Every episode of this cult-classic superhero show, which didn’t get nearly enough love from studio execs while it was airing, is just one day away from hitting Netflix—a move that will hopefully generate the hype it deserves, despite not receiving a fair shake while it was on Prime Video thanks to some executive thinking that its humor was too similar to that of The Boys, and feeling that there was only room for one or the other on Prime. And while it’s true that both contained dark, sardonic humor and heroes that weren’t all that super, that’s about where the similarities ended.
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The Tick, which ran for two seasons from 2016 to 2019, was one of those rare superhero shows that critics and audiences alike raved about. It managed to snag a 95% critics rating and an equally impressive 93% audience score. The show centered on an accountant named Arthur, who boasted no powers of his own in a world where superheroes and villains have been duking it out for decades. Learning that his city is actually owned by a global supervillain that the world believes is dead, Arthur soon finds himself in the middle of something far bigger than himself: a literal battle between good and evil. Dismissed as crazy, there’s only one person who believes him: a mysterious new ally called The Tick.
The Tick Deserved a Continuation
At least, according to critics and audiences—two groups that it’s notoriously difficult to get to agree on anything. But each agreed that both seasons of The Tick continued to raise the stakes in a way that felt not only entertaining, but rewarding and earned. The show didn’t dumb down its narratives or stifle character growth and, unlike many of its contemporaries, didn’t fall prey to style over substance. Critic Sean Mulvihill says, “The Tick embraces every aspect of superheroes and finds a way to mold it into a fresh comedic package, mocking and honoring the complicated legacy of comic book heroes.” It took characters that were complicated and refused to smooth over their rougher edges. The Tick was also really successful in ensuring that the characters without powers felt just as important as those with powers—a balance that other series in the genre can’t always nail.
And it’s long been confirmed by showrunner Susan Hurwitz Arneson that the show didn’t get the ax because of ratings or viewership issues, or content issues; it literally came down to personal disinterest in the series from the new regime at Prime Video, something that feels even more tragic and disappointing than a lack of viewership. “We were canceled because there was a regime change at Amazon. The people who loved the show and were our champions were let go, and the people coming in had zero interest in The Tick. Hence, the lack of season two marketing and sh*t position we had to beg for at NYCC. We tried to find a new home, but the first two seasons would have stayed on Amazon, and no one was interested in not having them all,”she said on Reddit.
Do you have a favorite moment from The Tick? Or are you planning to watch it for the first time now that it’s coming to Netflix? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. And don’t forget to check out the ComicBook forum to see what other fans are saying
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