Superman Analogue: The Tick
53Stay back nefarious evil doers! The Tick is here to right wrongs and correct autocorrections!
Original Thread: https://twitter.com/CaseAiken/status/1083160277061943296
Original Text: Time for one close to my heart! As requested by @BeerAndAShot, today I'm going to talk about that hilarious send up of superheroes, #TheTick!
Now, some of you might say, "but the Tick doesn't have flight or other Superman style powers". However his powers are almost identical to those of the original appearance of Superman and, as a critique of superheroes, he certainly fits that bill.
Plus, he is used in contrast almost from the beginning to Superman directly. In both the comic and the cartoon, one of the first other heroes he meets is a straight-up Superman homage named Clark Oppenheimer.
First after he escapes from an insane asylum that is. See, the Ticksl's grasp on reality has always been a little more tenuous that most #SupermanAnalogues and that becomes a theme for his world.
Now, the Tick himself always is a bit of a mystery, but that just works to have the rest of the world find him crazy and for him to save the day regardless. His stories are always hilarious satires of modern Comics, such as his first big arc aping Frank Miller
More conventional superheroes can find him frustrating, such as when the Superman equivalent comes to blows with him. However the Tick always has a zany response.
Side note, this was a great opportunity to make fun of some of the Superman tropes. It heavily knocks the Christopher Reeves Superman. And of course addresses the glasses situation.
Leading to one of the best panels of a Superman type struggling to maintain his secret identity ever.
But many know the Tick from his other appearances in media. He was really big in the 90s and keeps having small resurgences ever since
For me it was the cartoon.
Others know him best for the live-action show with Patrick Warburton, which I sadly have not actually watched. (I know!)
He has had a more recent show on Amazon that has dealt more with the issues of insanity. I enjoyed the first half of the first season, though I still haven't seen the second half.
I would highly recommend people pick up any collection of the comics if they only know the character from the various TV shows. I'm partial to the first book, but that's probably because I owned it when I was a kid and read it a million times.
As far as design goes, he is wonderfully simple. Drawing attention to the strangeness of the typical superhero uniform.
But really, how could you not love an imbecile with a heart of gold and bulletproof skin?
Other parodies may come and go, but the Tick has been appearing for three decades. Clearly he struck the right chord with me and many other fans.
Also, how could I forget to mention? His non-sensical catchphrase is "SPOON!", his sidekick is a heavy set accountant in a moth costume, and his pet is a capybara named "Speak". Fricking delightful.
Images:
1 - The Tick #1, Cover by Ben Edlund
2 - The Tick: Free Comic Book Day 2016, Cover by Duane Redhead
3 - The Tick #12, Cover by Ben Edlund
4 - The Tick #2, Art by Ben Edlund
5 - The Tick #1, Art by Ben Edlund
6 - The Tick: Free Comic Book Day 2018, Cover by Ian Nichols
7 - The Tick #3, Cover by Ben Edlund
8 - The Tick #2, Art by Ben Edlund
9 - The Tick #2, Art by Ben Edlund
10 - The Tick #2, Art by Ben Edlund
11 - Footage from The Tick for Super Nintendo
12 - Various product tie ins
13 - Footage from The Tick Animated Series
14 - Footage from The Tick 2001 Live Action Series
15 - Trailer footage from The Tick Amazon Original Series
16 - The Tick: Omnibus, Cover by Ben Edlund
17 - The Tick: The Naked City, Cover by Ben Edlund
18 - The Tick #3, Art by Ben Edlund
19 - Cover to The Tick Animated Series DVD Collection, Art by Ben Edlund
20 - Footage from The Tick Animated Series
21 - The Tick: Big Blue Destiny #1, Cover by Eli Stone
22 - Still from The Tick Amazon Original Series
23 - Footage from The Tick Animated Series
24 - Fan art by Peter Yong
25 - Footage from The Tick Animated Series
Master Thread of Superman Analogues: https://twitter.com/CaseAiken/status/1346189702580342785
For more information on The Tick, check out ComicTropes interview with the creator, Ben Edlund: The History of The Tick by Ben Edlund
Also, before you hunt down the video game, watch SNESDrunk's video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH31ckW9VOs
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Other Statistics
The Tick Statistics For Certain POV Media with Case Aiken
Certain POV Media with Case Aiken presently has 845 views for The Tick across 1 video, and less than an hour worth of The Tick videos were uploaded to his channel. This makes up less than 0.02% of the total overall content on Certain POV Media with Case Aiken's YouTube channel.