Customer Reviews

The Tick Vs. Season One

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

You've been waiting over 10 years for the Tick to come out on DVD. You've eyed Amazon feverishly. You follow up every rumor. You even bought the live action disks.

And then, in seeming answer to your decade of diligent prayers and blue votive candles, it's finally here, and the package looks fan-freaking-tastic.

You call in sick to work, plunk yourself onto your sofa with a box of Lucky Charms, a gallon of milk, a cereal bowl, and your favorite SPOON! and prepare for a six hour TV-watching orgy.

You pop Disk 1 in the DVD player, and (once you get past all the ads) are nearly drowned by a wave of nostalgia. The main screen is full of animated eye candy, and you watch it at least a half dozen times. Finally you grab the remote and flip through the options.

That's odd... no special features. Must be on the other disk. I mean surely no one would release The Tick on DVD without acknowledging its origin as a comic book or its rabid cult following.

Hmm... now that's REALLY odd. There don't seem to be any commentary tracks either. You KNOW Edlund has things to say about the series. You've been scouring the Internet for Tick info since Mosaic was the only graphical web browser.

Well, you reason, all that other stuff is just parsley. The main course is the shows themselves.

So you push play on episode one, and you chuckle through the opening interview sequence, but something is niggling at you. Something doesn't look quite right, and yet the show looks exactly as you remember. It's not until the title sequence that it hits you so hard that you stop singing along in mid "Dum-dwee".

You pause to confirm your horror:

The reason this looks exactly like you remember from 10 years ago is because it's an analog-to-digital recording! Instead of recording from the original cells, the manufacturer recorded from video.

You sit there for a bit, stunned. They had 10 years to make this DVD, and this is the best they could do? Heck, it's not much better than the bootlegs you made with your first DVD-R. You don't really want to push play again. Your cereal has gone warm and mushy. After a bit you pick up the phone. "Yeah... it was just my sinuses. I'll be into the office in 30 minutes."

I, like tons of other people, have been anxiously awaiting for SOMEBODY to finally start releasing the classic cartoon of The Tick ever since the inception of DVD. It seemed like every single series was getting some kind of DVD attention except for this one.

Finally, someone answered our prayers and Season 1 of the animated Tick has been unleashed on DVD.

But there's a dark side to this.

First of all, this set is missing episode 11 "The Tick vs. The Mole Men" due to what is being labled "creative reasons" whatever in the hell that means. While I know this is regarded as one of the weakest episodes in the entire history, this isn't the full first season due to its ommision.

Secondly, the video quality is HORRIBLE. It literally looks someone took some high quality VHS copies of the show and just slapped them on a couple of DVD's. The colors are washed out & bland and there's a really annoying interlacing issue in almost every episode that causes most animation lines to "shimmer" a bit. The shimmering effect might not be quite as distracting on smaller TV sets, but on big screen sets it is really atrocious.

The sound is also muffled and tinny sounding. There's also little bits of missing dialogue here and there as well. I'm thinking that a few episodes might be cut slightly actually.

So, while I am glad whoever finally got off of their duff to release The Tick animated on DVD, I think that they could have done a much, much better job than this.

I hope they realize the error of their ways with Season 1 and really put forth a whole lot more effort on subsequent season releases.

The show itself gets a full 5 star rating from me but the DVD presentation gets a 1.

I wish that Amazon had a seperate rating system in which you could rate both the feature AND the DVD quality seperately.

Originally titled "The Tick: Season 1", this two disc set only included 12 of the first seasons 13 episodes. The missing episode is S1E11, "The Tick vs. The Mole-Men", in which The Tick and Arthur act as guide for a bunch of vacationing mole-men and their mole-king. When the mole-king falls in love with a Cindy Crawford lookalike, things get complicated. Disney swears the episode was left out for "creative reasons", which may have some truth as this episode is widely accepted as the weakest of the series - but some sort of legal complication is more likely (maybe they couldn't fit all 13 episodes on 2 discs?). The point is, don't expect any sort of definitive compilation here, this is Season 1 sans one episode. Maybe we'll see the Mole-Men episode as a bonus for Season 2 or, god forbid, a re-release of this Season 1 set.

I was extremely pleased when I first heard that Disney would be releasing The Tick to DVD. I had been enjoying the repeats of the cartoon on Disney's Jetix block of programing and looked forward to an extra filled edition of my favorite cartoon on DVD. Season one of The Tick released this week and although its great to be able to watch them at my own pace the DVD's are a bit disappointing.

Disappointment 1: This is not the complete season one. Episode 11, The Tick Vs. The Molemen was left out for some reason. Speculative reasons behind omitting E. 11 were that the episode was "weak" and that they needed to fit them on two discs and couldn't with that extra episode. Personally I loved the episode and its parody of Cindy Crawford.. quite fun.

Disappointment 2: Nothing was done to improve the quality of the animation or sound. The quality is still good but it would have been nice to bump up the color or maybe get an improved audio m ix. However, the occasional color changes between the frames and other flaws add to the nostalgic feel of the show.

Disappointment 3: NO EXTRAS! I'm a a nerd and appreciate in-depth commentaries that give insight into the production. I'd love to hear Ben Edlund reminisce about what inspired characters and situations but I am denied that pleasure. No featurettes of any kind are on the discs. The only thing they give you is a Tick lithograph with a random fact about his suit on the back.

Aside from these three problems its great to have the series on DVD. One good thing about the lack of extras is that the price was kept low. Most of the time you'll buy a series on DVD and it will be 30-40 bucks but this one is available for 19.99 from Amazon.com and Target.com. In store at Target it will run you around 25 bucks. Hopefully this sells well and Disney sees the demand and puts more effort in to the next season release.

For insane, sidesplitting superheroics, nothing - but nothing - beats the Tick. This short-lived animated show which debuted in 1994 centers on an overly muscular, eternally optimistic, blue buffoon with a penchant for melodramatic, pseudo-inspirational speeches full of eschewed, left-field metaphors. The Tick also isn't too securely grounded in reality. But he's superstrong and well nigh invulnerable. And, hey, he's got wicked cool antennas.

He is housed and abetted by Arthur, a paunchy accountant who sidejobs as the Moth(man), Tick's long-suffering, more rational (ie: sane) sidekick. Arthur habitually goes around in a white bodysuit with appendages on his head that makes people think he's a cute bunny-wabbit (his wings are normally retracted in a powerpack on his back). With the half-hearted help of a loose knit group of super friends, Arthur and the ever enthusiastic Tick ply their crime-stopping trade in a besieged city called...the City.

The Tick's first season episodes (actually, EVERY seasons' episodes) are chock full of bizarre superfelons and equally batty superheroes. Some of these goofballs are parodies of famous superfolks (the egotistical Die Fledermaus is patterned after Batman, the hyper-efficient American Maid is obviously Wonder Woman, the Civic Minded Five are tailored after the Fantastic Four, etc). But there isn't a lack of original characters, mostly in the super-villain sector: Chairface Chippendale (a crime kingpin with the head of a chair), the human sunflower El Seed, Brainchild (a boy genius who's half-heartedly following a life of crime), and the crazy cool Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight.

One of the high points of the series is the Tick's inevitable pontificating. Check out Big Blue's funny and warped morale-boosting rally cries: "Let's hang ten for justice!", "And so, may Evil beware and may Good dress warmly and eat plenty of fresh vegetables," "Don't ever try to swim against the mighty tide of justice." There are so many quotable comments here, it's insane. There's the Tick's intimidating battlecry: "Spoooon!" Or, some goons find out that Arthur's a sidekick: "Alright, boys. Let's kick him to the side!" Sorry, but that one cracks me up.

The Tick is obtuse, naive, and might even be clinically insane. I mean, he's got a piece of wood he talks to and calls Little Wooden Boy ("You wouldn't lie to me, would you, Little Wooden Boy?"). But creator Ben Edlund has a blast utilizing him as the focal point in his subversive razzings of the superhero biz. The show is funny on the slapstick surface, but its wit and sophistication go deeper than that.

The voice talents of the two leads are invaluable. Townsend Coleman's heroic, masculine and exuberant voice perfectly personifies the Tick, while Micky Dolenz (yes, the Monkee's Micky Dolenz) ably complements him as the put-upon Arthur. I won't even try to pick out favorite episodes. They are all across-the-board EXCELLENT! I will say that the debut episode "Tick Vs. the Idea Men" is where the Tick first comes to the City and meets Arthur. This animated series is even better than the live action Tick series which came later in 2001. Do NOT miss this one.

Before I start, please do not interpret the lowered score as a reflection on the show itself. It is brilliant and deserves your money, now.

The disappointment is with the presentation itself. There are a lot of people, myself included, who have waited a loooong time for "The Tick" to come out on DVD. What Disney has given us is yet another subpar, barest of bare bones treatment of a property they probably hardly notice because of the limited merchandising opportunities. If "The Tick" were a feature length film about a girl raised by a single parent, persevering against the people who think she just can't do it, and singing some insipid song about finding yourself or true love or whatever then it would receive a deluxe presentation with in-depth interviews, commentaries, etc.. Because those are the types of properties that get kids to bug their parents to purchase Disney licensed merchandise and ultimately to take them to one of Disney's overpriced parks to go on a ride that is only "conceptually" tied to the film. "The Tick" shows no such promise, ergo we are treated to a DVD set that was probably put together by an intern after a weekend-long bender. I'm half-surprised that the "special lithograph" isn't a picture of Bob Iger extending his middle finger and saying "Here, quit complaining and give me your money."

But you have to buy this. Why? Because if you don't then Disney will assume there's insufficient fan interest and not release the later seasons. And whether you know it or not, you want to see "Alone Together," "Coach Fussell's Lament," "Little Wooden Boy and the Belly of Love" and all of the other classic episodes that made this show a true work of art. Give Disney your money, but it's OK to grumble a bit about it at the same time.

The reason Episode 11(THE TICK VS. THE MOLE MEN)Is missing from season one is due to some form of cast copyright. But for some extremely excelent reason, that copyright issue doesn't apply abroad being they have released season one in the UK now with all 13 episodes. I am in the UK, have bought it and watched it, so I know it's true. Even better it already has a leaflet advertising season 2 will be released soon and shall also featured the missing episode from that in the USA.

THE EVEN BETTER NEWS IS - It is a region free DVD. It is still in the PAL FORMAT like UK VHS Videos are. But since the late 90's and early 00's nearly all USA TV, VCRS AND DVD PLAYERS SINCE THEY STARTED Have got PAL playback in them which lets you play worldwide Videos and DVDS. Meaning the only problem with DVDS is the region number that you have to have a multi region DVD player for but not if it is region free which this is. I know it is true because I at first didn't have a multiregion DVD player to watch American DVDS in but it still played them if they were region free because like I say all machines in America now have THE PAL Europe as a playback which we have in Europe of the USA Format which is NTSC Playback.

I was very disappointed when reading about copyright issues on TV.[...] about the tick not featuring a certain episode from season 1 and two which is why when I was in Brighton on Wednesday 22nd August 2007 and saw it in Vergin Megastores and read it had all 13 Episodes, I bought it strait away like a shocking good surprise according to the Bad news in America.

HOPE THIS HELPS ALL TRUE TICK FANS WHO WILL DO ANYTHING TO GET THE WHOLE SERIES.

Like many others, I loved The Tick animated series, and was sad that it was never continued. But I was very happy to see that this first season was finally released.

There aren't any extras, but if you're buying this, then you're buying it for the episodes. If you've never seen The Tick, please keep in mind that this series is old. Animation's come a long way since 1994. Also, The Tick's humor takes a little time before you can really appreciate it. It's not something you'll automatically love, but will take a while before it grows on you.

Also, the real gem episodes (like The Tick vs filth or Little Wooden Boy) are in subsequent seasons. Most (if not all) of The Tick's humor is from various superhero parodies or outright antiheroes. If you're a fan of comic books, this series is rife with hilarious parody characters like Die Fledermaus (a womanizing and cowardly Batman parody) or American Maid (a patriotic domestic who uses her high heels as throwing weapons) and the list goes on.

This collection lacks episode #11, Tick vs the Mole Men, where a bunch of mole men come to the surface for vacation and the mole king falls in love with Mindy Moleford (Cindy Crawford parody). It was dropped for 'creative' reasons, but it's not a big loss. It was a pretty weak episode.

Pros:
Finally, The Tick on DVD!
If sales go well, more DVDs (and maybe a comeback a la Family Guy and Futurama???)
Affordable price

Cons:
No real extras
Missing an episode
Would've liked more background, etc as I never read the comic book.
My DVD player was utterly confused by this thing. Each episode is a new chapter, so you'll have to FF if you want to skip credits, etc.

Overall, I gave it a 4 because of the lack of extras and the lack of an episode, but really, this is a must have for Tick fans. If you're new to The Tick, then you might want to familiarize yourself with the show first, but the asking price is pretty reasonable if you want to experiment!

I was also disappointed that this dvd ommitted an episode. Last year I had purchased a Helios up converter dvd player that plays all regions. (or should I say it is a region free player?)
I'm happy to say that the UK version of this title has ALL 13 episodes!!!
There are no extras, the set is quite plain, but at least I have them all on disc. I've already pre-ordered season 2, which ALSO has ALL 13 episodes from that season. It seems there are quite a few UK released movies that have 2 disc sets, more features, extras, etc. Even alternate endings that we DON'T get in the States! I still buy US versions in most cases, but Amazon UK is worth checking out.

To all Tick fans...the uk realease has all thirteen episodes with 11 having "Note: written by Christopher McCulloch", it's also region free.