The Tick Golden Age: The Complete Works

The Tick Golden Age: The Complete Works by Marc Silvia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This send up of the Golden Age comics features a 1940s and 50s version of the Tick.

The book imagines a Golden Age Tick and Arthur and do a good job of covering most major genres of comics including Superhero, War, Horror, Jungle, and detective comics. They didn't get to Westerns and did very little romance, but they manage to poke fun at most of it with lines such as, "We have 30 giant gorillas on our side. Who needs a plan?" The plot is delightfully nonsensical and well-aimed satire. I loved the letters features which includes an old style lovelorn column plus imagining scary comic books written for the elderly and adult children responding angrily.

The main downside is that Silva can almost come across as sneering at noble things like World War 2 patriotism rather than poking gentle fun, though that happens rarely. Of course, given how few people have read golden age comics, it has limited a audience. I also have to say the construction of this trade is the cheapest ever. It's basically three comics bound together. However, there are plenty of laughs if you can find a copy of this print book.



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