One bright shiny day at the Brockton, Massachusetts location of New England Comics, a lanky young man places a sketch on the store wall. At the request of one of the store managers, Ben Edlund submitted a portrait of an all-new costumed character called The Tick. Is he a hero? Is he a villain? Nobody knows because this was a character that Edlund came up with spur of the moment.
A few weeks later, Edlund is asked to flesh out the character into a 3-page tale that would appeal the 14th and 15th volume of the New England Comics Newsletter (July-August & September-October 1986). The character was a hit with customers who quickly demanded more adventures.
Seeing an opportunity in the burgeoning Indy comics craze of the mid-80s, NEC signed a deal with Edlund to create a new comic series based on the Tick. Originally, Tick was designed wearing a furry brown costume. But a fan vote updated the character into a sleek, navy blue uniform with animated antenna. Ben's dad helped to design the logo while the minuscule printing company Associated Printers (later Morgan Printing Inc.) jumped into the realm of comic book fabrication for the very first time. It took about 2 years, and with the Indy comic bubble having burst, about a dozen distributors, but the Tick #1 was shipped out to fans and nationwide comic sellers in 1988. Fingers were collectively crossed.
And the Tick was an immediate hit!
Jump forward to 2006 (or 2007 according to the publication date) and New England Comics was celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the creation of the Tick! A beloved animated series on Fox Kids, a cult-classic short lived live series on Fox, a secret fan club, and dozens of comic books and tons of merch later and the Tick still thrived. Naturally, it was time for a tribute one-shot.
With The Tick 20th Anniversary Special, NEC culled from the numerous talented writers and artists who had previously worked on the character as well as other members of the Tick universe. The Man-Eating Cow, the Chainsaw Vigilante, and sidekick Arthur are among those who make appearances. (But where's Paul the Samurai?!) Creator Ben Edlund along with his dad, crafted a new 4-page center spread story that some consider the epilogue of the long-delayed Tick #13. And non-associated talent such as Matt Kindt (Mind MGMT), Scott Shaw! (Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew) and Fred Hembeck (Dateline: @#$%) make contributions as well!
While the grab bag of work is a mix of brilliant tributes and sorely-lacking fantasy, the price of admission is the lengthy articles that dig into the early history of The Tick. I really learned a lot and since the print was ultra small, I felt like I read a coffee table book's worth of comic book history. And eye strain to boot!
While I wasn't a big fan of the tributes, I definitely want more Tick. I also want to complete my collection of Tick back issues. If this book was meant to be an smorgsabord of Tick bites, it definitely whet my appetite and a trip to NEC's online Tick store is in my future.
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
Completing this review completes Task #7 (Already in Your Collection) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.
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