If you think superheroes are pretty ridiculous now, then may I introduce you to The Tick? The satirical creation of writer/artist Ben Edlund, The Tick was his way of lampooning the silly trends that had permeated comic books during the '80s and '90s, eventually becoming so popular the character received two television series. One was the awesome animated series in '94, which lasted three seasons. The other was the terrible live-action show in 2001 which only ran for a handful of episodes but featured pitch-perfect performance by star Patrick Warburton. Last week a rumor surfaced that Edlund was bringing Warburton back for an all-new series for Amazon's online streaming service, and it appears to be true. SPOON!!!!
Yes for now suffice it to say the dream of a new live-action Tick is being pursued with vigor #bringbackTheTick
— ben_edlund (@ben_edlund) August 31, 2014
The Wrap digs into the story a bit further, stating that a deal has been struck with Sony, who have had rights to The Tick since 2001, to allow for Edlund and Warburton to shoot a pilot for Amazon. If Amazon sticks to their usual approach to new series, they'll film a pilot then allow the site's users to vote on which ones should be given a full order. Given The Tick's rabid fans it will probably get picked up whether the show is any good or not. Tick is a hero of questionable sanity who protects the citizens of The City from various outlandish supervillains. His sidekick, Arthur, is a dude in a moth suit, and his other friends are obvious riffs on popular DC Comics superheroes, like American Maid (Wonder Woman) or Die Fledermaus/Batmanuel, an obvious jab at Bruce Wayne. I always thought Die Fledermaus was the funniest but Sewar Urchin, a combination of Rain Man and Aquaman, was also pretty clever. Each show usually consisted of Tick facing some sort of crisis, facing an absurd bad guy (Buttery Pat was my favorite), then ending with some bizarre life lesson he learned along the way.
I was a pretty big fan of The Tick comics and the animated show but the live-action one was a complete misfire and undeserving of its cult status. Hopefully this one will be better. You can check out the original series' first couple of episodes below.
