The Tick: Karma Tornado, The Complete Works by Chris McCulloch

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the second collectionof Tick Comics, collecting Karma Tornado 1-9 and Tick's Back -4 to -1, a lead up to the Big Blue Destiny series.

Issues 1-4 were written by Chris McCulloch and were meant to be set out of continuity for when Ben Edlund promised to return to continue on the Tick with Issue 13 when the cartoon was done. This never happened.

The first two issues featured the Tick competing in some intergalactic for unknown prizes. It was a surreal parody of stories like Secret Wars. Not as funny as Edlund's best, but still pretty good.

The next two have Tick sidetracked on his way home by a space monkey and the fantastic Galactus parody Nigh Omniputus as Tick becomes his personal assistant until realizing he's up to no good. The story ends on a cliffhanger which is never resolved.

Issue 5 begins completing ignoring the last four issues as Clay Griffith goes on a comic tour de force, with some pretty solid satire. In Issue 5, he features the, "League of Justly Compensated Heroes." Issue 6 makes fun of politics and media coverage in "Mr. Tick Goes to Washington" which leans a little left but not too far in its parody. Issue 7, "The Night of the Living Tick" is a great horror comic parody. Issue 8, "C-Spandex" has Tick signed to a variety of roles on a Superhero TV network.

Then Griffith left and we were left with LC Cheverett to close out the series with the mostly unfunny, "Tick's Life in the Day" which seems like typical sitcom fare and unfunny sitcom fare at that.

The Comet Club one-page stories were mostly okay, but sometimes slightly underdeveloped. The four Tick's back stories are short 4-6 page stories that feature the Tick and are of mixed quality.

Overall, there's some solid issues. Issues 5-8 are my favorite, but I wouldn't discount 1-4 either.



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