In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an accountant with no superpowers comes to realize his city is owned by a super villain. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with a strange blue superhero. I think the words that can best describe this are "Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!"<br/><br/>The Tick HAS RETURNED. Unlike the lackluster and horribly feeble attempt at a series in the early 2000's, this, my friends is the true "The Tick"! (Wait is that even proper grammar?)<br/><br/>In 1997, I was hanging on every single preview and commercial for the next Tick episode. Sadly, my hopes were crushed when I realized that the show which made my initial college years enjoyable, was cancelled due to low ratings?<br/><br/>The Tick has always had a bit of an identity crisis, only, it knew full well what it's identity is. The problem is, Hollywood/Network TV has no clue what the hell to do with it! They aired it relatively early, placing it in the Saturday morning cartoon slot, when the majority of its fan base was still nursing the underage-party- hangover from the night before. It's a cartoon that had an art style that fit well with the morning cartoons, but humor that flew well above the average cartoon watcher's head.<br/><br/>Some friends and I used to spout out "Tickisms" randomly throughout the day. When you go to jump something and land wrong, or fall - "Gravity is a harsh mistress". When you're playing an online game and the other players start talking in another language? "I can't understand your crazy Moon Language!" Even after these years, I still remember a few of them!<br/><br/>The 2017 return of The Tick has kept those Ticksims in all their glory! "Destiny's on the line, Arthur, and she's calling collect accept the charges" There. You see? Right there. THAT is a Tickism! This Amazon release of the series is rife with them and, my God, is it a glorious thing! Ben Edlund, the original creator of The Tick is also responsible for writing this series as well and it shows.<br/><br/>As for the specifics of this show, when I first heard Peter Serafinowicz's voice in the role, I did a tremendous double-take. "Is that? No it can't be! But wait is it?" Turns out, no, it is not Townsend Coleman, but holy hell, is it close! <br/><br/>So you have "the voice" of The Tick, reciting "the lines" of The Tick, being portrayed in the original writing style of The Tick. This is absolute gold!<br/><br/>If the cartoon had one issue, it was the lack of a plot that could span more than the typical episode. Characters and even their various situations would play out over a season or so, but the stories were all kept nicely in their allotted space. This makes it easy to watch an episode here or there, but after you know what to expect, you can miss a few and come back for some more quick entertainment here and there without needing to follow the whole thing. This may be good at times, but it can really affect the longevity of a series.<br/><br/>I was relieved to see that the entire story gets told along the Arthur lines, providing some real drive and purpose to the story over the episodes. The episodes, which can easily degrade into pure silliness, if not kept in check, are held together tightly with the "grounding" the Arthur story provides for them. Good move on their part.<br/><br/>Unlike the cartoon series and the short live-action, this one also starts to create a true "origins" story that it mildly delves into with the Tick and the entire backstory of superheroes and the city in general.<br/><br/>There is one divergence from the animated series that has to be noted: This is written like the comic book. The comic book was written for a more mature audience than the Saturday cartoon was. On Amazon, it has a TV-14 rating, which falls towards the more mature side of a PG-13 rating, possibly right on the "R" line. But they can get away with that on Amazon, so expect blood, frequent swearing (mildly) and an f-bomb here or there. But fear not, The Tick does not stoop to those levels yet. They are primarily reserved for his villains.<br/><br/>So any Generation X-er, growing up in the 90's, definitely needs to watch this show! Trust me, this "The Tick", is the real deal! Overall, I enjoyed the pilot episode, and would vote for it to be continued. There, that's said.<br/><br/>There are a few things that jar me the wrong way. Serafinowicz doesn't quite have the physical and vocal presence I'd want in the Big Blue Guy. And the suit looks a bit too rubberized. But, as pointed out in other reviews, Serafinowicz is a good actor and voice actor, and, with a commitment as a producer, too, he'll find his way with the character.<br/><br/>But, that aside, we have Ben Edlund back writing the Tick, and for the continuity that he'll bring to this, I'm okay with the changes that he's been making to some of the story elements (The Terror, Arthur's back story, the lack of a spoon). <br/><br/>And who but Edlund could give us a line like "blinded by weaponized syphilis"?<br/><br/>And, as a bonus, Patrick Warburton is producing.<br/><br/>It's fun. Is it as much fun for someone coming cold to the series, without the history that we've grown up with? That's to be seen.<br/><br/>Disclaimer: I've been a Tick fan since the comic first came out
Westand replied
295 weeks ago