost medium. Tick Released in mid-August, DVD collections are incomplete, Season 1 of “The Tick vs. The Mole Men” is missing an episode and Season 2 is missing “Alone Together”. The series was also available for streaming at one time, but has since been downgraded to video-on-demand. YouTube. The animated series is in jeopardy with DVDs getting harder to find and strictly limited every year streaming options.
It's a shame because today, decades after the last heyday of superhero movies, audiences are ready for a superhero parody that doesn't take itself seriously, especially when D-list villains like Requirements get your movies. The world needs the Tick, his bright blue suit and signature rally cry: “Spoon!”
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DIY VIRAL
