The Tick vs. Season Two (Disney DVD)
Picture:
B- Sound: B- Extras: D Episodes: A-
Ben
Edlund's comedic deconstruction of the superhero genre returns in this two-disc
package featuring Season Two of the
hilarious animated series The Tick. Although marketed and aired as a Saturday
morning TV show, the Tick began as an adult-themed independent comic, and
season two offers a bevy of episodes with weird themes subtle nuances that only
an adult viewer will pick up. There
still remains plenty of fun and action for younger viewers, and although there
is plenty of violence, none of it exceeds what you might encounter in a typical
Looney Tunes episode.
These
discs feature some wonderful new additions to the Tick's rogue’s gallery,
including The Deadly Bulb (aka Pig-Leg). Fan favorites El Seed and the Terror also
return in separate episodes. Some of the
funniest moments come not during the interplay between the Tick and his
villainous antagonists, but more often between the Tick and his long-suffering
sidekick, Arthur. In the package's most
hilarious episode, a woman comes between the Tick and Arthur, and befuddled
Tick carves himself a new sidekick out of a piece of wood. The Tick's one-sided dialogs with this new
sidekick are nothing short of hilarious.
Dolby
2.0 Surround Sound provides adequate audio quality for the episodes, and the
1.33:1 aspect ratio picture delivers the requisite clarity for an animated
feature. Still, it's not for the
animation that fans love these episodes so dearly, but rather it's for the
depth of the stories, complete with their hefty servings of audacious,
superhero weirdness and sense of fun. The package's utter lack of extras can't
manage to put a damper on this superlative second season, and Tick fans the
world around should exalt in its release. Spoon!
- Scott Pyle
