Let us now bemoan the fate of lost pop culture, slipping through our collective fingers, rolled across our national landscape, and dropped into the national sewer.  Rappin’, Rockin’ Barbie is inexplicably entwined with Rubik’s Cube.  Pink Lady and Jeffsinks along with The Associates.  Within this swirling mass of mediocrity, we find the Tick, bubbling to the surface and crawling back into our national consciousness like some… bubbling… crawling… thing.

Long before The Invincibles, the comics industry made fun of its own.  Plastic Man and Captain Marvel were originally as much satire as heroic.  The Tick appeared during the late eighties independent comics boom, created by Ben Edlund. Hollywood was scouring the comics’ field for the next Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and discovered Edlund’s semi-annual series.  They wanted a franchise that would burst over the youth market like a squeezed zit.  Instead, Edlund and company produced a Saturday morning cartoon that was just a little too off-kilter (i.e., Mickey Dolenz, Bobcat Goldthwait, Laraine Newman, and Jim Belushi all contributed their voices).  It did last for three seasons, but nobody bought the tchotchkes.  Edlund handed off the comic book to friends as he pursued a career in Hollywood.  Later, he launched the live-action Tick series. Unfortunately, other parties owned the cartoon show and fought the use of any of the original storylines or characters.  The magic was gone like a fallen cake.

Today, Edlund works in television.  The Tick live action series is available on DVD.  The original, hilarious comics have been collected in The Tick Bonanza 1-4.  For that and other shiny stuff, check out www.necomics.com.  The Tick: Days of Drama, a new, non-Edlund comic is due this month.  The best news is that ABC is showing the original Tick cartoons all summer long. Chairface Cippendale, American Maid, Thrakkorzog, and Arthur are available at 11 pm weekdays (Toon Disney) and 11 am Sundays (ABC Family).  Tune in and hug your destiny!

July, 2005