Superhero Sundays: the Tick
By Ian T. Wilson
Rating: G
Word Count: 258
Summary: a brief biography of the Tick
Greetings, good people of the internet, and welcome to another installment of Superhero Sundays. I’m Ian Wilson, and today I want to talk about one of the greatest heroes to emerge from the 80’s, the Tick!
Unlike other superheroes, the Tick has no secret identity. Mostly because he can’t remember who he is. He wakes up one day in a straightjacket, gets bored, and escapes. It is on that day that he hears the call of “The City” (The City is never specifically named). He decides to fight for truth and justice, calling himself the Tick.
The Tick’s powers have nothing to do whatever with the arthropod of the same name. He possesses superhuman strength and is nearly invulnerable. He also possesses what’s known as “drama power” the ability to make any situation more dramatic simply by being there. He is prone to long speeches and narrating his own adventures. Like any good superhero, the Tick has a sidekick; an accountant named Arthur Everest, who has no actual superpowers, but simply runs around in a moth-suit trying to keep the Tick from accidentally causing an even bigger crisis.
The Tick sees the world through almost childlike eyes. He can be very naïve, and sometimes causes more havoc than he prevents, but he always tries to do the right thing. Arthur is by his side to keep him grounded in reality; the Tick can’t really think clearly without him.
The Tick was created by comic artist Ben Edlund and first appeared in the New England Comics Newsletter in 1986.