Spoooon! Finally, The Tick on DVD! The Tick vs. Season One features everyone’s favorite big blue superhero defending The City from evildoers and miscreants alike. Join The Tick and his side kick Arthur as they battle evil and deal spoonfuls of justice in 12 great episodes!

For those unfamiliar with this series, The Tick is the world’s most enthusiastic, optimistic, good-natured and naive superhero, assigned to defend The City. Throughout the series, Tick joins up with his sidekick, Arthur, an …ccountant who is recently fired for wearing a moth costume to work. Together, they battle bizarre villains and monsters, with occasional help from The City’s slew of other strange superheroes.

On the surface, The Tick appears to be simply a parody of other superhero animated series, but the show stands on it’s own. It’s surprisingly clever and funny, thanks mostly to ever-likable Tick’s super good nature and excitability. The stories are smart with a certain amount of intrigue and lots of humor. What sets this series apart is that these superheroes don’t have alter egos or regular jobs; they must interact with real life as superheroes. They need to take a cab to track down a villain, they go grocery shopping, they get sick, or they get their credit cards declined when buying crime-fighting gear. It sounds absurd, but it is probably the most realistic interpretation of life as a superhero!

The Tick vs. Season One includes the following episodes:

The Tick vs. The Idea Men

The Tick gets his assignment to The City, meets Arthur and moves into his apartment. They meet some of The City’s other superheroes while attempting to put an end to a crime wave.

The Tick vs. Chairface Chippendale

The Tick and Arthur join forces with American Maid and together, they (almost) foil Chairface’s plan to commit the most evil act of vandalism in history.

The Tick vs. Dinosaur Neil

The Tick and Arthur do battle against Neil, a man-turned-dinosaur who is rampaging throughout The City.

The Tick vs. Mr. Mental

An evil mentalist hypnotizes The Tick and wills him to commit acts of thievery for him.

The Tick vs. The Breadmaster

While at the supermarket doing their shopping, The Tick and Arthur survive an attack by The Breadmaster, an evil baker who creates monstrous loaves of bread and dinner roll grenades.

The Tick vs. El Seed

El Seed, an evil genius of a plant who despises humans, brings The City’s flora to life and attempts to rid The City of all humans using an army of plant soldiers. Only Arthur and The Tick can stop him.

The Tick vs. The Tick

The Tick, along with fellow superheroes Sewer Urchin and Die Fledermaus, head to a club for superheroes. There, The Tick does battle with a superhero wannabe, who claims that he is the original The Tick. Meanwhile, Arthur, who has been relegated to the Sidekick’s Lounge, foils a bombing attempt by The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight.

The Tick vs. The Uncommon Cold

The Tick, sick with a cold, must do battle against a clone of himself, created by a trans-dimensional being using The Tick’s used handkerchief for genetic material.

The Tick vs. Brainchild

While shopping for a new microwave, The Tick and Arthur are attacked by a giant robot dog. They follow him home to find that the dog is controlled by a 10 year old evil genius who has built a secret laboratory in his treehouse.

The Tick vs. Pineapple Pokopo

The Tick, Arthur, and American Maid go undercover as tourists vacationing in the tropical, shark infested island of Pokoponesia. Their mission: to rescue Yank, a super intelligent space monkey, who has been kidnapped by the evil Pineapple Pokopo to help him create a weapon that will allow him to conquer Hawaii.

The Tick vs. The Proto-Clown

The Tick and Arthur team up with Die Fledermaus, American Maid, Sewer Urchin, and the Civic Minded Five to battle The City’s biggest threat to date: a hulking clown created by a well-meaning but misguided geneticist.

The Tick vs. Arthur’s Bank Account

The Tick and Arthur’s friendship comes to an apparent end when The Tick runs up Arthur credit cards in order to buy crime gear. Can they set aside their difference long enough to defeat The Terror, history’s greatest super-villain?

A note on the episode list: as indicated on the DVD back cover, this set does not include Episode 11, The Tick vs. The Mole Men.

Audio

The Dolby Surround 2.0 track is somewhat muffled, with a some hissing. Surround effects are virtually non-existent in most episodes, completely absent in others. The French track is a bit cleaner.

Video

The episodes are presented in original 4:3 aspect ratio. Image quality is only okay, with some specks and grit noticeable on occasion. The overall picture is a bit grainy. Some images suffered from jaggy lines. The colors are nice a bright. Black levels are somewhat muddy.

Special Features

Aside from some Disney trailers, the discs have no features. No commentary, no artwork, no conceptualization discussion, nothing. What a missed opportunity, given the richness and depth of The Tick’s character. The packaging does include a collectable Tick card.

The menus are nicely well laid out, with the now-familiar Disney DVD layout and icons. Menus are scored and animated. Each episode is assigned only one chapter, which makes it a bit tedious to cue up a specific scene.

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is a highly enjoyable show appropriate for the whole family. Given that the DVD treatment is lackluster and the set is only 12 short episodes, some may find that the price is on the high side. Definitely worth renting.

Special Features List

• Trailers