The best superhero parody of the 90s is disappearing from streaming
From Jonathan Klotz
| Published
Parodies are hard to get right; for each Space ballsthere is one Epic film And Disaster filmbut in the late ’80s, teenager Ben Edlund created a big blue generic superhero named The Tick, inadvertently launching one of the most successful superhero parodies. Despite not having powers remotely resembling ticks, the big, blue, muscle-bound hero quickly became a success, going from mascot of the local comic book store to headlining his own series in just a few years. While the black-and-white debut series still exists, the ’90s Fox Kids cartoon that made The Tick a generation’s favorite is now hard to find.
Mocking the dark and gritty 90s
The tick premiered in 1994, an era in which superhero films existed The Phantom And Meteor manbut the comic industry was still in a boom phase. Thanks to speculators buying up comics that are expected to increase in value, Image Comics provides creative creators with an outlet for DC and DC’s stories Wonder I wouldn’t say so, and with the advent of major events including The Death of Superman and the impending arrival of The Age of Apocalypse, the comic book bubble was at 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 frustrated fans who had missed out on superheroes being fun.
And there is no doubt about it: The tick was fun. In episode 7, “The Tick vs. The Tick”, the big blue guy faces off against a much more literal Tick-style hero during a superhero party, while the greatest villain of all time, the evil midnight bomber What Bombs At Midnight, is there with him plans to blow them all up at midnight. Not only does it illustrate that the name “The Tick” makes no sense, but it also shows how most of the supporting cast gets increasingly drunk for a children’s show, with the kind of pettiness and spitefulness of the classic Justice League International The run of the 80s was known for.
Pick any episode of the three-season series and there will be at least one brilliant comedic moment, even if the gags are often very stupid; That’s the point. Like the Swiss spies who use giant Swiss Army knives in their missions while a large bipedal whale runs through the city in the background, and in context it makes perfect sense. Somehow. But “The Tick” also showed continuity in a time when most cartoons couldn’t even spell the word, thanks to the egomaniacal Chairface trying to write his name on the moon. The villain reached “Cha” before being stopped, leaving the letters visible in later episodes.
In danger of being lost forever
The tick was a hit and was even expanded Comedy Central later in its release, but to date it is also the only successful version of the hero. Two live-action series were critical hits but failed to break through in 2001 despite the perfect casting of Patrick Warburton as the big blue hero Amazon Series in 2016 with Peter Serafinowicz as the title character and “Downtown” Griffin Newman as his sidekick Arthur. Both live-action shows were canceled early after one and two seasons.
Although it was a hit, the 1994 series is becoming increasingly difficult to find as the years go by and is at risk of being lost in the media. The tick The DVD collections released in the mid-80s are incomplete. Season 1 is missing one episode, “The Tick vs. The Mole Men”, and Season 2 is missing “Alone Together”. The series was previously available on streaming, but is now limited to video-on-demand YouTube. The animated series is threatened by DVDs, which are becoming harder to find every year and are highly limited Streaming Options.
That’s a shame, because today, decades after the recent superhero movie boom, audiences are ready for a superhero parody that doesn’t take itself seriously, especially if it likes D-list villains The requirements get their own films. The world needs The Tick, his bright blue suit and his signature battle cry: “Spoon!”
