Although The Tick was a comic book superhero before he appeared on TV, I first encountered him in a 1994-96 cartoon. I fell in love with the quirky show, filled with ridiculous heroes and villains like Bipolar Bear and El Seed. The big blue hero is the subject of three different television series: the animated series, a brief-lived live action show in 2001, and now an Amazon Prime series.
The Tick is a muscly man in what appears to be a blue suit (it may be a part of The Tick himself). He is known for his “incredible strength, nigh invulnerability, and a teeny-tiny little brain.” Arthur is his crimefighting partner — an average man who acts as the brains of the duo. The Tick is optimistic and childlike; Arthur balances him with his adult realism. They’re the perfect pairing of crime-fighters — something that The Tick realizes long before Arthur does.
Beyond The Tick and Arthur, there are few similarities between the three shows and the comic book series (I admit that I’ve read only a handful of the comics). All of them include Arthur’s sister, Dot, who is not crazy about his “lifestyle.” All include an ancient villain known as The Terror. But there are big differences in terms of the supporting cast and tone of each iteration.
The animated series is a high-energy Saturday morning cartoon, suitable for most children but enjoyable for adults. In addition to The Tick and Arthur, frequently recurring characters include Die Fledermaus, a cowardly womanizer who resembles Batman, and American Maid, a Wonder Woman parody who’s one of the more competent heroes in the series. These two characters are unique to the cartoon; in the 2001 series, they were replaced by Batmanuel and Captain Liberty.
The 2001 series is well-loved (as is the animated series — both are rated a 7.9 out of 10 on IMDB). I confess that I’m not crazy about it. The humor is more adult, and the focus is on relationships, not crime-fighting. It comes across as a sitcom about superheroes. It has its moments; the episode “Arthur, Interrupted,” in which Arthur “comes out” as a superhero to his family, is pretty funny. But it can also be predictable. If I tell you to write a scene with two characters and a bulldog with a hand grenade in its mouth, you’d probably come up with something similar to part of the “Couples” episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AadpMQsYvCQ
Amazon has released six episodes of its series so far, and I’ve really enjoyed them. They’re darker than the other versions of The Tick, and Arthur takes longer to reconcile himself to being a hero. But it still retains much of the humor of the comic books and the other shows. The characters are delightful. I love Overkill, a Punisher-type character whose ill-matched partner is a boat with artificial intelligence.
If you love superheroes and silliness and have not yet experienced The Tick, it’s time to give it a try. Unless you’re into comic books, I’d recommend starting with the cartoon or the Amazon series. If you love The Tick and Arthur and their crazy adventures as much as I do, you’ll probably try all of the takes on these characters… and you may find that each is wonderful in its own way. You might even be inspired to bring your favorite character to life.