Howdy, Rememberers? Show-ers? Is that a thing? Oh, those are the folks who aren’t Growers. Yeah, maybe I’ll workshop that. Anyway, Adam and I are back to test your TV Amnesia, as we tackle the Fox Kids entry The Tick.
Like the Ernest P. Worrell character, The Tick is another example of a regional mascot who would go on to achieve national fame. Created by Ben Edlund as the superhero mascot for the New England Comics chain of stores, The Tick would go on to greater success in a relatively short amount of time. I mean, Edlund created the character in 1986, and there was a network cartoon less than a decade later! Originally, The Tick was an escaped mental patient who thought he was a superhero, and he decided to become the protector of the metropolis known simply as The City. Aided by his sidekick, Arthur, he would rub elbows with other crazy characters, like Man-Eating Cow and Chairface Chippendale. Sunbow Productions, known for their work on the GI Joe cartoon, decided they wanted to take a stab at a show starring the character.
Debuting on Fox Kids in 1994, The Tick introduced kids to, well, The Tick. Since the character’s roots were in indie comics, however, there were certain aspects that needed to be toned down for Saturday morning. So, out were characters like the aforementioned Man-Eating Cow, and The Chainsaw Vigilante, and in were American Maid and Die Fledermaus. Also, instead of being an escaped mental patient, The Tick was assigned to be the protector of The City after winning a competition at a hero convention. The show would run for 36 episodes across 3 seasons, and would go on to spawn 2 different live action adaptations.
I didn’t watch The Tick. Not regularly, at least. I mean, this was PEAK TNBC, with California Dreams and Saved By The Bell: The New Class, so I had other interests. I caught an episode here and there, but it wasn’t Appointment Television for me. That said, I was familiar with the character, as he was in the Previews catalog at comic shops, and he did crossovers from time to time with other indie comic characters. Still, I don’t like things that are “weird, for the sake of weird”, and that seemed to be what The Tick was to me. Do I still feel that way now? Well, check out the episode and find out!
