book artist named Ben Edlund (you might know him as the writer of some of your favorite Supernatural and Firefly episodes), who drew the Tick as a mascot for his neighborhood comic shop in Massachusetts. The owners loved the goof so much they self-published the character in his own series, which took off for almost a whole decade.

After some time, Hollywood came knocking in the form of animated series The Tick, which aired on Fox Kids in 1994, later earning cult status in reruns on Comedy Central.

But Who Is the Tick?

No one knows. He might be an alien. Maybe an escaped insane asylum patient (he was in an issue in the comics)? In the cartoon he was a guy who passed a superhero test, pen, paper and all.In the Fox TV show starring Warburton (who also voiced the character in the cartoon), he’s tricked into protecting The City (which was its proper name) after the employees of a bus station he swore to protect kick him out.

Regardless of medium, though, the Tick is a muscular, square jawed idiot with a good heart, who exists as a bonafide parody of the superhero genre. Before Kick-Ass, the Tick spoofed all the hallmarks of Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age superheroes. He’s super strong, “nigh-invulnerable” (except emotionally), and his antennae are pretty sensitive too (if removed he loses sense of balance). Tick is also capable of “drama power,” which allow his abilities to increase as tensions get higher and situations more dire.

Oh, and his catchphrase is a bombastic, girthy