Ben Edlund ( / ˈ ɛ d l ən d / ; born September 20, 1968) is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, television producer, and television director. He is best known as the creator of the satirical superhero character the Tick .
38-876: Edlund is a Swedish surname. Notable people with the surname include: Ben Edlund (born 1968), American comic book artist and writer Christoffer Edlund (born 1987), Swedish Bandy player Erik Edlund (1819–1888), Swedish physicist Helen Edlund (born 1968), Swedish curler Hélène Edlund (1858–1941), Swedish photographer Johan Edlund (born 1971), Swedish singer, guitarist and keyboardist Lars Edlund (1922–2013), Swedish composer, organist and music teacher Madelaine Edlund (born 1985), Swedish footballer Oskar Edlund (born 2002), Swedish hurdler Pär Edlund (born 1967), Swedish ice hockey player Richard Edlund (born 1940), American special effects cinematographer Sylvia Edlund (1945–2014), Canadian botanist [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
76-459: A "much more sincere proposal." The Tick appeared on the Fox network in late 2001 with a short-lived live-action series . In the late 1990s, Edlund collaborated with indie filmmaker Lisa Hammer and her husband, Eric Hammer , on the film Crawley . The Hammers later worked with him again during the creation of The Venture Bros. which draws inspiration from The Tick . Beginning in 2002, Edlund
114-458: A bowl of Drama Flakes cereal. Warburton described his perception of the Tick character, as Warburton played him: His past is a mystery. So everything that he looks at or perceives can be brand new, and he can get really, really excited and intrigued by something that's just a commonality for everybody else, that's humorous. He's like a child; everything's new. So you just bring that attitude to him,
152-406: A childlike attitude of discovering things. Originally, the Tick's costume was meant to be brown, but it was decided that blue looked better in print. In The Tick vs. The Tick , wherein the Tick is confronted by Barry, an unstable pseudo-hero who also calls himself "the Tick", Barry wears a brown costume similar to the Tick's. The Tick is named after an arachnid , much like Spider-Man . The logo of
190-506: A hand in creating characters for Whedon's successful web series Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog , to which he contributed "Bad Horse" and the henchman sidekick "Moist". In 2005, Edlund served as co-executive producer on Point Pleasant . He also wrote the Star Wars: The Clone Wars second season episode "Grievous Intrigue". Beginning in 2006, he served as executive producer, writer, and occasionally director on
228-483: A suit, and under water without oxygen for "at least" a long time. In the 2017 Amazon adaption, he is shown to be able to leap and bound great heights with ease and speed, and he is utterly impervious to bullets. The Tick has been well received as a comic book character. Empire magazine ranked him as the 28th-greatest comic book character of all time, stating that the Tick is a lovable lunk, given to overly dramatic declarations on behalf of justice. IGN ranked him as
266-420: A super-powered immune system, as he has been seen sick with the common cold just like a normal person. One of the Tick's few limitations is that harming or removing his antennae will destroy his sense of balance. Finally, the Tick possesses something referred to as " drama power", or basically a tendency for the Tick's powers to increase as the situation becomes more dramatic. He can also survive in space without
304-490: A superhero called the Caped Wonder. Oppenheimer has all the typical Superman powers, including X-ray vision ("see-through vision"), super strength, invulnerability, flight, heat-vision ("very hot vision"), and super hearing. Consequently, he looks down on the Tick as a lower form of superhero with limited powers. Like many superheroes, the Tick has a sidekick, a rather plump former accountant named Arthur. Arthur wears
342-486: A white moth suit that allows him to fly; however, he is often mistaken for a bunny due to the long ear-like antennae of his costume and the fact that his wings are often folded up. The Tick is impulsive and Arthur serves as a sort of conscience. He also figures out the schemes of villains and formulates plans to stop them. Arthur's "battle cry" is "Not in the face! Not in the face!" In the Amazon Prime video series,
380-482: Is a superhero created by cartoonist Ben Edlund in 1986 as a newsletter mascot for the New England Comics chain of Boston -area comic book stores. The character is a parody of American comic book superheroes. The character later spun off into an independent comic book series, multiple TV adaptations, a video game and various merchandise have also been based on the character. IGN 's list of
418-564: Is capable of lifting whole cars with a single hand and comfortably bending steel girders. In the pilot of the 2016 series, The Tick claims to have the strength of "ten, perhaps twenty men—a crowded bus stop of men". The Tick is also "nigh-invulnerable", which means it is almost impossible to injure him in any serious way (although he is vulnerable to feelings of pain and his antennae are particularly sensitive). Because of this he can survive moments of extreme stress, and has demonstrated this ability on numerous occasions. In one noteworthy instance, in
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#1732773402094456-499: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Ben Edlund Edlund was born and raised in Pembroke, Massachusetts . He attended Silver Lake Regional High School and was voted by classmates as "Most Artistic" for both the 8th grade and 12th grade yearbook superlatives. At the age of 17, without a driver's license, Edlund was forced to ride with friends and frequent their favorite hangouts. One particular destination,
494-476: The New England Comics store, spawned Edlund's interest in the comic book medium, which later launched his art and writing career. While still in high school, he began developing his satirical superhero, the Tick, who became the mascot of the New England Comics newsletter. Edlund was invited to create a comic book series based on the character by New England Comics when, due to a production mix-up,
532-519: The Parcae in Roman mythology . At one point, Arthur starts to believe that the Tick is merely a hallucination, but that thought is quickly dispelled when Arthur's sister, Dot, interacts with "The Blue Guy". In all of his incarnations, the Tick is surrounded by a cast of equally absurd heroes and villains, many of them parodies of popular comic book characters and character types. Few of the "superheroes" in
570-642: The Supernatural writing staff to join the second season of Supernatural creator Eric Kripke 's new television series, Revolution . It was cancelled after that season. He then joined Gotham as a producer and writer for the first season (2014–15). In 2015, he became a writer for the second season of the Sony PlayStation Network original series Powers . Edlund appeared on Ken Reid 's TV Guidance Counselor podcast on May 25, 2016. List of The Tick merchandise The Tick
608-442: The surname Edlund . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edlund&oldid=1205375987 " Categories : Surnames Swedish-language surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
646-461: The 57th-greatest comic book hero of all time, saying that if you like your heroes on the bizarre side, you won't find anyone more surreal than the Tick. IGN also stated that whatever his mental state, the Tick's adventures are thoroughly enjoyable on both the printed page and television. Wizard magazine rated him as the 187th-greatest comic book character of all time. While The Tick comic book series included some extras, such as trading cards ,
684-485: The Fox network introduced The Tick as a Saturday-morning cartoon series, which Edlund wrote and co-produced. Lasting three seasons, the animated series provided the Tick's greatest mainstream fame. Townsend Coleman voiced the title character and Micky Dolenz played his sidekick Arthur, in season 1. Rob Paulsen took over the Arthur role during seasons 2 and 3. Due to issues relating to Standards and Practices, Edlund
722-569: The National Super Institute Convention in Reno, Nevada . According to the series' companion book, The Tick: Mighty Blue Justice! , at least one of the judges was amazed by this, awarding the Tick a score of 10 out of 10. The Tick possesses superhuman strength and mass, which makes him capable of inflicting great damage on his surroundings if he is not careful. His full strength is never actually quantified, although he
760-652: The Samurai , Man-Eating Cow, and Chainsaw Vigilante . Edlund continued to write and illustrate these projects initially through his years as an undergraduate film student at the Massachusetts College of Art . The Chainsaw Vigilante spin-off, which was never completed, was written and illustrated by Zander Cannon . Other series, such as the second Paul the Samurai series and the Man-Eating Cow series, were written by writer Clay Griffith. In 1994,
798-462: The TV series Supernatural from season 2 (2006–07) to season 8 (2012–13). On that show, there was a character, a writer/prophet named Chuck Shurley , who went by the pen name "Carver Edlund", a combination of Edlund's last name and that of Jeremy Carver , another Supernatural producer and writer. The writers named another important character after executive producer Robert Singer. In 2013, Edlund left
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#1732773402094836-473: The Tick and David Burke as Arthur. Due to rights issues, original characters from the Fox cartoon series could not appear in the live action series; forcing Edlund to create similar characters: Nestor Carbonell as Batmanuel (a stand-in for Die Fledermaus) and Liz Vassey as Captain Liberty (a stand-in for American Maid). The series was short-lived, however, and it only lasted nine episodes. A DVD release of
874-480: The Tick is a surrealistic parody of superheroes, in the vein of Dave Sim 's character Cerebus the Aardvark . He is well-intended, friendly, childlike, good-natured, high-spirited, bombastic, frequently obtuse, and prone to quipping odd, dim remarks and "inspirational" speeches filled with bizarre metaphors . The Tick is known for his nonsensical battle cry , "Spoooooon!", which he decided upon one day while eating
912-401: The Tick is fixated on Arthur and even mentions at one point that his thinking is fuzzy when away from Arthur. Despite Arthur's repeated attempts to push the Tick away, the hero won't leave Arthur's side for long. The Tick also frequently talks about Destiny as if she is a literal person, guiding Arthur's path ("Destiny gave him the suit. I just acted in more of a 'delivery man' role"), alluding to
950-451: The Tick mythos have powers that measure up to those of DC Comics or Marvel Comics characters, but their foes are often equally silly and/or weak. The Tick lives in a city simply called "The City". In the animated series, the Tick was assigned to the city after his "Cabinet of Terror" (described by the Tick as the "deadliest engine of destruction 1974 had to offer") exploded, leaving him unharmed, during his city assignment selection trials at
988-508: The Tick. Sunbow Entertainment , a New York–based animation company, paired Edlund up with writer Richard Libmann-Smith. After having their premiere episode turned down by Fox , the duo got approval with a refined version. In 1994, The Tick debuted as an animated series on Fox and lasted three seasons. The program led to various toy and merchandising deals. The limited scope of merchandising compared to other contemporaneous animated series led Edlund to express contentment in his character as
1026-620: The Top 100 Comic Book Heroes of All Time ranked the Tick as No. 57. In 1986, eighteen-year-old cartoonist Ben Edlund created the Tick as a mascot for a newsletter of the Brockton (Massachusetts) store New England Comics, where he was a frequent customer. Edlund expanded this into stories, beginning with the three-page tale "The Tick" in New England Comics Newsletter #14–15 (July–August – September–October 1986), in which
1064-482: The animated episode "Evil Sits Down for a Moment", he falls 4,000 feet out of the sky, crashing through the concrete road below into a subway tunnel, yet before he reaches a stop he is subsequently hit by an oncoming train: he survives it all without any lasting physical injury (only a brief, albeit severe, concussion). Several powerful supervillains have been able to knock the Tick unconscious in several fights, but he never comes to any lasting harm. He also does not possess
1102-513: The animated studio Saban, who made the series. They are therefore exclusive to the animated series continuity. Reruns on Comedy Central helped make the series a cult hit with adults. The 1997 book The Tick: Mighty Blue Justice! by Greg Hyland (creator of Lethargic Lad ) was published as a tie-in with the animated series. In 2001, Fox introduced a live-action TV series (produced by Columbia TriStar Television ), written and executive produced by Edlund. The series starred Patrick Warburton as
1140-509: The complete series (including several unaired episodes) was released on September 30, 2003. In June 2005, the Toon Disney network began airing The Tick animated series. The series also occasionally aired on ABC Family as part of the Jetix cartoon block. The following year, Buena Vista Home Entertainment released the first season of The Tick animated series on DVD. The second season
1178-543: The hero escapes from a mental institution . The character became popular and the store financed a black-and-white comic book series, with the first issue released in June, 1988, and subsequently reprinted at least nine times through the next decade, including later editions with additional content. The Tick's sidekick , Arthur , was introduced in The Tick #4 (April 1989). Spin-offs followed featuring characters such as Paul
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1216-438: The merchandising of The Tick increased dramatically with the launch of the animated series. Action figures , stickers, pogs , T-shirts, hats, party favors, costumes, and a board game were created. In addition, many fast food restaurant chains, such as Carl's Jr. and Taco Bell offered Tick-related giveaways. In 1994, Fox Interactive also released a beat 'em up video game based on the animated series . The game, however,
1254-410: The publisher needed a new title fast. Edlund graduated from high school in 1986 and continued to draw his popular character while majoring in film at Massachusetts College of Art . The debut issue of The Tick took a year and a half for Edlund to develop. While still in college, Edlund was approached by Kiscom, a New Jersey–based toy licensing and design company, who wanted to develop merchandising off
1292-470: The second half on February 23, 2018. A 10-episode second season was released on April 5, 2019. The Tick seems to have no memory of his life before being the Tick, and indeed not much memory of anything; more than likely, this is due to frequent head injuries . Each media adaptation has a different origin of the Tick: A square-jawed, muscular, bright blue-costumed figure with antennae sticking up from his head,
1330-470: The series also resembles that of the 1994 Spider-Man series . According to the live-action series, the Tick is 6 feet 6 inches tall, weighs 230 pounds (6 inches and 170 pounds less than his dimensions in the comic), and has blue hair and eyes. In the comic series, the Tick gets a job at the Weekly World Planet newspaper. He works in the same office as Clark Oppenheimer, who is also
1368-466: Was employed by Joss Whedon at Mutant Enemy , first as part of the original writing staff for the space/Western hybrid series Firefly , which was cancelled during its first season, and then on the final season of Angel , where he wrote and also directed the Hugo Award nominated episode, " Smile Time ". Edlund credits Whedon with teaching him to create television character arcs. Edlund also had
1406-689: Was not allowed to feature the comic series supporting cast characters in the cartoon, as characters such as Chainsaw Vigilante and Paul the Samurai were deemed inappropriate for a children's television show. As such, new supporting cast characters such as Die Fledermaus (a Batman parody), American Maid (a Wonder Woman/Captain America parody), and Sewer Urchin (a parody of Dustin Hoffman 's character from Rain Man ) were created instead. Edlund did not secure ownership rights to said characters, and they are now owned by
1444-411: Was released on August 7, 2007; however, both collections were missing an episode for different reasons. In July 2016, Amazon announced that a new live-action series , starring Peter Serafinowicz and directed by Wally Pfister , would air on Amazon Video . The pilot was picked up as a series, and the first season's 12 episodes were released in two parts—the first six episodes on August 25, 2017, and
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