The Tick started as a comic book superhero spoof from NEC Comics. Our hero’s abilities include nigh invincibility, super strength, and drama power, which causes his abilities to increase during dramatic moments. His commitment to protecting The City along with his flair for expressive yet bizarre speeches compensate for his lack of intelligence. The best catchphrase he could come up with for heading into battle was “Spoon!” due in part because he was eating breakfast at the time. He has no secret identity and always wears his costume, if that blue suit is actually a costume.
In 1994, he first appeared on FOX Saturday mornings joined by his sidekick Arthur, an accountant with a moth suit, although some mistake him for a bunny, that grants him the power of flight. Other superheroes that populate The City are Die Fledermaus, American Maid, and The Sewer Urchin, parodies of Batman, Wonder Woman, and a cross between Aquaman and Rain Man.
The series is very outlandish and hysterical. There is no telling where the plot is going. It is a universe where anything can happen, and does, because the writers make it all plausible. The viewer doesn’t think twice when the Tick carves a sidekick out of wood when Arthur falls for a girl or when the Tick and Arthur get framed after they lose their arms to the villains Venus and Milo, who place them on robots and conduct a women’s wear crime spree. One of the funniest and oddest moments of the entire series is when Charles, a young boy who wants to be the Tick’s nemesis a.k.a. the Brainchild, kidnaps the Tick and renders him powerless by turning him into a two-headed bird that speaks French. The show's format is played with in the COPS-parody episode “Heroes.”
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Article comments
1 - Marvin
I loved watching this show. It was just so funny and bizarre. It would be so much fun to watch it again from the beginning.
2 - Cast Iron Shore
Spoon! The Tick was pure comedy gold (with the very occasional misfire), every household should own a Tick.