2016 Comic Challenge 197 The Tick #12

TITLE-The Tick #12
PUBLISHER-NEC

Another of my Tick first printing cheap bin finds. Like issue 11 I got this for a buck.Sure it isn't mint but it is in much much better shape than my last copy. And that one cost me at least 6 bucks.

So after beating Barry in the last issue,now Tick & Arthur were given possession of all of Barry's Tick gear. Plus his Tick Cave. Which just happens of course to be under Barry's mansion. Our heroic duo show up and Barry meets them at the front door fully nude. Then shows they the way down to the cave,while he is planning on  how to beat or kill The Tick.

At the same time a group of some of the most horrendus villains are planning a team up. Tick and Arthur learn about this meeting and speed off on their new Tick-cycle to fight the evil team of nar-do-wells.

And that is it for Edlund's run on the Tick. By this time it was coming out maybe 2 issues tops a year. Ben Edlund was busy working on the Tick cartoon. And that and other reasons are why we so far have never gotten or I doubt will ever get the true issue 13. Yes I know NEC published a #13. Based on Edlund's notes and with another artist doing all the art chores.

From when this issue came out in the early 90s until about 2 years ago I was kind of pissed that we hadn't gotten issue 13. Every time Ben Edlund would get interviewed issue 13 would get asked about. And he always said it was being worked on and would be out in the not too far future. Now I realize if Edlund wrote and drew issue 13 and it got published there is almost no way it would meet the expectations the fans have built up over 20+ year wait.

The Tick #12 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 195 The Tick #11

TITLE-The Tick #11
PUBLISHER-NEC

Yep the next to last issue of Tick creator Ben Edlund's run. Years ago I had an almost complete set of the original 12 issue Tick run. All of them first prints. Then lost them all in a fire. So been wanting to get another run,with them all being first prints. Sure I got the trade paperback that reprints all this stuff. But I want the actual issues.

It was about a month ago,same time I found the Miracleman #24. While digging in the buck bins found 3 issues of The Tick. All of them first prints and all issues I needed.

After a few issues with Tick and Arthur on the road,they finally make it to the city. Were they discover the City has so many superheroes there isn't enough crime for them to fight. After meeting the Mighty Agrippa they get invited to the Comet Club. A superheroes only night club. Arthur being a sidekick isn't allowed in and has to goto the rundown Sidekick's Lounge.

While there we learn of Barry,who is insane,and is a superhero named The Tick. So Barry Tick faces off against the big blue Tick. And after a long and pretty funny battle The Tick wins. Which means he gets the rights to the name The Tick. Plus all of Barry's Tick gear.

Pretty much if you have seen the Tick cartoon episode about the Comet Club this is what that was based on. A few things are changed up. But it is pretty much the same story.

2 more things I wanted to point out about this issue. First up is at least the first prints of the Edlund Tick series are oversized. As in they are closer in dimension to Golden Age comics than modern comics. So finding bags,boards and longboxes to hold these isn't that easy. And secondly is the back cover.

I am assuming Ben Edlund drew that. I do not remember the Tick every wearing any gear like that. But who knows it might have been an idea for a future issue. That never happened after Edlund abandoned the Tick franchise. Yeah I am one of those fans who is still waiting on issue 13 written and drawn by Ben Edlund. And yes I know it will never happen,and that years back NEC put out issue 13. But that issue is just based on Edlund ideas and has someone besides Ben drawing it.

The Tick #11 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 164 The Tick FCBD 2016

TITLE-The Tick FCBD 2016
PUBLISHER-NEC

For the past 5 years NEC has put out one of the best of the Free Comic Book Day comics.So I never miss it.

This one is almost perfect. We get three stories.That all happen over the course of a day or so. Up first is one about how a bunch of alternate reality version of The Tick showing up. Plus a cameo from one of the best villian from the Tick cartoon. The second story answers the question "What do you do with a few hundred versions of the Tick".Then in the last Tick and Arthur find out they have a convention appearance. And we get to meet a great idea for a super villian.

I also love how inside the front cover NEC has a deal.All you gotta do is send a SASE with the proper amount of postage and they will mail you all the FCBD issues.

The Tick FCBD 2016 gets a Buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 156 Chainsaw Vigilante #01

TITLE-Chainsaw Vigilante #01
PUBLISHER-NEC

I enjoyed the Chainsaw Vigilante appearances in the various Tick comics I had read. So finding this issue for 50 cents I had to get it.

Well honestly the cover is the only reason this is worth the 50 cents I paid. The issue is mostly Chainsaw dealing with being defeated by the Tick in The Tick #10. Most of the issue he is out of costume and having long boring as fuck discussions with some woman.

I found it odd that almost every page had between 7 and 9 panels. And so many panels meant the art looked cramped. Seems Zandor Cannon does the art and story. Maybe if he focused on just one this would be a much better comic.

Chainsaw Vigilante #01 gets a Pass.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 018 The Tick The Complete Edlund

BOOK TITLE-The Tick The Complete Edlund
AUTHOR-Ben Edlund
FORMAT-Trade paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
COST-Free

I have been a customer of Instocktrades.com since they opened. So once they added a wishlist feature I created one.For my birthday a few years back I got this along with about 5 other trades.

The book reprints all the Edlund written and drawn Tick stuff. So the appearances in the NEC newsletter,issues 1-12 of the original series and some sketches. That right there makes this trade a must own. But they added something extra. Sometime after I had quit reading the Tick,so after both The Tick&Arthur and The Tick Heroes of the City got cancelled,NEC published issue 13 of the original Tick run.

What makes that so special is the last full issue of the Tick Edlund wrote ends on a cliffhanger. That had never been resolved. All Tick stories published after issue 12 take place after it. And there has been tiny hints of what happened. NEC got a writer to use these hints and what Edlund done previous to create this kind of lost piece of the Tick mythos.

If you loved the Tick cartoon or live action series and have never read the comic this is the place to start.Some of the stories in this thick trade,as it says on the cover 400 PAGES!,got adapted for either series. Plus you got great storylines like Tick's arrival in the city and skirmish with Clark Oppenheimer. The Million Billion Ninjas storyline that introduces Oedipus and Paul the Samurai.Then my favorite,Tick and Arthur's cross country trip. So much great stuff in just 12 issues. Makes me wish that Edlund would return and do more Tick stuff.

The Tick The Complete Edlund gets a 4.80 outta 5.

The Tick Big Halloween Special 2000

The Tick-Big Halloween Special 2000

Back in 2000 the Tick started up a series of one shots. Each one based around a holiday. This issue was written by Clay and Susan Griffith. And art from Dave Garcia. The story starts off with Tick and Arthur at a pumpkin patch. They are picking out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. Well all of the sudden a pumpkin attacks the Tick. Well this startles the two heroes. And they start to fight off the evil animated pumpkins. Then outta nowhere Extension Agent of the USDA appears. He helps the two guys fight off the pumpkins. And then tells them that the evil pumpkins are caused by a mistake made by a scientist. He was suppose to be adding something to the pumpkins that would cause them to have faces. This way people wouldn't have to carve a face. But instead of adding the chemicals for this,the scientist accidentally adds Puma genes. Next we see the pumpkins attacking various people. And the hero the Spectacle sees this going on. So he goes and joins up with the other three to help fight off the evil pumpkins. This is a great example of the type of humor I expect from the various Tick comics.The Tick Halloween Special 2000 gets a A-.

Why isn't this better known 01

The Tick Luny Bin Trilogy issues 0-3

story and art by Eli Stone

This is the second storyline in the Tick series by Eli Stone. The Tick is hypnotized and returns to the Evensville clinic. Which is a mental hospital he escaped from in the first issue of the Ben englund Tick run. When he gets there the evil doctor that worked with the Tick during his first stay there tries his best to convince Tick that he is a normal person and should give up his superhero gig. While this is happening Arthur goes and recruits M.O.A.V,the mystic order of arachnid vigilante, to help him bust the Tick out. The membership of M.O.A.V. is made up of the other patients of Evensville that escaped at the same time Tick did. Since Tick is in the hospital Barry,the former Tick, decides to work a deal out with a group of super villains. They are lead by Chairface Chippendale. And the deal is Barry will bust them while they are committing crimes,but he will let them go instead of turning them over to the police. Well since Barry is a little bit insane he ends up just beating the shit outta the various villains. So a small group lead by Chairface goes to bust The Tick outta Evensville. This all comes together in the third issue,where two groups,one made up of Arthur and the MOAV and the other a group of villains with Chairface show up. The evil doctor tries his best to remove Tick's mask but no matter what it won't come off. This causes the doctor to proclaim "The mask is the Tick and the Tick is the mask." An explosion happens and most of the villains are captured. Arthur,the Tick and MOAV escape unharmed. But the evil doctor is badly injured and before he dies he reveals a secret about the Tick to Arthur. Sadly this isn't revealed to us the readers. When I first read this was already a huge tick fan cause of the Foxkids cartoon, I had heard of the NEC comic,and even owned a couple of issues. But had never read any of them. Thanks to the great owner of Lynns Comics in Nederland Texas, I started reading this series. He gave all 4 issues to me and told me go read them if you don't like them you can keep them for free,if you do like them give me 12 bucks for all 4. Needless to say I loved them,and over a course of about 2 years managed to acquire most of the previous Tick comics,and bought every new Tick series that came out. The storyline was really good,lots of oddball humor with a touch of seriousness that was the trademark for the original Ben Edlund Tick run. The artwork was also good,sure it's black and white,but the shading gave it a depth that most current color comics don't seem to have. The Tick Luny Bin Trilogy earns a B+.