In a world where superheroes and villains have been real for decades, Arthur, an unassuming accountant plays the nigh invulnerable hero in this Amazon Original series, featuring favorites from the comic book such as Arthur, Dot, and The Terror in a city thirsty for law and disorder!
The show is fine, and works as a series of moments, but I'm not sure if it's the familiarity or the execution that stops it from being more than satisfactory.
Earlier incarnations of The Tick always felt like a niche commodity, which perhaps foremost means that it has found the right home -- playing on a service content to reach a narrow but avid constituency while trading off the equity in the name.
Maybe slow and steady (and more grounded) will ultimately prove to be the right approach. And maybe this Tick will be able to stick around a little while longer.
"Oh, what a goofy work is man," the animated Tick once mused. If Amazon commission a full series (and they should), let's hope Edlund finds space for more of that sublime goofiness.
The series enjoys deconstructing superhero tropes but in its own offbeat way. You will probably need a few episodes to get into The Tick, but the first part of the first season builds up nicely. By Episode 6, the series is all powered up.
It takes Serafinowicz and Newman a couple episodes to settle into the necessary chemistry between The Tick and Arthur, but they do find it. Which is really what matters.
