The first season of the animation series closely follows the zany, anarchic tone of the original comic books and introduces the audience to an original superhero: nigh invulnerable (one of his favorite phrases), enthusiastically committed to smiting evil (often TOO enthusiastic), not very bright and given to spouting random good-guy clichés at odd moments. Especially funny is the coterie of lame caped hero wannabes who wander in and out of the show, such as the Tick's luckless moth-suited accountant sidekick; Der Fledermaus, a cowardly Batman-type; and American Maid, a freelance operative who dresses like a cleaning woman and fights evil by throwing a shoe at it. The animation can be at times a bit clunky looking, but the humor is clever and often biting in its zeal to send up every known superhero cliché. A particular treat is The Tick vs The Tick, adapted nearly right out of the comic book, about the Tick duking it out at a superhero themed singles bar with a wealthy Tick wannabe named Barry, while accidentally foiling the insane schemes of The Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight, all the while surrounded by caped idiots with no or dubious 'powers'. Season one: 8 out of 10.
Subsequent seasons did not quite carry the same level of zany cleverness and sometimes just recycled an earlier villain or situation. Still worth a watch, but slippage was evident. Rest of the series 7 out of 10.
Subsequent seasons did not quite carry the same level of zany cleverness and sometimes just recycled an earlier villain or situation. Still worth a watch, but slippage was evident. Rest of the series 7 out of 10.