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Thus Spake Tick Creator Ben Edlund
1) copyright issues?
by turbine216
Now that we're all aware of the still-pending copyright issues between
Sony and Fox concerning certain Tick characters and trademarks
("Spoon!"), is there any hope in sight for a resolution that would allow
the use of these copyrights? Or is this a totally dead issue?
Ben:
If the show proceeds, it's not impossible that the wheels of justice will
turn back in our direction. Actually, "Spoon" is not held by the company
that owns the Saturday-morning cartoon rights. The rule is, anything which
appeared in the 12-issue comic book series I did is free from the
constraints of the cartoon contract. This includes Tick, Arthur, Spoon,
and all the heroes and villains in those books. Incidentally, Spoon appeared
first in the 7th issue of the comic, and the thirteenth episode of the
cartoon.
2) Timeslot
by ReadbackMonkey
What evil Fox executive stuck you in such a lethal timeslot? Why didn't
they slot you behind the Simpson's then move you to the lethal Thursday
timeslot?
I had to fight with my girlfriend to watch the show last night since 'Will and Grace' was on.
Ben:
We're part of a large group of shows, all vying for the most favored
programming scraps from Fox's big table. Where we've been placed on the Fox
schedule is both challenging (or if you take a darker view, prohibitive) and
advantageous, at least in that Fox will have lowered expectations for the
Tick in a timeslot ruled by Survivor, Must-See TV, and other stiff
competition. But I can't say that we've been given a red carpet by the
network. So I won't.
3) DVD?
by Count Fecal
When will the cartoon series Tick be available on DVD?
Ben:
I don't know, Count Fecal. I don't know.
4) Hero/Villain Iconography
by kaladorn
Tick, to my mind, is an ideal hero icon for the current generation. He
has good intentions, but isn't too aware of the fine details (well, even
some gross details) of the world around him. He tries hard, and things
tend to work out after a fashion, but usually not as a result of any
particular brilliance on his part. Tick fulfills the iconic image of
style over substance, of good intentions versus understanding, of the
brawn and machismo not directed by a terribly powerful cranium, and of
accidental destruction as a consequence of his good intentions and
bungling execution.
His sidekick Arthur, of course, is more down to earth and aware. He's a bit of a geek (though I have yet so see him hack a kernel) with less-than-stellar social skills. He too seems to fill an iconic image in modern-day society - the nerdy brains-behind the brawn.
When these characters evolved, were they merely an attempt to poke fun at Superhero archetypes, or were they consciously intended to be more "in touch" with and to more closely parallel today's society? Or do you consider such analysis to be far deeper than the subject matter merits? Is the Tick just good humored fun, or is it perceptive art?
Ben:
The Tick is a work in stupid. Just as others may choose clay or stone or
paint, I and my compatriots have chosen stupidity as our medium. But stupid
must be worked and mastered like any other material; during this
experimental stage, the viewer of the work may feel he or she is observing
"perceptiveness" or "art." This is simply an illusion.
Tick and Arthur, as archetypes, are less an intentional reflection of today's society, and more an adaptation of classic comedy teams: Laurel and Hardy, Hope and Crosby, Quixote and Panza. The dynamic -- A big, goofy, charismatic lunatic, unharmable and often unreasonable, paired with a small, rabbity, very sane and very vulnerable guy -- is just another interpretation of those comedy teams where the idea of dominance is expressed and played with.
5) Target Audience
by rnb
Judging from the first episode alone, it seems like the live-action Tick
is automatically shooting for an older audience than the cartoon was
(for perhaps obvious reasons). Arthur getting drunk, The Tick using the
word "bitch," some of Batmanuel's references to Captain Liberty, etc. I
always got the feeling from the cartoon that it was aimed at both adults
and kids, with some jokes perhaps flying over the kids' heads while the
adults would get them (a snake accusing The Tick of not dating much
during a wrestling match in The Tick vs. Proto-Clown comes to mind).
Will the live-action series be aimed more at adults and less at younger
viewers? I'm not really complaining if that is the case, it just seemed
like there was definitely a shift in tone.
Ben:
I did not want The Tick to say "bitch" in the first episode. That I was
not given the power to remove it as I saw fit offers some insight into the
range of my control over this massive undertaking. The mandated presence of
other hands and shared authority in television is inevitable. The show
wouldn't be here without it. But I digress.
The tone was intentionally spiced up a bit, and I was right there with my attempts at sexy talk and jokes and so forth. But the Tick's tonal tolerance (especially a live-action version) is something we had to experiment with. There are episodes that go wildly off the mark where Tick's innocence and the credible warmth of his world are concerned. Just wait, they'll come on your tv and accost you in your living room...
These nine episodes are postcards from the brink of nothingness, giving filtered snapshots of Tick, Arthur, and their universe. We will need more shows to truly nail down what works tonally.
6) The Tick's Language
by quiller
While I'm a big fan of the Tick and enjoyed the show last night, I found
one thing discordant while watching it. The Tick using words like bitch,
and gonads. He has always struck me as having very anachronistic
language. Stuck back in the Father Knows Best days. Spreading his brand
of creamy justice on the toast of the city, sure. Make Evil my Bitch,
doesn't work for him. Borderline profanity might work for some of the
other characters, particularly Bat Manuel, but it seems wrong for the
well intentioned, but naive hero that is the Tick. Is this a direction
they are trying to take the Tick for some reason, or just a matter of
unfamiliarity with the characters that will be ironed out over time?
Ben:
Partly answered in the previous question. Unfamiliarity, yes.
7) The Beginning
by Prof_Dagoski
I wish I still had my first Tick comic. It was a freebie from New
England Comics, announcing that they were going to try publishing their
own comics. I thought it pretty decent, but had to make more strategic
decisions in my collecting habits at the time. Sorry Ben, I just had to
have Akira. Fast forward a few years and suddenly I see the tick
everywhere. So my question is this: Where did you think this comic would
end up way back at issue one? Were you jsut hoping to have some good
stuff in your portfolio by the time you got out of college(or wherever)?
Were you hoping for a moderately successful underground classic? Just
when did you realize that the Tick was a big hit? What happened then in
your life and how did it affect your creation(the comic as well as the
character)?
Ben:
No need to apologize about your preference or spending habits! When I
started doing the first issue of the Tick I was 18 (I had invented him the
year before, in high school). New England Comics hadn't ever published a
comic. We were at the crashing and burning stage of the black-and-white
explosion (the glut of independent low print-run comics spurred to crazed
heights of speculative collectability by the successes of Teen Age Mutant
Ninja Turtles ) and figured we'd probably get to issue three if we were
lucky, then can the book for lack of sales. But that didn't happen.
This thing has been a source of remarkable successes and relatively painless failures. I've lived with Tick for almost sixteen years. Who I am as an adult human is greatly affected by this character and his strange course. And passing as he has through comics, cartoons, and now live action, The Tick has given me access to many of the skills and opportunities I was hoping for in film school. My big blue meal ticket never seems to die!
8) Two questions
by Flounder
Ben, been a huge avid fan of The Tick since issue 1. Still got all my
issues (including my uncut #2) and still read them on occasion. Got
every episode of the cartoon series, still watch them on occasion (and
to introduce my 4 year old boys to The Tick).
Here's my questions...
As the creator / executive producer / high goddess of all that is Tick-y, what would be the one thing you wish to be done with the new live action show? Guest appearances? (BTW, nice shot of you and Barry on the couch) Better special effects? Hot dog cut into a little octopus?
And second, since it appears that characters from the cartoon exclusively will not be appearing due to copyright issues, can you give us a brief list of those that might appear from the comic? Chairface Chippendale? Chainsaw Vigilante? Paul the Samurai? Man Eating Cow?
Thanks for making Thurday night TV watchable again.
Ben:
The most important change would be budgetary. During shooting, it became
necessary to make many concessions, to sometimes drastically change elements
of story because we couldn't afford to shoot the script. This extended to
sets, scenery, special effects both practical and computer-generated,
costumes -- pretty much everything. An increase of 100,000 dollars would
suffice, thank you.
A version of The Terror appears in one episode.
9) Sources of inspiration
by MikeyNg
To me, the Tick was always a satire of his genre. You made fun of
Batman, Wonder Woman, Galactus, etc., etc. My question would be: With
the series moving to live-action TV, would you be satiring other things?
Making fun of Galactus would go over the heads of most your audience.
However, targetting Friends or Survivor would surely hit the spot.
(Survivor especially, given your current time slot.) Where is the comedy
and the storyline going to come from?
Ben:
A lot of the comedy in the Tick stems from translating real life
situations into their superheroic correlaries. Married life becomes the
vocational marriage of superhero and sidekick, for example. For the most
part, parodying specific heroes is "over the heads" of the mainstream
audience. Only those few who've achieved widespread iconic status (Batman,
Superman, The Hulk, etc) are relevant to the masses. Over the course of
these episodes, we play with the judicial system, death, old age, issues of
identity, and more!
10) Creative Control
by CleverNickName
How much creative control do you have, and how much will you maintain,
if the show is a success?
I have firsthand experience with the idiocy of networks, so I'd be very interested to hear how you pitched the idea.
I'd also like you to know that I have been a fan from issue number 1, and used to curse your being in college, and not being able to put out new issues. Paul the Samurai is one of my favorite characters, in any medium, of all time.
Ben:
As I mentioned above, I do not reign supreme. But in general, I was given
enough influence to make things happen, sometimes to steer the show away
from material I disliked, sometimes not. In fairness I should say that were
I capable of writing at a higher speed, I'd have probably been able to
control more. The more you make, the more it's you.
Pitching this was greatly simplified by the enthusiastic presence of Barry Sonnenfeld, who shepherded the show from inception to fruition. His clout, insight, and ability made this thing happen. Having Barry attached to a project makes it less of a pitch and more of a negotiation. People are ready to sign him up!
College was a poor excuse for the irregularity of the Tick comic. The real excuse was my dreamy, immature work ethic, which still has yet to fully bloom.
If you're lucky enough to live in the Boston area, you can walk right into a New England Comics store and they'll have piles of copies, or you can try Newbury Comics (which is more of a music store than a comic store, in spite of the name) which usually has copies of Tick available.
Otherwise, any comic book shop should either have it or be able to get it, or you can of course try Amazon or New England Comics site.
You want to get issues 1-12, either individually (current editions are a couple bucks a piece, older prints can rise quickly) or as anthologies (two of them, probably $25 or so for current editions of both). Later issues and the various spinoffs & colorized versions were generally inferior to the original series, so save them for later if you really get into the first ones.
The main exceptions to that rule of thumb are "Paul the Samurai", which was also written by Ben Edlund (at least the first issue or two -- don't remember if it went anywhere after that) and "Chainsaw Vigilante", which I think was by someone else but was still pretty funny (as a parody of Batman / Punisher type violent dark knight comics). Otherwise, stick to the originals, they're still the best...
DO NOT LEAVE IT IS NOT REAL
Well the "networks" that send their signals through the air are controlled by the FCC. But "cable" channels, like Comedy Central, USA, Sci-Fi, aren't restricted in the same way.
So the networks are controlled by the FCC, cable channels are the ones controlled by the sponcers.